Multihull mistake forces ISAF Olympic Sailing overhaul
Sometimes a major tragedy is needed to
prompt a major change. The death of five sailors in the 1998 Sydney
Hobart race prompted major changes in offshore racing safety
regulations. The removal of the fastest and most exciting boat, the
Tornado multihull, for the 2012 London Olympics may in the long term be
the trigger that changes the face of sailing world-wide over the coming
decades. The widely criticised decision for the
multihull removal was made at the 2007 ISAF Annual Conference in
Estoril, Portugal. Faced with a major backlash and at the same time
threats to the place of sailing on the Olympic sporting roster, the
2008 Madrid conference recognised the need for an overall strategic
plan. Rather than enduring more disastrous ad hoc decision making they
therefore set up the Olympic Commission. Phil Jones (AUS),
Technical Delegate for sailing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and
CEO of Yachting Australia since 1997 and the chairman of the
Commission, talked to Sail-World today soon after the Olympic Committee
report was published. ‘It wasn’t the 2007 multi-hull decision
on its own. In 2004-2005 ISAF told the IOC it was going to make the
sport more attractive in the Olympics by introducing faster and more
exciting boats. Very clear direction. And then of course, two years
later they decide that they were going to take out the multi-hull. ‘Now
whether you believe or not you will make the sport more attractive by
introducing faster more exciting boats, that is not the question. The
point is, you can’t tell the IOC one thing and then two years later do
something diametrically opposite. That just demonstrates you are not
working through any kind of plan. ‘Now we have one!’ At the 2010 mid-year ISAF conference in Hungary last week the Olympic Commission presented their initial report. At
the end of the detailed two and a half hour presentation, Göran
Petersson (SWE), President of ISAF, said: 'Is there anybody here who
thinks that doing nothing is an option for us?' Not a single hand was
raised. ISAF Olympic Commision – Report to ISAF Executive Committee May 2010 ISAF Recommended as a Draft Report for wider consultation Executive summary ES.1
In 2002 the IOC noted that, when compared with other summer Olympic
sports, sailing had a high number of athletes and events in comparison
to its broadcast revenues and spectator appeal. In addition the cost
and complexity of the operations of the sailing competition presented
challenges for the development of the sport. As a result the IOC
reduced the number of sailing events and athletes. ES.2 Since
then IOC has introduced a process for systematic review of the Olympic
Programme, and has developed a set of 33 criteria to be used to assess
the strengths and weaknesses of each sport, and the value that each
sport adds to the Olympic Programme. The 4-yearly publication of the
IOC review enables IOC delegates, ISAF and sailors, and other sports to
compare how well each sport meets the IOC criteria. ES.3 More
recently IOC President Jacques Rogge stated that 28 sports is the
maximum for the summer Olympics, and that for its process of
rejuvenation the IOC has to have a system of elimination and entry.
'And in future' he commented, 'that is what we are going to do on a
regular basis. At times we are removing one sport and adding another
one'. We have recently seen this with the removal of baseball and
softball, and the introduction of golf and rugby. There are many other
sports now seeking to become the next new Olympic entrants. ES.4
Remaining an Olympic sport is critical to ISAF, and to the growth and
development of sailing globally. The IOC provides ISAF with 65% of its
income (2004 figures). Probably more significantly MNAs and sailors
benefit financially too through support from NOCs and sponsors; the
Commission estimates this to be worth over €100m annually - and this
does not include the industry, including manufacturers and classes,
that supports Olympic sailing. ES.5 Sailing has historically
had good links into the IOC, and will be making its 26th appearance in
the Olympic Programme in 2012. Sailing scores well against some of the
criteria, but is currently weak in other important areas such as
spectator and broadcast revenue, and costs. Sailing is also strong in
Europe in particular, but is much weaker in emerging areas such as Asia
and Africa. ES.6 To secure its position as an Olympic sport,
ISAF needs an overarching Olympic strategy, rather than one-off
initiatives, that will improve its performance against the IOC criteria
and maximise the value that the sport adds to the Olympic Programme. If
ISAF does this, ISAF will become stronger, and the sport, sailors and
MNAs will benefit. If ISAF fails to do this, the IOC’s policy of
Olympic sport selection and de-selection will make sailing
progressively more vulnerable. ES.7 The Commission has
identified 5 core segments to this overarching strategy which link to
IOC criteria: increasing universality (global participation); expanding
Olympic qualification opportunities; building the popularity of the
sport for media and spectators; improving the ISAF event structure; and
enhancing sailing in the Olympic Games. ES.8 In each case the
Commission has analysed sailing's strengths and weaknesses, and made
specific recommendations which the Commission believes enhance the
sport while remaining true to its fundamentals. ES.9 Across
these recommendations the Commission encountered consistent themes that
should be reflected in ISAF's future Olympic decisions: ISAF should expand the reach and appeal of sailing - to emerging nations and sailors, and to spectators and the media ISAF should reduce costs - for sailors and MNAs, for event organisers, for IOC and the media ISAF
should build more consistency and continuity to our Olympic decisions,
giving MNAs better return on their Olympic investment, and providing
sailors a clear pathway for sailors from junior to youth to Olympic ISAF
should focus Olympic strategy more on youth, and encourage adoption of
more exciting (for athlete and spectator) events and equipment ISAF should introduce more structure to the annual calendar of sailing events. ES.10
Taken together, the Commission believes its recommendations provide
ISAF with a clear vision for sailing in the Olympics, and a clear
strategy for achieving this vision. The Commission is ready to support
the Executive Committee in considering the allocation of
responsibilities, timelines and the financial implications of
implementing the various recommendations. The mission for ISAF To strengthen the position of sailing in the Olympic Games. To leverage sailing in the Olympic Games in a way that serves to grow interest and participation in sailing as a global sport. To limit cost and environmental impact in achieving our goals. Vision for sailing as an Olympic Sport Building Popularity Through
easy to understand events, good live presentation, high quality
production for television and on-line distribution, assisted by the
application of the latest tracking and other technology, and broad
coverage in other media, Olympic sailing is an attractive, quality
sports entertainment property to the benefit of all stakeholders Increasing
Universality - Our sport is widely practiced globally by people of all
ages and abilities and of both genders, on inexpensive equipment
available around the world. There are clear and accessible pathways for
young people from local to regional, international and Olympic
competition and our sport is a core part of all major Regional ‘Games’ Expanding Qualification opportunities Our
qualification system provides opportunities for the best sailors from
each nation to participate at the Olympic Games and provides
continental representation. Local competitions ensure that the system
is as widely accessible as possible at reasonable cost to participants Improving event structure The
structure of our events clearly identifies our champions and provides
cost effective pathways for athletes and MNAs to prepare for the
Olympic Games, whilst encouraging the global spread of the sport
through local opportunities to compete and providing our best athletes
with a platform to generate income through commercial support Enhancing the Olympic Games The
pinnacle event every four years, the Olympic Games demonstrates the
diversity and skills of the leading young sailors from each nation. No
athlete has an equipment advantage. We showcase our sport in a format
that provides entertaining and enjoyable coverage to the large live and
remote audience that is attracted through previous exposure to our
sport Where from here?? Phil Jones
continues ‘So, we obviously have to do something. And I think we made a
good start. Now we are inviting input from various International
authorities and classes. We will refine that and make a clear plan to
move forward. ‘At the time of the 2008 Olympics there were
126 MNA’s (Member Nation Authorities); by comparison Football (soccer)
the World Game, has 208 countries competing for 32 places in the World
Cup. ‘The interesting thing is that the IOC consists of a
number of nations who participate in the Olympic qualifications and
this is the benchmark, not the number competing in the Olympic games
... that is pretty significant isn’t it? ‘There are five IOC
continents – Africa, Oceania, which is the smallest of the continents,
the America’s, both North and South (the IOC counts it as one (1)
continent), Asia and Europe. ‘When you look at the IOC
distribution of membership there are more African nations in the IOC
than any other continent. And so if you, and again some of the
comparisons are interesting, if you look at Europe in 2008, (they had
in the IOC) there were 49 members. In ISAF, there were 46. In other
words there were only three nations that ISAF didn’t have in membership
in Europe. ‘If you look at Africa there are 53 IOC members
and 15 African MNA’s, and the IOC considers that where that ratio is
worse than 33%, you basically have low membership in a continent. ‘Asia
is slightly less of a problem; 44 nations in the IOC and 25 ISAF
members. So you know we are just over 50% of the IOC memberships. 'We know where the potential is, the key is what we do from here...' stated Jones. In
Parts 2 and 3 of this Olympic Commission report analysis we will look
at what can be done in the short and long term, the reaction from key
players and more...
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