Olympic Sailing - interesting paper

Originally posted by salmon80 Originally posted by Old Timer Originally posted by getafix   As I wrote before. No idea why a class as prestigious and with such great history (freestanding of the Olypmics) as the Finn, puts soooool much emphasis on being part of it.  Because they know what happens to classes when they lose the Olympic slot, name me one example of a class that has thrived following deselection? Star

The Europe - admittedly not in the UK where it has never been a big class, even when part of the Olympics, but have a look at International numbers and you'll see that it's huge!

Originally posted by Rupert Firefly seems to have coped pretty well!

Just post war, there weren't many boats which could be produced quickly enough to get a fleet together. The British Moth was also considered, which given a windy week in Torbay, could have been very interesting indeed!
Given that it was considered too hard to sail single-handed and so a new boat designed for 1952, it does seem odd that a boat which needs as much weight single-handed as a Firefly does double-handed was chosen to replace it. However, all these years on, it has, to me, become as much a part of the games as the weights in lifting heavy stuff, or the shot in throwing heavy stuff.
Maybe the Women's singlehander should be a 3/4 scale Finn?

Originally posted by Sam.Spoons Or, as it is known, The Europe :) (okay I know to is not actually much like a Finn beyond a first glance,,,,,,)

So what was the deal with the exit of the Europe? Women obviously lesser beings than fat men?