Stars

Rich96,

Interestingly enough, I was asked about this at the Show last weekend. From my (albeit it limited) perspective, there are two boats that you could 'drop' into the Olympics today without recreating the wheel. You've the Star, as you so rightly pointed out - and the Etchells. Their recent Worlds here on the Isle of Wight were a showcase of close, tactical, world class quality competition. Out of the two, my own money would be on the Star, the boat that has more comebacks than Cher!

Yet, at the same time, there has to be the acceptance that bringing back the Star (or even giving the Etchells a shot) would fly in the face of much of the current WS thinking. The Star in particular is probably one of the most technically demanding 2 person boats out there, which makes it hard for the boat to appeal to the 'new' nations that WS are so keen to attract. Nor is it a boat that can be said to be strong with the youth scene and it cannot be denied that Star campaigns are horribly expensive. Please note; this is the line of reasoning that I see, not that I think is right.

I could well see the MNAs, even in the so called 'wealthier' countries being very circumspect in how they approach this issue; many still have fleets of Elliott 6s from the Woman's Match Racing experiment that lasted for one Olympic rotation.

But - who is going to make way for a 100+ year old boat and at the same time, create a slot for foiling kiteboarders? 3 into 2 hasn't gone in the past and still will not do so after 2020.

D