Olympic Classes

the tornado fleet may not match the size of the of the laser fleet but it is growing all the time and at the cost of running a tornado the size of the fleet is quite respectable!!

and the bit about replacing the tornado is utterly stupid as it has only just had its first olympics, it is still the quickest cat out there and to replace it would cost the sailors so much money that they have spent buying boats!!

Well it will all be decided this week!!!

The meetings of the ISAF Council on 12 and 13 November,  will finally
decide the equipment to be used in four years’ time.

Following the Council mid-year meetings in June 2004, ISAF reduced the
choice of equipment which can be considered for selection for the 2008
Olympic Games, to the following list:

1. Multihull Open: Hobie 16 or Tornado
2. Keelboat Women: Soling or Yngling
3. Keelboat Men: Soling, Star or Yngling
4. Double-handed Dinghy Open: 49er or Snipe
5. Double-handed Dinghy Women: 470 or 49er or Snipe
6. Double-handed Dinghy Men: 470 or 49er [whichever loses vote 4], Snipe
7. Single-handed Dinghy Men: Finn or Laser [whichever is not selected is
the only option in vote 8]
8. Single-handed Dinghy Open: Finn or Laser
9. Single-handed Dinghy Women: Byte or Europe or Flash or Laser Radial or
Zoom8
10. Windsurfer Men: Hybrid, Mistral, Mistral Derivative or Outcome of
Windsurfing Equipment Evaluation Trials
11. Windsurfer Women: Hybrid, Mistral, Mistral Derivative or outcome
windsurfing equipment evaluation trials

An Olympic class does not have to represent sailors in any one country, but must provide top quality international racing for the world's elite. Neither the Finn, nor the Star nor the Tornado are present in any great numbers in the UK, is this a reason for eliminating them from the Olympics.

Weight categories are a difficult issue.

I would strongly contest that a class with a lower weight limit of 80 kg in any way represents a heavyweight class Especially as the average size of sportsmen and women is steadily increasing. 80kg is the weight of an international scrum half nowadays!

An upper weight limit of 60kg might well exclude many women from the lightweight competition

I would be surprised if any a hull (even with different rigs) that can provide top quality racing for such differing weights. The Laser certainly doesn't cope with heavy helmsmen.

However I do agree that sailing, as with equestrian events should try and propose a number of truly Open classes in which men and women compete equally. After all it is weight, not gender, that is the significant factor in sailing. The present positive discrimination in favour of women's classes should be only a temporary mesure.

Gordon

The Finn does not represent sailing in the UK - does it?

I think a good idea would be to have one class and have 3 medal groups for each sex for the single handers. This could then be replicated for double handers and cats.

So you could have

Laser under 60kg Male and Female

Laser 60 to 80kg Male and Female

Laser 80kg+ Male and Female

You don't have to use the laser , you could use a new class like the Musto Skiff. You just need to make it international. Just look how quickly they did that for the 49er.

this would be easier to understand than the current system.