10 members of 1980 Olympic team press their case to the RYA

by Gavin Simonds 5 Dec 2011 07:01 GMT

Colin Simonds' certificate from the RYA after the boycott of the 1980 Olympics © Gavin Simonds

10 members of the 1980 Olympic Team have written an open letter to the RYA asking that lessons are learned from the mistakes made in that era.

For reasons that have never become clear and without consulting either the squad or its coach (the legendary Vernon Stratton), the RYA Council chose in 1980 to support Margaret Thatcher’s call and unilaterally banned their own Sailing Team from taking their place at the Olympic starting line. The vast majority of the other sports were allowed to attend and compete by their various associations. Some athletes such as Seb Coe and Lord Moynihan have received UK honours and built successful careers following the results they achieved in defiance of the Boycott at those games.

At least one member of each crew of every class due to sail at those Olympics has written an open letter to the RYA. In this letter they ask that the RYA commit to consult their membership before such a ban can ever be imposed again on the Sailing Team. Additionally they have pointed out how badly they were treated in 1980 and thereafter and asked that the RYA now make a suitable and agreed gesture to those that they prevented attending.

Their campaign has been given added currency by the very recent news that India is threatening to boycott London 2012 over events in Bhopal in 1984. And it has been given greater impetus by gaining the strong support of Sir Peter Bottomley (MP) who recently tabled a formal ‘Early Day Motion’ in the House of Commons calling for an end to Boycotts and for those banned in 1980 to be invited to join the current British Olympic team and walk behind the Union Jack at the London Opening ceremony.

The signatories to the letter include those below and they are all asking that readers email noting their support. These will be passed onto the RYA.

Finn: Tim Law for the late Chris Law
Flying Dutchman: Pat Blake and Christian Houchin
470: Jerry Richards
Soling: Colin Simonds, Gavin Simonds and Chris Osborne
Star: Andrew Hurst
Tornado: Rob White and David Campbell-James

Colin Simonds, skipper of our entry in the Soling class in 1980 says: "Three of our team members won the European championships in their classes shortly before the Olympics - beating every one of the eventual medal winners. They had a Gold medal and an MBE seized from their grasp by the RYA without any consultation. The medals are gone - but when will the RYA make best endeavours to put these three fantastic people who have served their sport for a lifetime up for an MBE? The USA team were all given Congressional medals of honour at the White House; we got a printed scroll by post, which we had to frame ourselves."