Never heard of tilt trailers ?

F18 is too wide (at 8foot6) to be towed flat.

The thing was that there was no "vote to remove the Tornado and replace it with another cat" option !

Agreed tilt trailers work...

The Olympic classes are a political choice.. Stars wont go as the US OC sees them as a good bet for a medal.. Not sure where the Yngling has its power base.. Also selecting a design out of a "openish" class will destroy the class as a whole... Just as the selection of the Tornado killed the "B2" class..

Yep, the F18 should be on the Tilt in Oz. You can also dismantle the T. It only takes an extra 15 mins..... So it should not be unownable. For some, an F18 even flat may not be a viable option because they can only fit a cat the width of a Mossie or A Class throught the gates at home. This should not be an arguement against any particular cat. It seems like it is always the guys how have never owned a T that says it is too inconvinent. Those who have been down that track tend to think it is not an issue to tilt and the beam is a major advantage on the water.

Sail a good Marstrom and a good F18 and then think about which boat you believe belongs in the Olympics.

My F18 on the tilt. Personaly I would rather tild for an extra 1.5 foot of beam then 1 inch.

Yep, that is what I fear also. Selected one of the F18 designs may be detrimental to the F18 class.

My mistake, I wrote it in the comments at the end of the survey.

I also deleted my post about F18s being a better boat for the Olympics for various reasons.

Going sailing, enjoy your computers <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Darryn
1782

The fact that the F18 is not a strict one design, but a development class, it will not be chosen.

The first issue is to get a multihull class included in the 2012 games, then the platform choice becomes relevant. I am still a strong supporter of the Tornado and will continue to be until I see something that makes more sense. the tornado has quite a few things going for it and so far little against it as a viable choice. The 10' beam on the boat does make trailering the boat more difficult than something with an 8'6" beam, but it also makes it a very stable platform that is both fun and challenging to sail.

The tornado class is a strong class that is focussed upon Olympic level sailing.
The boat itself is a physically and mentally demanding boat that requires the sailor to raise his/her level of skill.
It is a very well controlled one-design class that allows a certian amount of development in hull shape as long as you fit within tight measurement templates.
There is a great deal of energy placed into refining sails and masts for the boat.
What is percieved as an expensive platform is not looked at from a longevity standpoint. A Tornado has a racing lifespan of 8-10 years. How many Lasers are able to be raced from one Olympic cycle to the next competively.

Show me another class that would do well in the Olympics, be at the same level and can stand being elevated without harming that class.

Didnt the World Sailing Games use Tigers last time?
Maybe not such a bad choice, its affordable and widely available.

I hear rumours that the Tiger is being advocated by some within ISAF as an Olympic boat. I think this would be a mistake for a number of reasons... the Tiger is already (IMO) suffering from mild multiple-personality disorder in the US under two different class rules and two different handicap numbers. Add a third set of rules and this US issue will become global and perhaps ultimately take the Tiger out of the F18 Class where rules and equipment may be advancing quicker than is ideal for an Olympic Class. There are more Tigers in the US F18 class than pretty much any other boat (though there seem to be more Nacras being sold lately). I've heard Olympic-level sailors tout the higher-quality sails and better construction of the Tornado in comparison to nearly every production boat, and postulate that quality and consistency would have to increase dramatically for any existing equipment proposed to replace it. I think that would translate to higher costs to the average sailor - something that wouldn't impact teams campaigning for the Games, but might drive sailors away from A) a more restrictive set of rules, B) higher boat prices, and C) fewer boats on the start line. It seems like most Tornado teams also compete in the F18 Class to get valuable fleet-sailing experience because the F18 fleets are larger than the Tornado fleets.

Ultimately, I expect that economic concerns (profit) might drive the decision rather than consideration for the health of any specific class. At the US SAILING meeting last month, there was a well-attended Olympic Forum held - nobody in the room raised their hand when this question was asked: "Who would like to see their class selected as Olympic equipment?" Most sailors see that selection as a death knell - look at the Soling and the Etchells, for example. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

According to norwegian news, the ISAF event committee have voted and landed on the following proposal:

Men
windsurfer
single dinghy
single dinghy heavyweight
two man dinghy
two man dinghy high performance

Women
windsurfer
single dinghy
two person dinghy
two person dinghy high performance

Open
Multihull


Now it is up to the ISAF council, which can (and have earlier) decide otherwise. Then the multihull might be out and we get matchracing in ynglings instead, which would balance the score between male/female classes with 5 each.. I think the decision is made tomorrow?

Seven dinghies, two boards and a cat. *shakes head*

Wow!

Will just one multihull mean that the equipment must change to accomodate smaller teams so that women have an even chance?

How many women are competeing at The world or continental championships in F18's? Are they at the helm or sheet position?

Certainly Carolyn B is at the helm and competing quite succesfully on the tornado. But I suspect that more women are match racing J22's or Yinglings then racing multihulls at the elite level.

This could be the end of Olympic Cat racing. Yikes!

I am just waiting for what the council will decide on, while biting nails..

Check this out. It appears that the women at the meeting would first prefer 5 women's classes (no open classes), and would also prefer a high-performance dinghy to a multihull...

http://www.sailing.org/21230.php

Mike

Yes, clearly, the gals don't like the multihull.
(Obviously, Not many are racing F18's at the international level.)

Much more surpising was the choice of a match race keel boat over a HP dinghy in their second ballot.

Call me suspicious... I think that this is the just the old guard gal network looking to make sure they have an olympic keel boat campaign option for their resume so that they can polish up for the the big boat campaign they hope to secure as a pro. The big cup teams all seem to need the token girl....

This is complete BS, The Men's keel boat is now gone! Why not the women's keel boat!

The Olympics are about athletes... sitting on a keel boat is simply not the athletic challenge that cats or high performance dinghies present. ,. (Hell the US Rep in the Star this go is about 50!... the women's Yingling team are in their 40's I think)

Wow, Carrie Howe looks really good for her age then....

Looking a little more positive I think - http://www.sailing.org/21233.php

People always overlook the obvious :





Why not take one of the Male dinghy events and transform it into a womens only Catamaran, that would balance the whole sheet in one go ! Both to gender and to design.

Wouter

Wouter,

That suggestion would make multihull sailors happy, but apparently not any of the women sailors. If no women are interested in sailing Olympic multihulls (as they have expressed at the meeting), do you really think that just having the equipment approved is going to change that? I guess anything is possible, but you know the old saying, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink...

Other than continental championships and Worlds, where women (who normally crew for men the rest of the year) tend to hook up to sail together for a short event, where are the women multihull teams in the world racing today, even at a non-Olympic level? I think I can count female multihull teams on two hands in the US.

Personally, I think the way to solve this (lack of female participation in multihulls) is forced mixed doubles, on something other than the Tornado. Not saying the Tornado can't stay for men (or call it open), but add a mixed doubles multihull. For that matter, any of the two-handed boats can be changed to mixed doubles.

Mike

The Tornado is OK for a mixed team. Let the strongest one do the sheets and it's all good. Those times I sailed the T in mixed configuration the hardest part was pulling the boat up the ramp but it was no problem.


Who did the voting? Have anybody got a list over the representatives or know who they are? There are just so much politics going on at that level..
A forced mixed crew multihull would be fantastic. I doubt we will get it tough. If multihulls survive as an olympic class this time, I am certain we will have the same fight for the 2016 event.