Olympic Classes

Thats what I was thinking, wouldn't something like a RS700 or Musto skiff? I think a Musto Skiff would be better seeeing as they have a larger fleet around the world, not big but still bigger than the RS700. They are both athletic boats and are require a great level of skill to do well in.

By the way the Europe is a lovely boat to sail - a real thorough bred.  For those in the right weight range it must be a joy and also one of the fastest non-trapeze single handers (for their weight).

However I do feel an olympic boat should be very fast, spectacular even, since the sailors should be our most able.  This probably means a trapeze boat and since the olympics are sailed on the sea, why not?  I think we are talking RS700/Musto Skiff.  I also think these sorts of boats are less sensitive to weight, since agility is the primary determinant.

However boats like this are not good at tatics?

The class finally selected will have to be sailed widely around the world to allow the greatest participation of nations. I suspect that this will be one of the selection criteria used to make the final descision.

It is difficult to make a decision based on what start the boat starts in at a club.  At smaller clubs we don't have many trapeez boats and the fastest boat on the water at my club is a Phantom.  The slowest boat in our fast handicap fleet is the firefly.

Needles to say a good sailor can always sail above thier handicap when racing against less experienced sailors in faster handicaped boats.  It's all relative.

I agree that Britain will do well if the selected class is widely sailed in this country. I can't comment on other countries though.

Do the RYA read this forum?

I think that an important question should be is the boat good to sail at a grass roots level?

With that in mind I think that it should be fast. The Europe is a great boat to sail but to my mind is too slow.

If you are club racing the Lasers will probably get a class start the fast handicaps get a class start (and race away hanging from a wire) you are left with the Europe in the slow handicap with the toppers.

This is not an image that I feel sits well with the idea of an Olympic class.

In Iain Percy's defence, I think the reason he did not reach his true potential (sailing legend) in the Laser class is his natural body weight in 90KGs+... not ideal laser weight!

I quite agree that the weight range is wider for the Radial than people think. It just gets pushed up or down if the event is windy or light, like any other class... What tends to happen is people sail better at the top end of the weight range as they have more experience then (and the youths gradually gain weight with time...)

Virtually all the UK Europe sailors have come from Radials. I can understand it being extremely hard to put together an Ozzy Europe campaign due to logistic problems alone.

Regards the costs I am always happy to jump into a borrowed/charter Laser and race competitively... I cannot think of another class where this is the same! There is certainly never a need to keep spending money (other than on sails!) to remain competitive.

It will be very interesting to see ISAF choice regards Olympic classes in November.