Why should we care whether or not there is a multihull in the Olympics?

We have had the Tornado in there since 1976, and what has it done for multihull sailing as a whole? Do more people sail multihulls because there is a multihull in the Olympics?

If the multihull were eliminated from the Olympics, what would change, if anything?

Without the Tornado being Olympic I think all you F18 sailors would still be trying to stuff the kite into a bag on the tramp at the bottom mark.... and manually tacking the jib...

Technology Most of the develpment that we have access to comes from the T class See Macca's examples


Expertise... those guys develop the new techniques... eg Wild thing... the stuff trickles down.

You need heroes or role models... Its a thrill to meet and compete against your country's best in a regatta that you attend.

Kids need to be inspired... the Olympic guys fill that role.

The top guys in your non olympic class have spent lots of time in the Tornado class.

Randy S, Jay G, Lars G, Pete M, Bob H, Pease G, now in A class
Greg and Jaques B, Nigel P, Matt S, F18's and N20's.

They set the standard and force you to raise your game.

Guys:

I think technology is developed more by supply and demand than by one race. Inventors see a nitch and try to fill it. If there is enough demand to make the product and enough buyers out there it will get made. You can have the best thing since sliced bread, BUT if know one wants it, it is useless. We just need to to continuie to bring in new sailors.


OK Off my soap box.

Doug

Agree with Mark on all of the points above. My motivation to do a 1988 program in Div. II sailboards and then Tornados from 1995 - 1999 was a statement made by Rod Davis (who is now the head Olympic sailing coach for New Zealand and an ACC coach) that you do an Olympic campaign to get REALLY REALLY REALLY good at sailing. If you put the time into it and see progress, this is the main benefit and if you can win the Trials and a medal, well it's icing on the cake.

The Tornado; it's a lovely boat and fantastic class. I hope more upcoming and talented US catamaran sailors will try the class at some point in their sailing careers. They won't regret it.

Bob Hodges
formerly USA 796

Wait...didn't we have snuffers long before the Tornado platform was updated?

Thank You Jake.

And self-tacking jibs are not exactly a new idea. They are pretty common on cruisng boats. Our old Irwin 37, which was already old when we got it in 1982, had a self-tacking jib in addition to the genoa.

And, as I recall, the original Nacra 6.0 had a self-tacking jib, back in the 1980's. Didn't work very well performancewise, so it was scuttled when the NA version came out.

If I'm not mistaken, Bill Roberts designed & used one (& patented it?) back in the early 80s SuperCat era.
Bill? You out there?

Olympic is the top level. It is a showcase. We need two not none. 14 foot with no trap will provide good entry level. and provide a cat medal possiblity in the under 40K mark. A 16K boat would soon have a lot of followers if an Olympic gold was possible.

Dinner party..."I am the Olympic Tornado gold medalist."
"I am the F18 World champ."

I know what I'd rather say.

Does anyone else think the Olympics have to implode soon. only one year into setting the up london has DOUBLED its cost estimates.... I think you can get an Olympic gold in nose picking now.. maybe it is just a demonstration sport...but you know what I mean.

When it comes to Olympic champagnes, I would think the cost of the boat would be one of the smaller budget items.

Tiger Mike

When you consider how many smaller Olympic class mono's there are, it makes sence to have a boat that younger, less cashed up ppl could campaign for a medal. A 14ft uni rigged one person cat with a spi is IMHO the logical choice.

But then of course I'd say that.

Bern.

If the multihull were eliminated from the Olympics, what would change, if anything? [/quote]


My youngest son has done 4 weekend junior cat training camps with a professional coach this winter on his Dragoon.
My eldest son has done 4 weekend youth training camps with a professional coach and a week and a half with the full GBR coaching teams, on his H16.
These opportunities are available to ANY GBR youth/junior cat team for a minimal cost. this is all heavily subsidised by Sport England/RYA etc because there is potential for a gold medal from these guys[and girls]in the future.

NO CAT OLYMPIC CLASS = no support for youth unless they sail a Monothingy = end of world!

Okay, I am going to repeat my initial questions, because I haven't really seen any good answers:

Why should we care whether or not there is a multihull in the Olympics?

We have had the Tornado in there since 1976, and what has it done for multihull sailing as a whole? Do more people sail multihulls because there is a multihull in the Olympics?

If the multihull were eliminated from the Olympics, what would change, if anything?

And I don't think technological "improvements" are really relevant to increasing overall interest in the sport, as far as the non-sailing public is concerned.

I guess a bigger question would be, how has SAILING in general benefited from being an Olympic sport? (Aside from getting sailing some occasional promo in the media.)

Having the T in the Olympics has given the sport an "Ultimate goal" which in turn gives new comers something to aim for in their dreams. In real measurable terms I gues sit has done little to increase the number of people sailing cats but it hasn't done it any harm either.

And as for the Snuffers being on F18's before the T did it.... Sorry but The F18 fleet followed the T's lead and it was the same for the self tacker.

With all due respect to those that have competed in, and won medals in the Olympics, I think it makes little if any difference to the growth of the sport.

I know about John and Charlie becuase they have gone three times I think, I know about Robbie because hes from Tampa, but I only heard about those guys after sailing cats for about 5 years.

Does it, or did it make any difference in my decision to sail, absolutely not. I cant say Ive ever heard of anyone starting to sail cats becuase of the Olympics.

So, on the local level I dont think it makes a bit of difference. However, I hope the Tornado does get included because I think its cool as hell that our best sailors get to compete at that level. I hope the Tornado class can keep it included.

In the USA, the non-sailing public immediately thinks of America's Cup as "their" connection to sailing, along the lines of the World Series or Superbowl. A high percentage would never know it was an Olympic sport, regardless of number of hulls.

Look at the home countries of this posts replies. I think US sailors can only wish the sport was as popular here as it is in AU and EU.

I didn't say F18...the I20 has had a snuffer for a long time; granted, it was an end-pole, but it was certainly a snuffer. The self-tackers have been around for a much longer time too. I remember a Taipan 4.9 in the 2001 Round the Island race (Pensacola, FL) with a mid-pole snuffer too.

I don't mean to start a pissing contest, the T has definitely pushed the refinement of these systems.

This Olympics with the venue predicted to have no winds will probably not do anything for multihull exposure. If we ever get a venue with decent winds and if TV discovers multis, it could really help the sport. If the general public can see T’s flying a hull racing, particularly young people, hey you never know.
Hey at least maybe when you tell someone that you had started working out for the upcoming season, the response wont be “What for? Don’t you just sit there on the boat?”