Originally Posted by Mark Schneider
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I am not sure what your suggestion would be instead of the 17?


Any of the other boats in the trials would have worked... Its about the sailing.. not the boat. Those boats are mature and proven designs. The focus would be on the racing. That is what the olympics calls for.

The N17 was incomplete and not tested... The rig was a complete failure and replaced with something solid... the foil package is half done... the boat needs to evolve to a stable package.. T foil rudders and move the board positions) In short it needs to be fixed. The only time anyone should comment on the boat is when they are looking for the class name for the results sheet..

Today...the story remains... look at that crazy boat popping a wheelie. (again) Far too many regatta stories have a N17 wheelie photo!


Hi Mark,
When the trial happened it really was between the Viper and the 17.......none of the other boats really came close to those two in terms of selection to fit the ISAF/IOC criteria......interestingly I had a long chat with one of the GB squad sailors who also happens to be part of the family who sell the Viper in the UK and he has a clear opinion that the the 17 was the right choice! (and he had previously been in the GB squad on the T prior to it being dropped from the Olympics!)....as for the 17 not being tested and its initial rig issues, we could say the same about the 49er......would you want the 49er dropped from the Olympics now......there is possibly an argument for t foil rudders although there is also a strong argument not to tame the 17 with the addition of the t foil rudders!.....why do the boards need to be moved???.......

Press photos of 17 wheelies isn't a strong argument to change things otherwise pitch poling 49ers and all those broaching monos should have been removed from international competition a long time ago.......