Why have a multihull in the Olympics?

Mary

Sailing Sking and others have two components.

Recreational activity and Sport. I sail for fun... and I sail to compete in races..

I organize events for the Sport... (I don't give a damn about the recreational sailors and what they do on the water... I know this is a debate for another thread)

Lots of people sail... they don't compete in sailing for sport.

I think BECAUSE these distinctions are a bit fuzzy... Having the Olympics as the ultimate goal is essential for the sport of sailing!

The Olympics define a set of conditions and competition that is the ultimate in sport. Without such a standard... What would you compare a competition to.

For the vast majority of non sailors... They more then likely think of sailing as a pastime...The Olympics demonstates that sailing is a sport and worthy of our time and interest as a sport.

Good comments Sarah. We have used YOU as an example of our future Tornado Olympic Sailors in the discussions at US SAILING. Our youth program is growing, see http://www.ussailing.org/championships/youth/multihull/

Maybe one of our three Youth Teams from Sail Sand Point in Seattle will do well at the US Youth Multihull Championship this year, and follow your lead into the Tornado Championship racing.

Caleb Tarleton

First, the problem with the

National Organizations

and multihull sailing, in a nut shell, it is not them, it is US.

We have found the enemy, and it is US

Pogo

The only time our sailors are on the box is when they are headed to the Olypics or the AC. Never seen an F18 on the box or even heard of Cat competition of any sort in public media but our Tornado Olympic hopefuls have been on national news maybe six times. Sailors need to head toward something if they are to be excellent and follow through a strong campaign. The worlds are one thing but the Olypic medal is whats a serious ticket. No cats in the Olympics and they are a total also ran and deemed by the ignorant, of which there are many as unworthy.

Hobie and other manufactureers and designers had to push for years to get close to the Tornado as it was always the benchmark. People put spinnies and square tops and twin traps and finally caught up but the the T updated what happened??? The Tornado has driven the acceptance that more of us could sail faster and want more performance and that has definitely boosted the sport in all ways. Is it as potent to gains now? mayybe not, but the issue is to get another spot in the Olympics not lose the one we have. If we don't want to compete in the top sporting forum open to man, why compete at all? OR maybe it is just about going down to the garden to eat worms.

I think that having a cat as an Olympic class is motivation for our younger sailors to get involved in sailing/racing cats and therefore is pivotal to the continued development of the sport. The only hope they'd have without the 'T' would be to campaign a mono and I think cat sailing, particularly as a sport, would suffer as a consequence of not having Olympic representation. And while I think it's a good thing we have a cat at the event, I don't believe we capitalise enought on the fact. Not only that, but the boat is probably the most developed class there, and without doubt, the fastest which should count for a whole lot more than it does.

Whether or not the 'T' is in fact the right cat for the job though, is another story and was the reasoning behind my previous comment.

Here's the thing, the Olympics is supposed to be a proving ground for the best in each Nation to compete against the best of the

other

Nations, sort of like a World Championship but it only happens every 4 years. So you could say that all the World Championships between Olympic years are just to find out WHO deserves to be IN the Olympics, representing their country.

When I look at all of sailing, from Opti's to The Race, with 120 foot cats, the trend in Sailing World Speed Records is obvioulsy big cats or tri's. So maybe if any class of boat should be

dropped

maybe it should be the 100 yr. old Star, or the 40 yr. old 470's. Why are we still supporting those designs when clearly the future lies in lighter, faster sailboats? Yes the Tornado HULLS might be an older design but the rig has been updated several times and the boat continues to be at the front in all major open regattas.

So maybe the real issue behind US Sailing is not

The chance for medals.

but rather,

We are affraid that more people will see multihulls as the future of fast sailing and we don't want to lose any more of our top tallent to them, we need them to stay in the Star and 470.

You will remember that two of the top America's Cup skippers just started a

World Sailing League

, and what boat did they choose for that?

What is the drive for the Omlympics? Top level competition. Who knows whether or not I would have had what it takes. I let raising children and work sideline my efforts that began in the late 1980's. What the status of the Tornado as an Olympic class did for me was to get me interested again in cats, build my firt Tornado and into racing to begin with. Had it not been for the Tornado, I never would have even looked at racing. It took the Olympic carrot to get me focussed on multihull racing.

The decision on which boat to build was also decided by the fact that the Tornado was the Olympic class. I could have built an A-class or even a C-class at that time, but the Tornado was the Olympic class and that was that. I was going to build and race one. Now does that effect anyone else who sails cats? I do not know, but it sure motivated me. So even if you loose only one future multihull sailor because there is no Olympic event, it is a loss.

What impact does the Olympics have upon our sport? You have only to look as far as the Star class and its alumni to see the far reaching effects of Olympic status. Does this translate to more multihull sailors and greater visibility for our end of the sport? A little, but maybe we need to address the real issue which is our own promotion of multihull sailing and racing. We can be much more effective ambassadors for our sport than we are and much more active in its promotion.

Does this answer your question Mary? No, but I still remember the day I discovered the Tornado and began my planning to build one. Two years later it was measured in and given the sail number of US-775.

Toss that stupid

sport

with the brooms sweeping the hockey puck (that looks like glorified shuffleboard) and put the multihulls back in!

This posting is from XSRacing site-Notice the picture they chose is of Tornados racing. Wonder Why! Had to set pic as attachement. Sorry, but here is the link. http://www.xsracing.org/index.php?page=23

Rolex Miami OCR Starts this Weekend

Jan 18 2007 - 0848 PST - From January 21 to 27, 2007, US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR returns to the waters of Biscayne Bay, bringing together the world's top Olympic and Paralympic class competitors. The 18th annual US SAILING Rolex Miami OCR is a mainstay on the winter circuit for sailors who are campaigning for the next Olympic and Paralympic Games. The event is ranked by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) as a Grade 1 event and features competition in 14 Olympic and Paralympic classes. Photo courtesy of Rolex.

There is something to be said for longevity in design. This prospective sees a

line

of sailors who all relate in a special way to particular designs requirements and understandings. Also, swapping the boat designs too regularly means the big introduction fleets would disappear and money would be enen more indicative of

winners

.

Very well said Sarah.

Mary, to help answer your question.....

I began sailing at quiet a young age. Through my teen years I slowed down with my sailing and eventually stopped to persue another passion of mine, Tae Kwon Do, with a strong desire to represent at an Olympic Games. Due to injuries and to put it quiet simply, not being good enough..... I did not even come close.

Due to frustration and my body telling me it was not a good idea, I turned back to sailing in my mid 20s with an aim to represent in the Tornado Class. It was my desire to compete for my country in an Olympics that brought me back to sailing and step up my level of sailing further.

I later realised it was an unrealistic goal for me and am now happy to race at club and local regatta level, whislt competing to the best of my abilities at International Regattas.

So to answer your question, the Olympics brought me back to sailing and gave me a goal to set my eyes on even though I did not get close. I am sure I am not the only person who shares a simular story........ So I guess the Olympics have given something back to Multihull sailing even if it is only small.

[quote
... to put it quiet simply, not being good enough..... I did not even come close.

... I turned back to sailing in my mid 20s with an aim to represent in the Tornado Class. It was my desire to compete for my country in an Olympics that brought me back to sailing and step up my level of sailing further.

So to answer your question, the Olympics brought me back to sailing and gave me a goal to set my eyes on even though I did not get close. I am sure I am not the only person who shares a simular story........ So I guess the Olympics have given something back to Multihull sailing even if it is only small.

Yes, about the same as my own experience. Had a great helmsman, good boat and the drive. Personal life got in the way, but it was the goal that gave me the drive to get back into sailing and racing.

To finish this thread. Multihull belong in the olympics as long as sailing remains an olympic sport for the simple reason that it represents a large portion of active racing today. The olympics need to represent the current state of the sport. Multihulls and sailboards are a great and growing part of this sport.

Checking in late....but quite simply....An Olympic dream serves as motivation for our youth!! My 16 year old son is motivated to get into Cat sailing as he sees it as exciting, and a potential path to the Olympics. That by itself would be enough but Secondly.....anyone looking to launch a major campaign and therefor looking for SPONSORS (a particularly tough proposition for US sailors), knows that participation (of our sport)in the Olympics is a major boost to their efforts.

I agree that there are many other good comments in this thread, but these two bits are all the reason I need to be passionate about MH and sailing (in general) participation in the Olympics.

back to lurk mode...