New women's Olympic boat

Originally posted by jpbuzz591 If one of the development class were to get the spot. Would the olympic class keep developing or stay under current rules?

For the Cherub variants the Olympic boat would stay under the one design rules in the same way that the Europe stayed under its one design rules. To be quite honest its likely that the sailing standard of the full time Olympic Professionals would be so much higher than that of normal weekend sailors that it would be many years before the weekend sailors in their developed boats would have enough boat speed to beat the Olympic sailors crew speed...

From what I can see it is a straight fight between the 29erXX and the RS800 as they are the only classes with a proper infactructure. I am discounting the I14 because I think it is just a benchmark.
Also it is quite strange as nearly all the entries are mainly UK based. You would think there would be a German or a US entry.

Originally posted by Isis Originally posted by Adds From what I can see it is a straight fight between the 29erXX and the RS800 as they are the only classes with a proper infactructure The other classes involved might not be currently churning out boats all over the world but it doesnt mean they arent capable and prepared for mass production... Remember none of the boats other than the 14 have any kind of presence worldwide at the moment.

Ben's right, none of these classes except the 14 have a worldwide prescence atm so having read the criteria i suspect that an awful lot of the decision is going to be based on how well written the business plan is. saying that my money is on the 29erXX as it is from the same range that has set up a good worldwide infrastructure for the 49er and the 29er, though the others still have a very good chance and i hope that something other than the 29erXX gets selected if only for variety.

I really don't think they are ready. Minimum of 100-120 boats in first couple of years. Roughly maximum out of a single mould.
The boat in my opinion has to be fully one design. Therefore they would have to do all the spares as well, with no history in spares at the moment. ISAF are not stupid therefore you can not look past the 29erXX and RS800 for those reasons alone.

Originally posted by Prince Buster I have a feeling the long standing presumption that the Cherub is a far too esoteric and even eccentric class to be a one design olympic class will put the selectors off.

That was all true of the 49er when that was selected...

Its worth noting that there's a significant anti-single builder lobby in ISAF. A lot of NAs, much as they like the idea of one designs, hate and loathe buying their boats abroad. You even hear noises from the mediterranean countries about EEC anti-monopoly legislation. You'll note that the proposals say a lot about single plugs for moulds, but nothing about single manufacturers.

The Pre trials favourites have a habit of not doing well in these things. The 5 Tonner, for instance, was hot favourite for the 49er trials and came nowhere.

The 29er is obviously the favourite. The RS800 is going to look big, heavy and somewhat old fashioned in the company, especially with the soft rig. Of course that might be what the panel decide they want.

Oh yes, one thing the Cherub derivatives do have going for them is that the Cherub does have a significant history of women being competitive at the top level, including two female world champion helms. That's certainly not true of any of the others.


Edited by JimC