You've obviously never crewed on a Tornado. You need a young strong athlete in the front to make that boat go.
I would not agree. The years we sailed our Tornado it was not the physical requirements which made us slower than the really good guys, but knowlegde and skill. I would definately say that sailing and beachcat racing is not an especially atlethic sport (flame suit put firmly on!).
Sorry but anyone who thinks they could compete against the olympic Tornado sailors without having a crew not in great physical shape has never raced at that level. The sheet loads on the Tornado are much much greater than F18, N20, etc. and in order to get and keep the boat in the (narrow) groove requires great strength. And in order to tack and jibe as efficiently as the top guys do requires a lot of physical abilities that you tend to lose with age (and cases of beer).
Sorry to derail the topic, but to think Olympic Tornado sailing does not require great physical fitness puts down the great athletes that actually do it because they truly are athletes.
