Important Bulletin about Preparing Young Sailors for the Olympics
Input needed from the Multihull Community
The Olympic Path Program of US Sailing has announced a new initiative to train and prepare young sailors for future Olympic competition.
Beginning in 2003 a week-long training session will be held each summer for young people ages 18-24 on Olympic class boats or boats similar to Olympic class boats.
This intensive training with advanced coaching clinics will include a variety of monohulls and also a multihull group.
Now, here is the problem:
Multihull Council Chairman Art Stevens is ecstatic about catamarans being included in ANY Olympic Path program, since he has thus far been unsuccessful in getting catamarans into the National Junior Olympics. He has been complaining for the past two years about the fact that the monohulls have a place on the Olympic Path by being able to attend the Junior Olympics, while multihulls are excluded even though we, too, have a boat in the Olympics -- the Tornado.
However, in order to assure that we secure this spot in the Advanced Training Program for the young adults, he needs to be able to tell the Olympic Path people what kind of boat we want to use to train on. AND, because the proposal is scheduled to be approved at the US Sailing Spring Meeting, he needs to have an answer by the end of November so nobody can say,
Sorry, you guys (multihull sailors) don't have your act together -- you're out.
The big question is, what boat should be used for the training? Should it be actual Tornadoes? Or should it be some other boat easier to handle but that would work just as well for training purposes? Maybe Hobie 18 or Nacra 5.8? What boats would be most available and least expensive to obtain? Should it have a spinnaker so that it most closely replicates what they would be using on the Tornado? Even if the Tornado is replaced by another catamaran in a future Olympics, it probably would have a spinnaker. Maybe the Hobie Tiger (18 ft.) would be a good choice for the training?
We need the input of the catamaran community about this. What boat do you think would work best? Call me at 305-451-3287 or e-mail me at rick@catsailor.com or fax me at 305-453-0255 or mail me at PO Box 2060, Key Largo, FL 33037. This input is also being requested on our catsailor.com forum, so give your opinion in whatever way works best for you -- but do it fast! All input will be passed on to Art Stevens.
Rick
Rick White
Catamaran Sailor Magazine
email: rick@catsailor.com
Rick,
Since the sailors are already 18-24 years of age I would suggest the F18 class of boat. Boats like the Tiger, I18, or other F18 boat would be great for this purpose. I had some of these top kids on my boat one time and was so impressed with their ability I couldn't believe it. I handed the tiller over to this 15 year old expecting to have to coach his every move and ended up learning something from him. The perfect boat might well be the Tornado sport rig but I assume money would be an issue so you might be better off with the F18 boats.
Mike Hill
I really think that if our youth (18-24) are going to be successful in training for the olympics, they really need to spend as much time as possible on the Tornado. Granted, cost wise an F-18 is probably a cheaper way to go than new Marstrom Tcats (i wish i had one), but at that age (18+) they are big enough (and certainly athletic enough) to sail a Tcat. maybe at first don't use the big rig to tone it down a bit, but I really haven't heard a good reason why they shouldn't be sailing Tornados.
Todd Berget
Tornado USA655
As a Tornado owner, I may be biased, but I think that it should be seriously considered for reasons mentioned in previous posts. I don't think that it would be too much to handle fully rigged for that age group as the extra 2 feet of width adds a lot to the stability of the boat. Additionally, while I'm not familiar with the other rigs mentioned as possibilities, the Tornado is extremely flexible with respect to adjusting the power derived from the sails. In a good blow, we just decide how big our balls are and dial in the sail shape accordingly. The cost issue could prove to be a problem, however, and the trailering hassle needs to be considered as well.
I think that training some young sailors to be competitive would really help to revive the sport; if a U.S.A. crew is in the running for a medal at the next olympics, the tv networks might be less inclined to ignore the sport.
Late on this discussion but I am told the Prindle 19 is a great boat to prepare for the Tornado on.
The 18 to 24 age group will be sailing in college. They will be talented sailors. They will not have much experience with high performance catamarans because colleges don't race cats. , they will certainly not own one, and it is unlikely they will be able to charter a boat. Moreover, the majority of cat regattas are not visible to the dinghy fleets.
The trick will be to develop a program which allows one of these sailors to consider a cat for their serious racing.
Step one is to get them on a high tech cat.
Step two is to get them to commit to a cat racing program and have some success.
Step three is to get them going as training partners with the current US Sailing team on Tornado's and provide adequate coaching.
I proposed a mentor program run by US Sailing, where sailors could be ID'd by their college program. Interested sailors could be paired up with skippers who own the boats and so they would get an entry into racing cats.
Step 2, getting them hooked up into racing cats will mean that these 18 to 24 year olds will need to get a boat and campaign it at a regional level. So.. you need to have a competitive fleet racing on a regional level. The Formula class would likely fit the bill. That age group will not have a lot of spare cash for buying a catamaran and campaigning a boat and so this might be a problem. ... I suspect a laser is a lot cheaper to campaign regionally
If selected for the Olympic training camp.... these sailors would have to make the investment and get a Tornado for the camp and then campaign the Tornado nationally and perhpas world wide like our current sailing team.
One other point, Take a look at the top 4 or 5 US Tornado teams. I believe Johnny and Charlie and Lars were all college sailors. I know that Robbie and Eric and WF got to this level by sailing cats.. Not sure about Matt. The point is that such a development program must be open to non collegiate sailors else run the danger of missing the next Randy or Robbie.
What are some other ideas? These development programs have been proven to work... the Brit's are begining to dominate world class racing with their training program. Lots of cash would be the easiest way to have a program ... but ... what are some other ideas.
Take Care
Mark
Heard the same thing; sailed both as crew this season. If the primary consideration ends up being, how to cheaply aproximate a Tcat, the P19's not horribly far off... never sailed the F-class or a tiger tho... anybody done all of 'em???
Ed
(To Email me, take the Ihatespam. out of the domain in my displayed email.
The P19 would not be a good choice because it does not run a chute typically. We need to start them on a chute rigged boat that has a class in the US. That leaves us with three choices.
Tcat: Very small class in the US. Very expensive boat. But the perfect boat to prepare for the Olympics on.
I-20: Overpowered two man boat. Good class racing in the US. But perhaps would develop an overweight team for the Tornado circuit.
F18: Good international boat with a small developing class in the US with the introduction of the Tiger. A good Portsmouth performer as demonstrated by Nigel at the Area D. Possibly the crew weight would be in line with what the Tornado would require.
I think the F18 would be a logical choice.
Mike Hill