Hi Mark -

This wanders from your topic a little - you and I have had long phone conversations about this stuff before. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

You have to keep in mind what the PanAm Games is supposed to do - offer Olympians some international-flavour competition in the quadrennium leading up to the Olympics. For many sports, the PanAm Games fulfills that intention. Not so for catamaran sailing. Tornado sailors are not going to H16 events to get themselves into the PanAms. There are a few Tornado teams that also sail in the NAF18 class, but F18 in the US does not seem to be the Olympic feeder that it is in the EU or Australia.

During the whole controversy regarding the 2012 Games that we just endured, many of us rejected the notion that the US should only support events in which we felt we had a chance to win. Instead, for the health of the sport, many feel that we should look at the classes competing in the US and world-wide such that the Olympic events reflect the overall sport everywhere - that undoubtedly means a multihull belongs in the Olympics. It is a less-selfish ideal that is difficult to articulate and even harder to stick with. With consideration to the PanAms, obviously, if you campare fleet size within the PanAm region, the H16 dominates and presents lower costs to competitors. The manufacturer did not support this Games, so it was a BYOB event - but there are plenty of competitive H16s out there. To be realistic, the US struggles to get into the top ten at the H16 Continentals when PanAm-region teams show up. It is even tougher at the Worlds. The same can be asserted, to an only-slightly lesser degree, with regard to the F18 class. A Euro team came to last year's NAF18 Nationals and won it, and the US has had inconsistent participation at the F18 Worlds. The F18, however, is indisputably a closer match to the current Olympic equipment, and there is some crossover between Tornado and F18 sailors in the PanAm region.

There is a lot to be considered - if the various PanAm-region F18 class associations can pull together with a clear message that shows real benefit to the whole sport, then there is a chance that the H16 could be replaced. Change is usually met with resistance. If the far-more polically active H16 fleets moved to oppose such a change, things could get contentious... which is bad for the sport overall. It would be far better if those within the ISAF and PanAm Games administrations came to better understand the issue and made a decision that benefits the sport and serves the purpose of the Games. Seeing as our sport represents a terribly small sliver of the PanAm pie, I would be flabbergasted if things unfolded that way, though. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />