Olympic Classes for 2012

Scooby,

It pleases me that you are as unhappy about be called a runt as heavy weight sailors are about being called fat. How does it feel...

In my family a dwarf is any adult male under 6 foot...

It is perfectly possible to design a boat for 2 100+ kg athletes... however it would have provide better racing and be better marketed than the Star in order to acheive international acceptance (real Star sailing is still unrestricted weight, only Olympic hopefuls bother about the weight limits). The FD, and the Tempest, are fantastic boats. Other boats, like the Dragon and the Etchells have compromised with politically correct weight limits.

However I do not believe that any SMOD manufacturer is prepared to take on the established classes in this niche, but ever growing, market.

 

Gordon

 

 

Niche marketing of high quality products is almost invisible. No need of adverts, publicity or outward signs to attract potential clients. Believe me, if you are a 100+kg crew the Star class will find you...

A cynic would declare that some classes need a huge spend on publicity, providing free boats, or subsidising regattas in order to attract customers. Do all SMODs succeed because of the intrinsic qqualities of the boat, or because of the marketing machine tgat underpins the class.

 

Gordon

Star mast breakages have nothing to do with the quality of the product. The rig is very delicate and punishes mistakes in a very expensive way. They don't break for the same reasons that a home-made carbon stick that's been "repaired four times already might break!

Well said Kenny! As a member of another class that, according to the all-seeing wise ones on this forum, is "dying", I couldn't have put it better myself! We seem to have developed a culture in the UK such that the vast majority of the noise is made by a tiny minority of folk sailing "modern" boats. I think the Star is a fabulous boat. That rig scares me to death, but nothing goes upwind like a Star. And that's from an FD sailor!

The Olympics would be poorer for the loss of the Star, but I'm not sure the Star Class would be poorer for the loss of the Olympics.

Neil

Originally posted by NeilP We seem to have developed a culture in the UK such that the vast majority of the noise is made by a tiny minority of folk sailing "modern" boats. Neil

Sadly only too true.

I just looked at the latest Seahorse magazine to arrive down here. There
was an article by Andy Rice saying that the world title fleets for the Moths
and 14s "proved" that dinghy sailing was moving towards foilers.

Heaven knows the Moths and 14s are fantastic boats, but how do world
title fleets that attract only about 90 boats amount to proof that the world
is going to fast boats? And both were open entry, the Moths were in a
popular place (Garda) and currently have a big commercial backer.

This season that the Moth and 14 got 180 boats between them for their
worlds - but in comparison last season the Laser classes got over 900
boats to world titles in distant places like Australia, NZ and South Africa.

The Laser's standard Masters alone got a bigger fleet than the Moth
worlds, with an ISAF world champ from another class running second last,
and there were dozens more sailors on the waiting list for entry.

At the other end of the scale, there were 280 boys and 116 girls in the
latest 4.7 worlds - a limited entry event.

Solos, Sabres, Flying Scots, Thistles, O-Jolle and many other "slow" boats
are also hugely popular. In cats, the H16 dominates. In boards, the "new
style old school" Kona has the biggest number in ranking lists. It's the
same everywhere.

The 400 kids who qualified for the 4.7 worlds (including many from non-
establishment countries ie Turkey, Croatia, Bulgaria) show the future of
sailing much better than the 88 who went to another event.


PS Rick - is the public image of bikes different? I've ridden a triathlon
bike that was 5th in a worlds and it's something my kids or mother-in-
law could ride too. It's not like a skiff. And while you may very well have
different fishing shows, certainly the ones down here (and in the USA, I
understand) centre around very average looking guys in little "bass boats"
and "tinnies".

Scooby - I don't know your target audience. However, as you said the first
two questions they ask is "how hard" and "how much" and "do they fall
over". In that case, surely we should promote classes that aren't too hard,
don't cost too much, and don't fall over too much. Of course, we should
promote fast boats AS WELL.

Stefan - As you said "the increasing focus on high-wind sailing meant
that even in the UK's windy climate, people were sailing less and less and
sitting around waiting for the wind more and more. Most eventually got
bored and went away.'

You're right, and the increasing focus on high wind sailing was largely
caused because people thought that spectacle and high performance sold
gear. In the long term, as windsurfing found out, it doesn't.

"In any case, it doesn't translate to a problem with skiff-type boats -
rather the reverse."

Down here, anyway, the skiffs are pickier with their conditions than
conventional boats.







Edited by Chris 249