Olympic Classes for 2012

I'd agree, strange.  I know the cognoscenti love the Star but its out of place and I would have thought the men and women would be able to race on equal footing in the 470 and then 2 single handers for men - that can't be right.  As for the Windsurfer can't we mix the sexes here too and how come the women get match racing and the men don't.

I love watching the 49ers but they are expensive - can that be justified?

I don't know why they persist with the 470, its expensive because it doesn't last and its not very exciting to watch.  Perhaps a Laser 4000 would be better and with its equalisation system they could combine the sexes.  Its cheap and it lasts and it would be exciting to watch.

Hey I've just thought all that lead might make the keel boat sailors feel at home and so we can ditch the Star and that other keelboat thingy!

I was thinking - drop the 49er and drop the 470 and put the women and the men in a 4000.  Much cheaper than a 470 (and faster) and much, much cheaper than a 49er, then we could get more nations involved as they could aford it.

The 49er is expensive.  Speak to anybody campaigning one and you'll find they had to have a new mast in the early days, and now a new mast and sails.  I think there's been minor changes to the foils and the hulls which has required selling off the old ones and buying new.  It may be a one design in name but it keeps changing.

The other thing I'd be keen on removing is this artificial devision of men and women.  Lightweights are increasingly at an advantage in sailing and so this should equalise the difference between women and men.  It used to be that the optimum 5o5 or Flying Dutchmen crew was about 16 stone - not any more.  My friends  who campaign a 49er are regarded as the heaviest in the fleet.  The crew probably does weight about 13 stone and the helm about 11 and that's in a boat that carries about 50 sq metres off the wind.  I reason that most boats would go best with less.