Olympic Classes for 2012

Originally posted by JimC Well *I* know who he is...

Well good for you jim ...

Originally posted by JimC One of the things about Sydney is that it concentrates a lot of sailors into a very small area and if anything they actually live closer the the boats than happns in the UK.

Isn't Melbourne really where more dinghy action happens?

I am pretty sure that is where the main 14 & Contender Fleets are ...

Originally posted by Stefan Lloyd Originally posted by JimC Sailing is strong on new media coverage Yes, I watched the Olympics primarily by PC. Unfortunate it is broadcast hours that are counted and sailing's were minimal, because it's broadcasters who have the deep pockets to fund the IOC and ultimately the games themselves. http://sailjuice.squarespace.com/ post of Mon 17th Nov is a good read and there is a comment made there that crystallises the debate well. "The ISAF need to understand/agree with the IOC what the purpose of the Games is. In other words it needs to put the following statemements in a priority order: Classes should be selected to:. 1. Maximise TV exposure/revenue 2. Represent/reflect global participation 3. Encourage newcomers into the sport 4. Test skill levels to the full 5. Represent a broad range of disciplines 6. Showcase modern technology 7. Conform with ploitical correctness 8. Reward the best sailor Until the ISAF decides how much weight to give each of these factors, there is no way a systematic, consistent approach to selecting classes can happen and the farce of the last 12 months (12 years?) will continue.

That's my post.  One factor I forgot to add to the list is the importance (or not) of being a SMOD.

P.S. I know who Chris 249 is too...  I feel like James Bond.

Edited by Chew my RS

Well maybe I know him, maybe I don't, but he does speak sense and seems
to have a similar viewpoint to my own, which possibly is as a result of shared
common experience of the rise and fall of windsurfing.

My opinion on this, isn't that there shouldn't be fast boats, but in this day
and age with the knowledge available to us, as has been demonstrated by
that Alto, it should be possible to make fast boats that are easy to sail.

Edited by G.R.F.

Originally posted by Tessa How many skiifs are suitable for junior or youth level and which ones would they be? I'd definitely include the 29er. Any others?

In Australia, skiffs and relatives - Skiffs by UK definition anyway [grin]

Early teens
   Flying Ant
   Flying 11

Late teens
   Cherub
   13ft Skiff
   VJ

Finding Chris is not hard, as he regularly posts that he helps run the Windsurfer One design class in Aus, and their home page is: [tada] http://cthom249.googlepages.com/


Edited by JimC

Originally posted by Tessa The mysterious Chris 249 criticses skiff sailing for the lack of juniors sailing in skiffs. How many skiifs are suitable for junior or youth level and which ones would they be? I'd definitely include the 29er. Any others? Tessa

If my identity really interests anyone else, they can PM me! :-)
Put it this way - I sure as hell ain't a Bethwaite or a Phil Morrison or a
Nick Peters, but I've been in a position where I can ring them up and
pester them!

But surely the point isn't who anyone is, but whether they have a factual
basis (rather than an unproven belief) for the position they are arguing
for. Put it this way, a lot of the people above are correct.

Mysterious Tess, I wasn't criticising skiffs for causing a lack of juniors -
merely pointing out that the fact that many skiff clubs have little or no
local junior sailing, which may indicate that the idea "fast boats attract
more people" isn't true.

As Jim pointed out, there are many junior boats down here that would be
called "skiff types" in other places. You can also add the JD (11' long,
assy, trapeze), 13 Foot Skiff (like a 29er but faster), 303 (actually a baby
505, 10' long and trap), NJ (baby scow Moth), to the list of quick, light
junior boats.

In a couple of skiff clubs, boats like these are thriving - but other skiff
clubs have no juniors or only a few, and small fleets in general. The fast
junior boats can be so complicated in various ways that they drive kids
away (anyone want to buy the Flying Ant in my garage?) in a way that
Fevas etc may not.

There's certainly no indication that the clubs that concentrate on high-
performance sailing have bigger junior fleets; or bigger fleets at all.
Similarly, sailing down here may have more of a high-performance image
(not reality!) than in the UK - yet dinghy sailing is bigger in the UK than it
is here. It's the same as state level - the states with fewer skiffs have,
arguably, bigger sailing scenes for their population.

None of this is attacking skiffs or fast craft (which is what I sail a lot
myself) merely pointing out the lack of evidence for the "fast boats attract
sailors" belief that many people are campaigning for.

Promote fast boats? YES. Promote them as the best or only future of the
sport? No!

Criticise slow boats and chuck them out of the Games on some utterly
unproven belief that they don't attract people? Hell no!



Edited by Chris 249