True... but you see normal guys going down normal hills on equipment signed by that guy.... Point... is that people relate to the sport of down hill because it's something they do and aspire to do better.



And this event is a spectacle. Normal people race their carbon bikes in normal road races.. and aspire to do it like Lance Armstrong... (minus the cheating and the drugs)!

Having dumped the keel boats which normal sailors recognize and relate to... I think the pressure will be on for the new events to be ones that rank and file sailors recognize and will support. In Olympic terms... How many countries compete for the spots.

World wide.. how broad is the support for High Performance Sailing? (2012 has only ONE High performance event 49ners besides boards) We have the same problem now that took out the Tornado in the first place... Few countries choose to play!

Looking at 49ners... It's the same demographic as the Tornado (which was eliminated) or the F18 class currently. Women's skiffs... are equally narrow in their appeal and less popular.

As much as I agree with choosing a boat like the Tornado, which challenges the Olympic sailors (and is spectacular)

Perhaps a boat like the Hobie 16 which is popular world wide (not as spectacular) but would likely get more poor countries competing might be better for ISAF and the high performance sailing. (There are certainly better and higher performance boats then Lasers... but nothing is as simple and popular)

If the two skiffs and boards are the high profile TV stars... maybe the multihull niche is assigned the job of broaden the appeal of High Performance Sailing world wide.

I predict that it will come down to these other factors which are real philosophical choices more so then hardware choices. The politics are just beginning!