Who's for the chop or ...

Tell you what Rick, you keep up with the optimism and we'll chime in with the cynicism...

Is the reduction in nations represented anything to do with the classes sailed? 

Or are the "wealthier" nations with "massive" training programmes and budgets now being represented in more classes than they used to because more people have the funding to get there?

Look at Team GBR - it seems to me we now have representation in about twice as many classes than, say, back in the days of Seoul in 1988 - and if we get more people there then other nations miss out.

The reduction in classes could actually make this worse as the funding and Olympic aspirants become more concentrated squeezing out the smaller nations even further...

...and the chances of ISAF being radical? slim or none, amd slim just left town.

I guess if you put the Women in the 29erXX, and called the 49er the Men's double hander, you can then scrap the 470. But that means getting rid of the most widespread Olympic double hander. The 2 aims of image and accessability appear to be at odds.

From the outside, the Finn and the Laser are the most similar boats, and the size of sailor needed to do well in the Finn rules out many from far eastern countries, so you might expect it to go. But Olympic sailing is all about lobbying, and the Finn is good at that.

And is Air Rowing really a good Olympic sport? Scrap the windsurfing, bring in the 29erXX, and problem solved!

Oh, and bring in a decent 2 person Women's keelboat, and therefore reduce the number of athletes without loosing fleet sizes.

I tend to agree but losing a medal is a big deal and ISAF will be keen to meet the IOC demands for participation of both countries and gender ...

Rick

The only way I can see a mixed (or open) class increasing the participation of women is if one of the 2 crew had to be female.

Rick