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Olympic Classes for 2012
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JimC View Drop Down
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    Posted: 19 Aug 09 at 12:12pm
Originally posted by English Dave

You can add/delete your own categories.

And you can very easily get up to about 25 or 30 categories, so it really doesn't help much. There are endless aspects of our very varied sport that aren't in the games... No "boats with lids", no long distance racing, no team racing, no two handed hiking boats, no restricted or development boats, the list goes on and on... All the categories are pretty artificial, and all the category debate is to add a bit of indirection to the argument. Why for instance, should there be a women's high performance boat, a classification that is currently regularly sailed by about five teams worldwide, and no women's two handed hiking boat, a classification sailed by thousands of all women teams?

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Post Options Post Options   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Aug 09 at 12:12pm

This was all debated ad nauseum last year, but it seems to me that the very first thing is to decide what Olympic sailing is about. Finding the best sailors? Maximising TV exposure? Increasing global participation? Replicating the sport as played by the masses, or challenging the Olympians with difficult boats? Until you work that out AND STICK TO IT, you can't hope to pick the events, let alone the classes.

To my mind, if women want a HP class, they should show there is an appetite for that side of sailing by actually sailing these boats. If there were 100 boats at the 29erXX worlds, there would be a much stronger case for including it. I believe the Olympics should represent sport, not lead it or change it. Ironically of course, F18s and A Class do get 100 boats their Worlds, but cats are still excluded...
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Posts: 621 		Post Options Post Options   Quote asterix Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Aug 09 at 12:21pm
If you have to distinguish men from women, why not have a youth class as well such as the Oppies - now they are pretty popular!
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Posts: 2143 		Post Options Post Options   Quote getafix Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Aug 09 at 12:53pm
Originally posted by Peaky

This was all debated ad nauseum last year, but it seems to me that the very first thing is to decide what Olympic sailing is about. Finding the best sailors? Maximising TV exposure? Increasing global participation? Replicating the sport as played by the masses, or challenging the Olympians with difficult boats? Until you work that out AND STICK TO IT, you can't hope to pick the events, let alone the classes.

To my mind, if women want a HP class, they should show there is an appetite for that side of sailing by actually sailing these boats. If there were 100 boats at the 29erXX worlds, there would be a much stronger case for including it. I believe the Olympics should represent sport, not lead it or change it. Ironically of course, F18s and A Class do get 100 boats their Worlds, but cats are still excluded...



IMO the first thing to decide is to remove the ISAF current apparatus for making decisions about which classes make up the 10 events.  They are, IMO, corrupt, out-of-touch and ignore their own technical committee's recomendation in the interests of un-accountable lobbyists and entrenched attitudes.

After that, it's open season .  But given IOC are only prepared to have 10 events, there are always going to be comprimises to ensure Men & Women get events in that make sense.
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Posts: 6662 		Post Options Post Options   Quote JimC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Aug 09 at 1:19pm
Originally posted by getafix

They are, IMO, corrupt, out-of-touch and ignore their own technical committee's recomendation in the interests of un-accountable lobbyists and entrenched attitudes.

Or to put it another way, rather than rely on the opinion of the tiny self selected caucus of the technical committee, they give the final say to the much more democratic council, which has representatives from all over the world,reflecting all shades of opinion.
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Posts: 1502 		Post Options Post Options   Quote redback Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Aug 09 at 12:06am
Peaky's right - we have to decide what its all for.  Remember that the World Championship in any class is the pinnacle of achievement.
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Posts: 895 		Post Options Post Options   Quote tickler Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Aug 09 at 7:48am
We have been here before.....and I have said this before. Since we are looking for the best sailors and not the best boats give everyone identical logs, small for little people, bigger for large people and even bigger for two people. Obviously we cant' do that (although It's a Knockout was very popular) but we could have a dedicated Olympic class with variations built in, the boats could be issued to likely National teams two years in advance, someone suggested NS 14 and its variants?
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Posts: 2415 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Scooby_simon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Aug 09 at 8:08am

Originally posted by tickler

We have been here before.....and I have said this before. Since we are looking for the best sailors and not the best boats give everyone identical logs, small for little people, bigger for large people and even bigger for two people. Obviously we cant' do that (although It's a Knockout was very popular) but we could have a dedicated Olympic class with variations built in, the boats could be issued to likely National teams two years in advance, someone suggested NS 14 and its variants?

Sounds like a fine idea.

A class and Tornado fit the bill just fine.  Simples.....

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Posts: 895 		Post Options Post Options   Quote tickler Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Aug 09 at 11:18am
Or two thin logs tied together, making a cat.
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English Dave View Drop Down
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Posts: 682 		Post Options Post Options   Quote English Dave Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Aug 09 at 12:27pm

Originally posted by JimC

Or to put it another way, rather than rely on the opinion of the tiny self selected caucus of the technical committee, they give the final say to the much more democratic council, which has representatives from all over the world,reflecting all shades of opinion.

It would be naive though to suggest that a democratic council would be the panacea of disinterested representation. Political voting and corruption are commonplace throughout democracies and can be no less self-serving than the quango of a tech-committee. Eurovision anyone?
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