FYI below from Mike Grandfield. Please visit the site.
Hi All,
The issues are quite stark.
US SAILING has put forward a slate of 6 dinghy events, 2 keelboat events, and no multihull events
• 1 of the dinghy events does not yet exist
• 1 of the dinghy events has yet to produce an Olympic medal for the USA.
• 1 of the keelboat events has yet to produce an Olympic medal for the USA.
• The multihull event has produced Olympic medals for the USA in 4 of the 7 Olympic Regattas attended by the US Team.
How could anyone feel that US SAILING has been fair, or rational, or impartial?
The submission also states: “This slate of Events is representative of the sport as it is practiced around the World. As a result, it is likely that this slate will increase the number of countries competing in the Olympic Regatta.”
These statements are not true:
• Approximately 25% of the racing in the world is done in multihulls. A slate that reduces multihulls to zero is not ‘representative’.
• The slate will do nothing to increase the number of countries at the Olympic Regatta. The data has been clear for years:
Increases in the number of countries at the Olympic Regatta result only when there are increases in the size of the single-handed fleets
At Athens, sailing failed to meet the IOC country target so the size single handed events will be increased at the expense of the multi-handed events – which will get fewer entries
For comparison, here is what happens if more countries are allowed into the double or triple handed events:
1. say that the 5 current double-handed boats each had 35 entries,
2. that would take 350 of the 380 athletes for only 5 medals… and fall more than 20 countries short of the IOC target of 67 countries.
3. The other 5 events could then have 6 sailors each…
The US SAILING submission fails to give multihull sailors any representation; it fails to tell the truth; it fails to demonstrate that US SAILING understands how fleet sizes and competitive opportunity in the various Olympic events will be managed.
However, despite its failings it will succeed at hurting multihull sailing. And, it will be joined by no-multihull submissions form other countries (Canada, Denmark, and perhaps others).
If you are fouled in a race, you should be able to expect the other guy to acknowledge the foul and take a penalty or withdraw, If not, you can and should protest.
If you are not willing to defend your rights, and keep the sport clean, then don’t be surprised when your rights are abused – or when you discover that you don’t have them anymore.
The US SAILING Board did not have the right to discard the multihull event from the slate of Olympic Events. Many of us asked the Board to acknowledge the foul, but instead they have suggested that we support them for having discarded us.
If you won’t defend the right to have a multihull event at the Olympic regatta, then what would you defend?
It is not ‘going too far’ to protest the actions of the Board; in fact it looks like multihull sailors have already lost some very basic rights.
And unless we enjoy being abused, we should perhaps be more concerned that a protest could be too little, too late.
Here is a link to the website where you can read the submission, read the complaint, and defend what rights you have left by calling on US SAILING to be accountable.
HTTP://WWW.USMULTIHULL.ORG
Regards,
Mike Grandfield
Short comments:
Dean seems to quite unaware of the level of talent among the young Tornado sailors.
Regardless of event sailors must commit 200 days per year for 4 to 8 years in order to get close to an Olympic medal.
Some day there might be a lighter, faster, more durable boat than a Tornado. When there is it might be time to consider a change.
But, Olympic sailing is already losing some of its claim to being at the pinnacle of the sport. In the high performance events, boats that are heavier, slower, less durable, and less exciting would only lessen the importance of the event.
I went to the site and added my name to the complaint, and I hope that everybody who frequents this web site does the same.
After decades of belonging to US Sailing and urging other multihull sailors to do so, I feel betrayed by our governing body. <img src=
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Ditto.
I guess I should have said
people from the United States
who frequent this web site should add their names to the complaint.
Those of you from other countries should find out what your own National Governing Bodies are doing on this subject and complain to them if they are planning on dropping the multihull from the Olympics.
Takes all of 10 seconds, done.
9.25 seconds... <img src=
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Done
If you want to spend a little more time and write to people directly about this, here are some e-mail addresses:
dmbrenner@ussailing.org, Dean Brenner, chairman of the U.S. Olympic Sailing Committee
katiekelly@ussailing.org, Katie Kelly, U.S. Olympic Director
jcapron@capron.com, Jim Capron, President of U.S. Sailing
It is great that the U.S. Tornado Association is fighting this decision by US Sailing, but they need the vocal support of the entire U.S. multihull community.
And be sure to include your US Sailing membership number!
Just added my name with my number! Shame on them. <img src=
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Bob
BHAM!
Me too.
Doug
+1 more, keep it going.
I just sent e-mails to Dean, Katie and Jim. Among other things, here is what I said:
Even if the rest of the countries vote to keep the multihull in the Olympics, how can the United States multihull sailors ever again trust US Sailing to support us? Why would our young catamaran sailors dedicate the time and financial resources necessary to reach Olympic level, when they know the rug might be pulled out from under them at any time by their own National Governing Body?
Setting a goal for the Olympics requires a lot of trust and faith on the part of the sailors that their own country is going to support them."
I add my name to the list.
Matt J.
I knew there was a reason I never joined US Ailing.
After being told I wouldn't receive a class certificate because I belonged to a Hobie fleet instead of a yacht club I quit.
What's a class certificate?
I took a USYRU PRO class at the St. Francis YC in '91. Took the test and passed. Turned in my info form to get a certificate of completion. The guy running the class said no YC membership no class certificate.
USYRU had been pushing hard to get the multihull and board guys to join. It appeared that USYRU viewed us as potential revenue opportunities and were not about to let us play with the
big boys.
I said sayonara sucker.
I took your issue to the Race Management guys - that requirement is long since out the window, but your test results were out-dated by several years by that time. All I had for you at the end of that phone call was an apology and the opportunity to test again for a widely expanded program that includes free liability insurance for you and your whole race committee on and off the water.
Bad experiences like this make it tough to see the good stuff, I agree.
Bad experiences like this make it tough to see the good stuff, I agree.
Looks like we've entered circular logic land. USSail won't get a dime of my money until I get the certificate I earned. As for the apology, it's too little and waaaaay too late.
Here is what I sent
Dear Madam and Sirs,
Simply registering my dissatisfaction with any decision that would preclude the inclusion of the Tornado as an Olympic Class. It is my understanding you have heard the many well reasoned arguments against such a decision. I will spare my voice and your time from the cacophony and urge you to do the obvious,
Best regards
Charlie Barmonde
You know guys, those half-boat snobs can't stand the speed gap. I get bs from the mono guys here all the time. I answer their wittering by banging past on a tight reach with a rooster tail off the bow.
When it comes to the Olympics though I would have thought they would understand that medals is medals.
And Mary, I don't know why you are complaining, you are not even sure the Ts should be there. : )
Don't forget that if cats are dropped from the Olympics, it will be near impossible and certainly many many years before it will be reinstated!
What on earth would give you that idea? OF COURSE, we need a multihull in the Olympics -- preferably two of them. We need a two-person cat and a single-hander. And both of them should be
Open
classes -- meaning open to both men and women.
The multihulls are unique in that it should not be necessary to segregate and have separate classes on the basis of sex, as they seem to have to do in most of the monohull dinghies.
I think it is sending the wrong message when they use types of boats that have to be segregated by sex of the sailor.
Sailing should be more like the equestrian events, where there is no sex discrimination -- either for the horses or the riders. <img src=
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Now, whether or not the Olympic multihull class should continue to be the Tornado is an entirely different topic. The point is, we HAVE to make sure at least one multihull class stays in the Olympics, and we should be pushing for two.
The multihull community is just not vocal enough. We take the status quo too much for granted.
Instead of
complaining
after the fact, as we are now stuck doing in the United States, we should all be more proactive about letting our respective country sailing organizations know how important it is to have multihulls in the Olympics -- and WHY.
It is times like these that make me wonder why in the world there were so many voices against developing NAMSA that said,
...we already have a body helping and supporting us.
Where is that support now! <img src=
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And I added my name to the list and sent letters to all the email address Mary posted. I think we should all send emails and call, if necessary.
Rick
Guys/Gals:
I just got ths in my email mailbox today. It help to send a comment to them!!
Sent on Behalf Of:
Doug Snell
305 Hobbs Road Apt #102
League City, TX 77573
To:
Mr. Peter Ueberroth
Chair, US Olympic Committee
1 Olympic Plaza
Colorado Springs, CO 80909
Tel: 719.632.5551
RE: Complaint against US SAILING
This complaint is being filed in accordance with the procedure described in the USOC By-Laws Section 8.1; and under the provisions of the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act (ASA).
The US SAILING Board of Directors has approved and forwarded to the International Sailing Federation a submission titled “2012 Olympic Events”. This submission proposes 6 dinghy events and 2 keelboat events, but omits any proposal of a multihull event.
Competition at the Olympic Regatta is held in a number of event categories. US multihull sailors have won Olympic medals in 4 of the 7 Olympic Regattas attended by the US Team. Multihull racing constitutes approximately ¼ of the all racing done worldwide. And, US SAILING has long recognized multihull racing as one of the core competition categories, having established:
* Youth and Adult National Championships
* A national Multihull Council, which is described as follows - “Sailors are represented by Councils & Associations of groups having common sailing interests on a national basis.”
* The Hoyt-Jolley Multihull Fund for the adult championship, and the Stevens Restricted Fund the youth championship.
1. ASA §220524(1) states that a national governing body shall “… be responsible to the persons and amateur sports organizations it represents”.
The “2012 Olympic Events” submission disenfranchises US multihull sailors and the Multihull Council. The Board of Directors has declined to act despite appeals made by phone, email, letter, and in-person by the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Multihull Council and many individual multihull sailors. US multihull sailors challenge the Board of Directors to show that it is being responsible to the persons and amateur sports organizations it represents”.
2. ASA §220524(3) states that a national governing body shall ”…reasonably reflect the views of the athletes in its policy decisions”.
The “2012 Olympic Events” submission fails to reflect the views of US multihull sailors.
The multihull class representative on the Olympic Sailing Committee was excluded from the discussions that resulted in the slate of events that was submitted to the Board of Directors for approval.
The representatives of the Multihull Council were not informed of, or consulted in regard to this pivotal policy decision.
The US SAILING Team multihull athletes, coaches, and other personnel were not informed or consulted; and learned of the submission only after it had been forwarded to the ISAF.
3. ASA §220522(a) states that an “amateur sports organization is eligible to be recognized, or to continue to be recognized, as a national governing body only if it” §220522(a)8 “provides an equal opportunity to amateur athlete… to participate in amateur athletic competition, without discrimination”.
The “2012 Olympic Events” submission discriminates against US multihull sailors. It proposes only monohull events, and thereby denies equal opportunity to US multihull sailors.
4. USOC Article VIII Section 8.1.A.2.c states “ if such remedies [available] have not been exhausted, the grounds upon which the complainant alleges that exhaustion would result in unnecessary delay;
The time required to follow the procedures required to exhaust available remedies will result in unnecessary delay and irreparable harm to US multihull sailors.
The publication by the ISAF of the US SAILING submission is immanent; and this publication will disseminate globally US SAILING’s disenfranchisement of multihull racing.
The ISAF Mid-Year Meeting, for which the submission was made, will take place from 4-6 May 2007. If the submission is not amended or withdrawn it will cause irreparable harm to US multihull sailors.
The US SAILING Board of Directors has not met its responsibilities as laid out in the ASA. The “2012 Olympic Events” submission needs to be amended to include one or more multihull events; or if it cannot be amended it must immediately be withdrawn.
Respectfully,
Doug Snell
305 Hobbs Road Apt #102
League City, TX 77573
Doug,
From whom did you receive that
complaint
to send to the U.S. Olympic Committee? It didn't just appear by magic in your e-mail inbox.
Goodonya Mary! I thought that might get a response and it is nice to read you say it clearly!
Get the multihhull medalists and put the photos of them winning in a national full page add. This action devalues their medals and disrespects them and all fierce multihaull competitors around the World. Why would all Tornado sailors NOT want to face the US in the Olympics? It will cost you all a dollar each to place that add. Embarrass the buggers and ask them to explain themselves.
New Zealand was big in Olympic rowing gold in the 80s. We went through a black patch but always backed them. We have one of the strongest rowing teams on the planet again with Olympic golds and many World titles. You gotta keep leaning into the wind.
sailors are sailors and the mono fleets need to show more solidarity.