No doubt you will be taking part in your club’s “Olympic” Mixed One-Person Dinghy Event or Mixed Two Person Dinghy or, if your one of the few clubs in the UK holding kiteboard racing events, you could be taking part in the Mixed Kiteboard racing . . .
Well if you are, then the RYA will most likely want to hear from you, as these are all proposed new Olympic sailing events, and I am sure they will want to sign you up as an early adopter!
If you thought that 49er and Nacra17 sailing was difficult, then take a look at these new events proposed by World Sailing for the 2024 Games, no not the “It’s a Knockout” games, this is serious stuff with Olympic medals involved.
Now there is a problem . . . well it does involve World Sailing . . . No one has described just what all these new events involve.
This is despite World Sailing’s own regulation #23 requiring that any new Olympic event must be a “Pinnacle Event” – which I think means we should all know about it and be taking part in it at a high competitive level.
But they did give a hint . . .
“The Mixed One-Person Dinghy will feature male and female sailors racing on separate boats and will require teamwork for transferring knowledge for a team effort, to achieve the ultimate glory – an Olympic gold medal.”
These are not events that the IOC has insisted on, but events that have been cobbled together to try and dig World Sailing out of hole it has dug for itself.
Having mis-handled the Kiteboarding farrago, and apparently not having the negotiating ability of other sports such as cycling and skiing, who have successfully expanded their Olympic footprint, they have ended up with collection of made-up events in/on equipment yet to be decided.
Compounding this is that having also mishandled the licencing of classes presently involved in the Games, they have had to call for a re-appraisal of the Laser and RS:X to try and avoid EU Anti-Trust violations.
Also, no actual Formats or Equipment have yet been named although many committee hours have been expended.
This will be decided (or fudged) at the World Sailing Annual Conference, in Sarasota, Florida USA, starting Saturday 27 October.
This could mean that seven of the existing ten classes are heading for the exit.
World Sailing will be deciding:
In addition to the already retained events – the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 that:
Men’s Windsurfer – Retained with new equipment – would require new equipment trials.
Women’s Windsurfer – Retained with new equipment – would require new equipment trials.
Heavyweight Men’s One Person Dinghy, Finn – Rename event as ‘Mixed One-Person Dinghy’ to comprise Finn retained for Men, and there to be new Women one-person dinghy – would require new equipment trials.
Men’s Two Person Dinghy, 470 – Rename as Mixed Two Person Dinghy.
Women’s Two Person Dinghy, 470 – New Event, Mixed Kite . . . one male and one female athlete to campaign as a “team” in a multi-format race series – would require new equipment trials.
Plus the Laser and Radial, which are subject to Anti-Trust evaluation, have been recommended for trials against three new classes.
This is sailing, not as we know it, but how World Sailing see it. Time to stop digging guys!
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