Following the decision of ISAF to drop the multihull from the 2012 Olympic Games, the International Multihull Council today begins its campaign to have a Men's and Women's multihull installed as a disciplines for the 2016 Olympic Games.

While there is an outside chance that the IOC or some late change of heart from ISAF could see the multihull back in for 2012, after two votes on the matter and the most bitter debate in recent memory, it would appear that the best option for multihull sailors is to accept the decision of the ISAF Council, build on the support that we currently enjoy from the clear majority of Council members, and start now on a positive campaign for 2016. With this 2012 loss in mind, the so called "5/5" debate may ultimately deliver a better outcome for 2016 than otherwise would have been achieved if a single multihull discipline had been included in 2012.

Missing a full Olympic cycle will be difficult for multihull sailors, but history tells us that some pain may be required to move forward. Clearly within ISAF there is a now a strong push to have a 5/5 split of disciplines between Men and Women. While the sport has always had Open events, historically there have been very, very few women qualify for their countries in Open events. It would be better for us to therefore stop paying lip service to women and actually provide separate events for Men and Women. With this in mind, the 5/5 proposal to have a Board, a Single-handed dinghy, Double-handed dinghy, Keelboat and Multihull for Men and Women would be an excellent representation of what is actually happening in our sport around the world.

Over the next few months, each multihull supporter will have to individually decide what course of action to take on the matter. However, we urge you all to first take a deep breath and consider the long term implications of your actions. Talk of withdrawing from various activities or organisations or sending email "rockets" may seem like a good idea at the time, but may not be in the long term interests of multihull sailing. When one looks at the voting, even from last weekend, there has consistently been a strong support for the multihull, and it has only been the political skill and maneurvering of a couple of countries that have caused the multihull to be dropped from the 2012 Olympics. At no point has the multihull secured less than 50% of any vote taken on the issue. The discipline was effectively voted out based on a last minute change to the voting system in November. However, we should take heart from the fact that there has been so much support for the multihull both in the ballot box and also in verbal support from all areas of sailing, not just multihull sailors.

To all the disappointed multihull sailors, we request that you DO NOT engage in attacks on ISAF as an organisation, nor personal attacks on individual Council members. We as a group did not play the political game as well as others and unfortunately in a democratic environment, for this we have to pay the price. If the multihull was perceived to be irrelevant or too expensive, or whatever else caused Council members to put multihulls at the bottom of their voting preferences, then it is up to us to either fix the problem or fix the perception.

It is also useful to remember that it is only three years until the ISAF Council votes on the disciplines for the 2016 Oympic Games. By this time, we will know our status for 2016, so while the 2016 may seem a long way off, three years will pass very quickly before we believe that multihulls will be back on the Olympic Classes circuit.

Multihull sailors should also take the time to thank those who have supported our cause and done a lot behind the scenes to lobby on our behalf. Please take the time to send an email or a personal phone call to those people you know supported either with a vote, or verbal support of multihulls. In particular the IMC would like to thank the MNAs who spent a great deal of time lobbying other MNAs to support the re-opening of the debate.

Given the number of people who have come out in support of multihulls, we believe that we will be back bigger and stronger in 2016 showing our own area of sailing as one of the most exciting within out great sport of sailing.

Paul Pascoe
President
International Multihull Council
www.multihullcouncil.com

John Williams

- The harder you practice, the luckier you get -
Gary Player, pro golfer

After watching Lionel Messi play, I realize I need to sail harder.