New women's Olympic boat

The 12 Foot Skiffs lost several fleets in Sydney when they switched to rigging on their sides. The old clubs, where boats were rigged on small decks in front of the clubhouses, just didn't have the space.

The law of unintended consequences strikes again!

3 of them in fact!

is it over yet?  how long is this going to go on??? we're the internet generation round here, we want stuff instantly, not some trials, followed by meetings, more meetings and then, you guessed it, more meetings..... which boat won? which boat was humilated and forced to go to the back of the boat part in shame? which boat blew to pieces in more than 5knts of breeze (or is most likely too?).... hope they picked something interesting for the ladies to sail in 2012, the yngling does look v.boring and I doubt the 470 set's too many pulses racing (unless its blowing dogs off chains)

It is folly to think that the boats were not compared for speed during the trial. It happened every day - nearly all day.

The main man from the evaluation panel asked to do this for ISAF was Alejandro ABASCAL - Spanish 49er Coach (err pretty good at that then!) and 1980 FD gold medallist.  He was constantly lining boats up throughout the week, and observing where boats were on the course in relation to each other lap after lap.  I spent 2 and a half days in his rib watching proceedings and listening to his views.  He would motor up to a boat ask the crew to take it over to another boat, then ask them both to sail upwind on the same tack towards a windward mark. When they got to the mark they invariably hoisted...  Of course you get 2 boats next to each other and you've got yourself a race - and races have winners and losers!  I lost count of the number of times he did this on the days we were on his boat. We had a front row seat as this unfolded.  Obviously for a fair part of the time these impromtu races did not include the GT, but from time to time they did.  For example, at the end of the 3rd day a fog came in but the wind stayed. We started shepherding the boats because it was a bit hairy really!.  With us was an RS800 and the GT60.  They were both being sailed by good teams of a similar size - all twin stringing with the kite up.  Magically they were there together when we were about a half a mile in a straight line to the shore, on Starboard, in line. 

On the final day Alejandro asked all of the boats to line up on starboard and, using the GT as the rabbit, set up a gate start.  To act as a control, he asked the GT (In which Andy was crewing for Carolijn Brouwer - Belgiums lead Tornado skipper) not to tack until all of the boats had crossed.   The boats all made good starts (some were a bit too close for me!) and within 2 minutes it was very obvious which boats were quick... Alejandro drove our rib in line with the lead boats and kept station with the front row to give an almost perfect viewing point.   The boats sailed for 5 minutes or so flat out on starboard.  Determining which boats were faster was easy - particularly as a windward mark had been laid by now and the faster boats all overstood it!  Sadly after this run we snapped our foil off (on a plastic bag or a jelly fish or anything that was floating around) and the GT had to head for the shore, but I stayed out to watch another heat, with the result confirming what had been seen in the first one. 

We went to France with a set of goals and I am pleased to say we achieved everything we set out to do - and much more besides. We learned a great deal in the week and loved every minute of it - we made some great new friends, and have a list of ideas to improve our boat - ideas from some of the best sailors on the planet.  Mission Accomplished. We have some work to do for Weymouth, but hey, that's months away!

If you want some independant comparisons, ask some of the 49er guys that were training that week - or of course wait for Alejandro's full report in May!

Dave

People keep going on about getting a new boat and how a twin wire boat will be far more exciting than a 470 and it will be great boost for women, encourage more participation etc.

Whilst I agree with this on the whole, looking at the mens fleet- in Hyres this week- 74 49ers entered, compared to 113 male 470s. Similar numbers in Palma a couple of weeks ago. Whilst in GBR the 49er is much more popular with approx. double the amount of GBR sailors in the 49er as compared 470, worldwide the reverse is true.

Why do people think this is? The costs of running the 2 are very similar. The amount of events are the same. Sailors of that level I'm sure could get used to sailing both. So why is the 470 so popular?

People keep bringing up it is an obvious boat to drop, but why are there so many boats racing?