New women's Olympic boat

Go for the I14.....these sailors are top sailors, and the footage could be epic.

Weight appears non critical (coz with that much power, frankly any amount of weight doesn't get you out of trouble when it goes wrong in waves off Weymouth at 20 knots).

Also I'll bet that the 14 brigade would be able to start churning out some nifty flat sails for smaller crews.

The 49er was seen in some quarters as a step too far before it was adopted in '96, so after the success of that decision, why not go big again?

It will take a few years for the top crews to work out the rigs and boats - but it clearly moves sailing forwards....albeit expensively.

I14 for me.

Chas

RS800 is a better candidate, OD, less cost, easier to handle, etc, etc, etc. Reckon as others have been saying, it's a bit of a no brainer, 29er XX will get it due to politics, the fact the 29er is an international class already, it ticks all the boxes and it won't be a stress for the ISAF to get builders up to speed to produce maximum impact for the class. There will be better, lighter and faster designs, but the infrastructure is there to ease the 29er XX in, instead of having a big push to produce a new design like the Cherub "off-shoots" etc. There will still be the option for women to enter the 49er as it's still open if they want to up the level a bit performance-wise.