Of course I intended to express that the Olympic committee should introduce a Formula based class into the olympic in addition to the Tornado class (which in my opinion is a Formula based class itself).

No matter how we look at it the mono's are over represented; The percentage of cat sailors is bigger than is reflected in the olympic sailing setup. And besides what is the difference between Ygnling and a Soling ?

I know the A-cats turned away from the olympics because the committee required that the A-cat became more like a One-design class before it had a chance to be voted in. They declined, which I think was the best choice.

Not the cat scene must change but the Olympic committee must chance. Everything in the cat world is going formula. Even the Tornado is formula like in its setup. WHy, for example it specifies only the maximum dimensions of things like the spi and allows all different shapes as long as it measures in. I can make my hulls from styrofoam and ducktape as long as it fits the templates for the Tornado hull design and is regarded to be safe in operation. That feels like a formula class to me.

I also sail some 49-er in my spare time and since the company decided to go with a different sailmaker and now our sail from teh former sailmaker who were legal just a short time ago aren't legal anymore. Just because the name on the sail changed. And it is still inferiour in quality to modern formula based cat sails.

And I do think that voting in a class into the olympics on its attendence number at world championship is valid. Why should a unknown laser 2000 be preferred over an F18 class merely because the laser 2000 satisfies the monopolist, bad quality, SMOD format ?

Same applies to formula windsurfing.

And yes Nils I know that other factors are far more expensive in an Olympic campaign. My point rather is that the whole argument for a SMOD on the grounds of costs is a useless one for this very reason. A H16 in the olympics will be just as expensive as an formula class like the F18.

And your comment :"I don't know how long a formula cat is competive" Is unfounded.

Why do you think that a Formula based class will not be competitive for a long time ? Is there a reason why a SMOD class will always be more competitive than a Formula class ? Do you really think that an BCM Cirrus F18 or AHPC Capricorn F18 (to name but two of the top quality product in this class) has anything less than the same competitive life span than say a H16 or other SMOD class.

I dare to make a bet that there are actually several times better in quality of build and length of competitive lifespan. We all know that some designs are less good than other in building quality but then again the same applied to
Tornado's of different make. So that is not the reason to keep out the formula classes.

But I have a funny feeling that the cat sailors will do their own thing no matter what is decided. We have been doing just that for several decades now and we are quick comfortable in this setup. We all know that being a top tornado or F18 crew is a very big achievement which doesn't underdo for any 49-er or soling crew.

Wouter