YOUR FEEDBACK

About the Olympic events selection and the Moth patent debate

Your feedback regarding the selection of Olympic Classes (due today) following an article we published last week, as well as our comment in our weekly dinghy e-mail (sign up by editing your preferences here). You have also been in touch regarding the Moth Patent debate, following our article here.

Olympic Classes debate:

Chris McLaughlin writes:

It makes sense to shake up the Olympic Classes, but it probably won’t happen.

The Laser and Laser Radial stay because of the cheap access they offer to male and female sailors. However, the Finn should go, as should the Star. One is a feeder for the other. They are technical and dull and the latter far too expensive.

The Yngling is an aberration that shouldn’t have happened – put it out of its misery.

An existing or new 24 foot, cheap boat ($35k), could then be designated as the Keel boat class for male and female crews. Boats would be switched daily by lottery at all regattas, so there would be no point “Optimising“ them. All competitors would pool then their boats for the Olympic fleet would subsequently be utilised as the Match Racing boat to save costs.

The Olympic Gold medalists and Silver medalists could then compete in match racing for a Champion of Champions event at the end of the Games, with other members from National Squads – including Reserves - comprising the Match Race crew. The event could conclude in a day. TV would love a Champion of Champions/ Male v Female helm format.

The 470 would work best as a combined male/female class. The small helms will drive and six foot plus male and female crews would represent the youth of the world in our sport.

The 49er should stay as a spectacle class, but with a frequent, tight maneuver course for the TV cameras. A mass production Catamaran for male and female crews should replace the Tornado.

Most importantly, sailing should only be held where the guaranteed wind profile is above 15 mph daily and the sun always shines. TV hates grey…

Peter Reay has this to say:

The Olympics are firstly about winning. The NZ Olympic committee has decided that our sailors have to be in the top ten in the world to be selected. Fun is in the Eddie the Eagle category: a contrast with the tension of winning. Fun is for individuals to fund
themselves.

With the current approach to filming and televising the races, it is hard to see who is winning, it is impossible to see what anyone is doing, or even most of the time who is doing it. (I have already complained about this for the America's cup, only this is worse.)

My evidence? In Athens, NZ sailors were not winning. We might have coverage for about two or three mins about 2-3 am. So here was no later replay and recording was very difficult. To learn from the sailors, I purchased the official DVD. Coverage was as described above. Long shots of dots on the sea interspersed with quick shots of mark rounding etc. With one special exception: the Finn race in a strong breeze, with much coverage of the Irish representative and of Ben Ainslie. Especially sailing downwind, exciting and very interesting.

All the changes in boats etc will result in moving the chairs on a famous liner. We need to see athletes doing something.

Matchracing, as you mentioned in today's email could give everyone a clear focus on the winners, only if the type of coverage is changed.

As for the classes, sailing is a sport that older people can do, there should be a class where smart experience is as important as youth, eg the Star class. Rowing is coping (How many countries row?). Swimming has multiplied so many types of swim that 5-6 gold medals in a game is frequent. It is boring as well, except for pre and post posturing on the poolside.

Yachting is very tough to win over several days.

Moth patents:

Grant Murphy writes:

If you look at the mess that the software industry is in with patents having been granted years ago, now being generally regarded as a mistake (current case of Sun vs Netapp is topical), this is a huge issue and topic for debate. Any class association that has an assigned boat builder that then patents an element of the class could really suffer from the lock in (I'm thinking some one design classes could be even more affected).

Tristan Nelson comments:

Development classes spawning new one design classes is something that should be applauded and encouraged. Where would modern dinghy sailing be without the International 14 class?

The 14 class was the first mainstream class in the UK and Europe to adopt twin wiring and asymmetric spinnakers. In addition to having directly spawned a One Design Class, the Johnson One Design, where would the impudus for the many asymmetric dinghies we see today have come from? The class showed that this type of sailing was possible for everyone, not just the elite few. As a result the dinghy scene has been changed forever.

The Moths have provided the same type of platform for foiling that the 14s provided for twin-wire/asymmetric sailing. It is that environment of exchanged ideas, thoughts and experience that provides an impudus for change. Without that environment Bladerider would not exist and they should be respectful to the class and more importantly the sailors who helped provide them with the ideas they have developed.

Bladerider owes it existence to the Moth class, it should acknowledge this and treat the class with the respect it is due.

If you have a view on any of these subject e-mail us at batmail@thedailysail.com