No multihull class at 2012 Olympics = madness

[The Bigfella]

Wow - I missed this at the time ........ These guys are sowing the seeds of their own destruction.



ISAF Rules Catamarans out of Olympics Monday 12 Nov 2007, the ISAF Council voted against any Multihull Event for the 2012 Olympic Games to be held in Britain. It decided that in future the only sailing boats to be raced should have one hull.

In doing so, it voted against the fastest boat at the Games, the only Event Open to both Men and Women, a permanent fixture for three decades, the recommendation of its own Events Committee, the strong endorsement of the host nation, and a sport invented in Britain.
The international catamaran community is shocked at the ISAF decision. "The bottom line right now is that Multihull sailing has no seat at the ISAF table. And, ISAF has voted that it is a monohull organization" according to Mike Grandfield (US), Chairman of the International Tornado Association, the Olympic Multihull.

"This is has nothing to do with objective assessment of Olympic selection criteria, but everything to do with sailing politics" says Nick Dewhirst, Chairman of UKCRA, the UK Catamaran Racing Association.

That is backed by David Brookes (AUS), the ISAF Representative for Hobie Cats: "It is disappointing as we did have the votes until the US Delegation did a 'deal' with the 470 Class at the expense of the multihulls."

While ISAF Chairman, Goran Petersson’s (SWE) statement says "The ten events chosen for the London Games provide a perfect showcase of the wide range and diversity of sailing", Dewhirst believes this is patently not so.

He says that you can sail in the Games standing up, with a lump of metal to slow you down, in something slow or unpopular and with one, two or three men in a boat, but you can’t do what the sailing public wants, which is to sail the fastest and most exciting kind of boat with a member of the opposite sex, because it has two hulls. You can’t race in either the third most popular boat in the world (Hobie Cat) or the fastest one (Tornado), so if the Sailing Regatta is not about diversity, popularity or excitement, what does ISAF think it is about?

The International Olympic Committee has already sent ISAF a warning that sailing is at risk by cutting back the number of its Events. This decision increases the likelihood that the whole Sailing Regatta could be thrown out of the Games entirely, as some nations see it as white, rich and exclusive.

http://www.aita.asn.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=104&Itemid=1

[bamamick]

How the heck did you miss that?

Big noises being made about a re-vote. Don't think it'll do much good but you never know.

Mickey Lake

[The Bigfella]

... and from the same site, this comment by the #1 in the sport:



Australia's Darren Bundock is the top ranked Tornado sailor in the world. He and A Cat World Champion fellow Australian Glenn Ashby are also the F18 World Champions. What does 'Bundy' think of the dumping of the Multihull Class from the 2012 Olympic regatta?

'What can I say? I am shocked, disappointed and totally confused. I have lost all faith in the ISAF and especially the council decision-making process.'

'Sailing has taken a massive backwards step not only eliminating the multihull but not implementing the women’s high performance skiff or the women’s multihull. Just keeping the doublehanded dinghy and not moving with the times.

Our sport had the chance to take a massive jump in London 2012 (finally an Olympics possibly with wind) but our sport has been destroyed by a council made up of inactive un-youthful ex-sailors living in the past.
The multihull has been discriminated against, it was the easy option. Despite multihulls making up for 25% of the sailing fraternity we have very little representation on the ISAF council. They are all elderly keelboat sailors. I’m surprised the multihull got so close to defeating the keelboats.
I am at fault in not believing ISAF would discriminate against a whole diverse discipline in the Olympics.

The lobbying, pub parties and deals that go on in the corridors before the ISAF Council meeting is just wrong.

How can they throw out the Events committee recommendations? After all, they are ISAF’s experts that are in touch with the sailing communities.
What positive thing has the ISAF achieved in recent years? I’m struggling to think of any.

ISAF have agreed to have the sailing for the 2008 Olympics in Qingdao - a place known for no wind.

How can this happen? How can we make the sport attractive and TV-friendly in a place that has an average of 3 to 4 knots at that time of the year. It’s like having the Winter Olympics in the Caribbean with no snow.
ISAF have failed to put together a World Sailing Series. How easy would that have been even if they just used the current Grade 1 events?
Tornado and 49er started it with the introduction of the Volvo Champions Race, attracting 10,000 spectators throughout the weekend.
They continue to have Grade 1 events in marginal locations like Medemblik, Kiel and Hyeres. The weather conditions in these locations at the time of the year are appalling. Why would anyone want to go to Medemblik and sail in the grey overcast conditions, continually raining and freezing?

We still have a World ranking system that does not reflect reality. I say this even though I am at the top of the World rankings at the moment. But there was a period when I won the World and European Championships but was still ranked 14th! Plus Olivier Backes (FRA) had retired for 18 months before he was out of the top 10!

They have failed to create and undermined a youth multihull development program. There are so many youth multihull development boats available but in the youth trials, ISAF would not allow boats with centreboards. Even an Optimist has a centreboard!. It’s not rocket science that when it’s shallow it needs to come up. Even kids can come to terms with that.
Meanwhile, life is good if you are a 70kg monohull sailor..Do you sail:
1. Laser 2. 470, or 3. 49er?

If you’re a woman high performance sailor like Carolijn Brouwer, you have zero options as you can’t even revert back to 49er, as it’s men only. Yngling or 470 would just be to painful to go back to.

Even one high-performance woman’s class would be beneficial, whether it be a skiff or there are many cat classes suitable like the Viper - a 16 foot high-performance catamaran, wing mast, spinnaker and double trapeze. (www.ahpc.com.au/m_viper1.htm (http://www.ahpc.com.au/m_viper1.htm)).

Women’s multihull did not stand a chance as ISAF have no idea how many woman are active in the multihull world, with 100 alone competing in a one-day event each year in Texel.

Imagine how good the sport would have been covered if we had:
1. Men & Women Singlehander, 2. M&W Doublehander (preferably high performance), 3. M&W Sailboard, * M&W Multihull, * M&W keelboat.
'How simple, all aspects covered.

So how do we save sailing before ISAF undermine the sport completely?
Multihulls need to break away from ISAF. After all, they have shown they only have monohull interests in mind. We need the International Multihull Sailing Federation. How long will the multihull stay in the Youth Worlds? It has already struggled to stay.

We need to endorse the concepts of people like Roland Gäbler (three-time Tornado World Champion and Bronze medal winner) and activate the 'Sailing Revolution Teams' and activate the 'The Sailing Dream Tour'.
Multihull Grand Prix series with paid TV coverage, corporate entertainment and spectator focus in ideal locations and offer the Formula 1 of sailing to the world. We don’t need ISAF.

Multihull can then apply to IOC for a separate spot in the Games, just like canoeing did to rowing.

The multihull is not dead, it’s just been set free! We have the ultimate boat!'

[The Bigfella]

How the heck did you miss that?



I don't race anymore ..... and in going through the same site, I picked up on the death last year of Peter Blaxland. One of the greats of the Tornado community - at a guess he would have been mid to late eighties. A good life. I recall turning up at his house (I bought a mast off him when mine broke) and he was underneath his Citroen, struggling to get the exhaust off. He asked me to swing the hammer and belt the cold chisel he was holding - this from one of Australia's top surgeons. I couldn't do it - I held the cold chisel while he belted.

[Dan McCosh]

I can see the problem. When the Tornados start with our fleet, they tend to finish before the second class gets underway. They look kind of lost, coming across the finish line before everybody else gets started.

[The Bigfella]

Ignoring 25% of the sailing fraternity is a big call on their part.