"But while the flat sail/full sail discussion works its way through the attention span of the sailing world, there is another controversy that unlikely to fade away.

USA sailor Charlie Ogletree, who chairs the technical committee of the Tornado class, has been slapped with the complaint that he "failed in his duty" to uphold the Objects of the class constitution.

If the complaint rested solely on showing up at the Olympic Regatta with a flat spinnaker, it would turn on whether Ogletree had a responsibility to keep the class informed of developments, and a responsibility to oppose that development.

But it appears that there may have been other developments pursued to get the maximum benefit from the spinnaker that were plainly outside the rules.

The USA crew modified the halyard guide fitting on the mast, and the modification provided significantly improved control of the positioning of the head of the spinnaker. This would be particularly useful upwind, The modification showed up in February at the World Championship... but has now been ruled illegal by ISAF.

The second modification was a clearly illegal 'dolphin striker' for the bowsprit. This was also disallowed by ISAF.

It appears that an 'upwind' re-rig was being developed... and it is difficult to see how anyone could claim that it was 'all within the class rules."