I can take one example. Spi handling: The 49er have a big assymetric on a bowsprit. The 470 have a symmetric spi on a regular pole. Handling these two different sails require different skills.
Do you consider that the skills required to sail a 470 are sufficiently distinctive and worth competing on that they make it less important to have a competition that tests the skills involved in sailing a catamaran? If a cat sailor wanted to go to the Olympics and there was no Olympic multihull, what class would you suggest they aim for? The 49er?
Did you get the impression that I somehow tought cats are inferior to monos? If you did, of course I dont think so. The IOC and ISAF have a whole set of criteria for selecting olympic classes, which leads to "interesting" decision like the Yngling as the ladies keelboat. Do I like it? No. Do I think the rules for selection to be quite good? Yes. As a sidetrack, I wonder how the 49er came to be an olympic class? Anyway, what I do know is that the selection is a political process, not neccesarily a rational process.
If a cat sailor wanted to go olympic and there was no cat event, what do I think he should choose? The class he tought he had the best chance of winning in of course. What class would that be? I would think the Star class out of the current classes. Why? Becouse the rig is so highly tuneable, but he could probably be just as well/badly off in any of the other classes. The skills developed in the 470 on the other hand would make him attractive on largish monohulls afterwards.. As you understand, I have a pretty broad view on the olympic classes. I dont think it really matters that much which class you decide to try in and which you come from as you will spend insane amounts of time in the boat to become good enough anyway. Perhaps the windsurfer would be a notch harder than the rest come to think of it..
