The Olympic Curse

I like questions with no answers - we can delve back into history, form opinions, set the world of sailing to rights, all from our keyboards.

Gordon, wasn't dissing the 505 or its cost - I'm sure the boats you mention cost just as much, and the dinghy world needs boats that normal (ie not sponsored) people are willing to actually spend money on. At National level, the Merlin Rocket is another to fill the niche. The fact that Olympians pop into the class for some fun shows that the skill levels are very high within the fleet (after all, many of the sailors are well known names in sailing round the world), but that is very different from the boat being on the world tour that the Olympic classes do, week in, week out.

Rupert
Is the 49er or Nacra 17 any cheaper and the new boats last a decent amount of time?
We used to get the top guys come and sail anyway, I can remember Nigel Buckley winning the Nationals when he was 470 world champ and Ian Walker coming to a Nationals at Mounts Bay.
A few 505 guys whent into the FD as well, John Loveday, to name but one.

Originally posted by Rupert Originally posted by JimC Originally posted by Rupert That is probably the closest a boat has got to the Olympics without it happening, Lets try and think of some leading contenders and near misses... 470/Fireball is an obvious one. 49er/Laser 5 Tonner/Boss/B14 49erFX/29erXX/RS800 Soling/Etchells what else? The Contender is in the situation the 49er would have been in if, after all the trials and viewpoints taken, they had turned around and stuck with the FD. In my view, it puts it closer than all the others you list - they were all near (or far) misses. However, what your list shows is that there is no simple answer - all those boats have fared differently both to each other and to the selected boats.

Edited by Brass - 14 Aug 14 at 3:32pm

Originally posted by Rupert The Olympic curse was that a class would get shedloads of money spent on it, so a mast would set you back more than a whole different boat, have a bunch of pro sailors which no weekend warrior could hope to keep up with sailing it, and so people wouldn't sail it. Oddly, it really appears to be a myth. Far more likely is that the Olympic boats were already big classes elsewhere, and the UK had boats filling that niche already. The 470, huge in France and all over Europe, really, but up against the Fireball here. The Finn big in northern Europe - actually, never really a failure here, just a small market, and the classics are going strong. The Star - huge in the Americas. The Europe - a very complex one, that, I think, and certainly the development expense (and the "sailed by girls thing?) was a problem, but mostly once it ceased to be an Olympic class. The Tempest? Killed by the Star lobby? 420 never an Olympic class? Pretty big everywhere, and still is in less fashion conscious countries. Might be here, too. Not checked. As for the Laser, most owners appear not to care less whether it is in the Olympics. Is really only a sideshow for the class, as far as I can see, and maybe not one that either helps or hinders sales.

Maybe it would never have got to the size it was in the UK without the Olympics!