This is a difficult issue for many to understand. A Tornado can remain at a competitive peak for an 8-12 year time frame. The 12 year is pushing it and you are rebuilding the boat by replacing the beams and even reseating them. A laser may have a life span of 1-2 years during an intensive campaign. Has anyone ever been to a sorting party for lasers? This is were you look at 20-40 different hulls, and about 100 different masts, sails, rudders, daggerboards and so on. The variation between each peice of equipment is so great that the best sailors are looking for the best equipment. One of the reasons that Marstrom became the dominant builder in this class was that his boats were better constructed and faster platforms. Over time this became the standard in the class. It is a shame because when I first started sailing T's Reg White was the boat. There are a lot of people who chime in on this debate without a complete understanding of all of the resounding issues. I applaud Nick for all that he and you UKCRA members have done on behalf of multihulls and the Olympics. The initial IOC petition that Nick sent has helped to get this back on the board with ISAF. IT is too early to tell whether this will end in an 11th event for 2012 or just the switch to a five disciplines approach for 2016.