Does anyone know what the outcome of the mid-year meetings in Warsaw produced? I know that the 11th medal submission was discussed during both the event and the equipment meetings or at least it was on both agendas. The IOC is believed to be stating that they will have a decision by August 2009.

I'm sure that Mr Dewhurst will fire out one of his letters as soon as there is any news/progress.

The Yachting Australia submission was approved, delegating to the Executive the authority to select an event and equipment for the 11th medal if it is reinstated. There was nearly unanimous support for a Multihull event and the Open Tornado as the equipment. Now we hold our breath for the IOC meeting. For better or worse, this issue will be decided by mid-August.

I interviewed Carolijn Brouwer about the mid-year meeting recently. You can get the audio file here:

http://www.sailjuice.com/articles/sailing-talk-podcast-7


There's also a blog post here including the original news report from the ISAF website (the first time ISAF have publicly acknowledged the possibility of an 11th medal, as far as I am aware)

http://sailjuiceblog.com/2009/05/14/tornado-back-from-the-dead/



A glimmer of light on the horizon for those multihull sailors who were cast into outer darkness last year after the Tornado completed its last race in an Olympic Games, that humdinger of a Medal Race in Qingdao.

ISAF President Goran Petersson pleaded for the multihull lobby to calm down and let him get on with the business of negotiating an ‘11th Medal’ in behind-the-scenes meetings with the International Olympic Committee.

After months of silence on this matter, the ISAF website issued a follow-up report from the Mid-Year Meeting which has just concluded in Poland. It’s an encouraging story, and presumably ISAF wouldn’t be saying anything about this unless there really was genuine hope of getting the multihull back into Weymouth 2012.

Here’s that report from ISAF’s website:


2012 Olympic Sailing Competition

ISAF expects to hear from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in August whether ISAF’s application for an 11th sailing event for the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition will be successful or not. A total of 15 International Federations have asked for 32 additional events adding 815 athletes to the Games Programme that is already close to the limits set by the IOC. Also it seems the IOC wants to leave room for two new sports, a decision which will be made in October.

In preparation for the decision on the 11th medal, ISAF recognizes it should let the sailors know as soon as possible what will happen with the selection of class. It was agreed by the Council that the Executive Committee is authorized to make the decision, after ISAF is informed of the IOC’s verdict.

The options for the 11th event have also been narrowed down: it will be a Multihull event and the equipment choice is between Tornado and Hobie Tiger. It should be noted that both the Equipment and Events Committee have made recommendations in favour of the Tornado class.

To read the rest of the Mid-Year Meeting report, click here:

http://www.sailing.org/28261.php

"ISAF President Goran Petersson pleaded for the multihull lobby to calm down and let him get on with the business of negotiating an ‘11th Medal’ in behind-the-scenes meetings with the International Olympic Committee."

Isn't the behind-the-scenes negotiating exactly what got us here in the first place?

I see this as a win-win for ISAF. Multihulls are out (Win #1), they know the odds of the IOC adding another sailing medal are remote at best, so they can say they tried to get us back and weren't successful because other sports were a priority to the IOC, which makes ISAF look like the "good guys" (Win #2).

Yikes...

Mike