Hi Rolf
You raise two interesting points
In Germany the Tornado class is generally considered to be a bit 'aloof' by the other classes, a kind of 'the Tornado is not for every sailor' attitude. I'm not saying this is caused by the olympic status, but it might be one of the reasons.
I agree with you, the Class attitude is critical... At the Club level, new sailors or teams considering changing classes are extremely sensitive to these social cues. Why would they spend time with the Tornado crowd if they percieve that they don't fit in? They pick another boat to sail.
Do the German Tornado's compete in mulitclass events with the other beach cats or do they maintain their own exclusive circuit (and proud of it)?
The olympic candidates also participate in smaller events, which is inspiring and valuable for weekend warriors. But this is not very motivating for teams who wants to win This really hurts when the class tries to recruit new Tornado sailors.. There was about 30 participants in the International German Championship this year.
The skill level of the Olympic sailors is out of sight for a club level sailor. You always want to measure your performance against the best ... however... you do need positive feedback to stay with cat sailing as a competitive sport. Do the German Tornado's designate A and B fleets for their 30 boat fleet?
If Germany has about 30 Tornado's at their nationals along with (Wild guess) 50 other F18 and F20 teams... then the USA ratio of 4 Olympic campaigns out of 75 total performance racing teams is not too far off. (We just won't discuss the total populations of the two countries)
Take Care
