From the feedback - 27/3/01

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From Hamish Mackay
Reinstate the Soling? The important thing to remember here is that the Soling is equipment. What the Soling class and others are trying to achieve is to over turn the decisions made at the ISAF Edinburgh conference on equipment and therefore classes. One of the many arguments is that there should be a boat at the Olympics that caters for keelboat sailors, a variety of sized sailors, using a spinnaker and match racing. The Soling as it happens fulfils all of these. So do other classes, however it is the Soling that was presented as the equipment for this particular slot. My question is how can the Olympics not have a class of boat that caters for keelboat sailors with spinnakers and match racing? It was big step when match racing was introduced to the Olympics. To let it be cast aside so easily, I strongly believe is an enormous backward step. You only have to look at the quality of sailors that raced the Soling to understand how some of the best in the world viewed the boat and the idea of sailing in the fleet/match race discipline at the Olympics. The question of what goes is difficult, the Star springs to mind. There is a lot to this whole argument, with not enough space here to go into all the sides. The Soling class and others have been very active over the last few months trying to get their case together. I hope as the governors of our sport, ISAF are able to at least discuss the topic at the mid-year meeting.


From Ian Williams
Reinstate the Soling? There are a whole host of reasons why match racing, and probably the Soling should be reinstated to the Olympics. There are also a number of reasons why all the current classes should stay in. However, the issue currently seems to be whether to allow the issue to be discussed at the mid-year meeting. The ISAF council resolved in 1999 to have two keelboat events for men at the 2004 Olympics and also resolved not to consider the issue again. The Soling class, naively in hindsight, believed that the fleet/match berth was safe and hence the slot for the Soling. Likewise the women believed that a match racing event had been decided upon. When ISAF changed their decision and decided to bring the issue of events up again in 2000, the Soling and match racing committees appeared to be completely underprepared to make submissions and arguments. For this reason match racing and the Soling class were ejected from the Olympic program with no opportunity for lobbying or preparation of argument and submissions. Indeed it seems to be (although I wasn't there) that once council had decided to only have one men's keelboat, there was no discussion at all whether that should be a fleet racing event, a match racing event, or a combination. This, despite four years earlier voting for a fleet/match event as the sole Olympic keelboat event (before the Star was reinstated). So what council decided was best for the 2000 Olympics was not even discussed for the 2004 Olympics. This, after an extremely successful fleet/match event in Sydney (the percentage of the Danish population that watched Jesper Bank win his gold medal was larger than the percentage of the British population that watched Steven Redgrave win his). It is absolutely imperative for the sport that decisions of this importance are made sensibly. I find it deeply concerning that the ISAF executive is attempting to prevent submissions by ISAF member countries from being argued and voted on in General Meeting.

From Tom O'Keefe
Reinstate the Soling? It should go the way of the 12-metre. Even in their prime the Etchells class attracted greater numbers than the Soling. We need boats draw attention and participation into our sport. The 49er and Turbo Tornado are good steps in bringing new life to sailing. The Yngling is helping to bring greater female participation (if they would ever get the weight issue resolved). The Soling has had its place in history. It should still be used to introduce young sailors to proper spinnaker-handling techniques. But, we should not allow some old school elitists to stunt the attempts to draw more excitement and thereby more participation to the sport of sailing.

From Anthony Shanks
The Soling? I read with interest the comments on the Soling. I must declare as one who has just started sailing a Star I was delighted that the Star was retained in the Olympics. I feel that maybe it is time keelboat racing got together instead of trying to snipe at each other. Fact: the Star is the most widely raced keelboat in the world. Even in non-Olympic years it has huge appeal to both young and old and exhibited some of the finest sailing of the last Games. It requires a very high level of technical ability and nobody can tell me the people were not fit. Fact: The majority of small keetboat racing is done in three-person boats with spinnakers. Surely it is time that keelboat racing became a lobby in itself. We must all understand that the Olympics is about maximising the number of countries for the minimum number of athletes therefore four and five person boats are flawed from the beginning. I suggest that the women's lobby found this out the hard way. The Soling and the Star are extremely representative of world sailing as they focus on a very under-represented sector of our sport. Perhaps it is time that ISAF took the lead and amalgamated the 470 and stood up on the world stage to show how progressive sailing is. The last question I would like to ask is why the Star supplies so many sailors to the America's Cup?

From Jim Jones
Reinstate the Soling? The half match racing/half fleet racing scenario was always one of the peculiar compromises that committees throw up. Resembling nothing anyone does anywhere in the world - its prime reason for existence was to enable the Soling to carry on as an Olympic boat. The Olympic choices are heavily dominated by numbers restrictions. That's not going to change. So the more competitors a class has the more it will push out other classes. That's why team racing should never be, in spite of all the campaigning by those who like this peculiar branch of the sport. Six people for an event either means a tiny fleet, making it excessively exclusive, or else competitors being forced out of other events. The same applies to conventional match racing - is it four or five person teams on the pro circuit? So that leaves us with the choice of fleet racing in one or two person boats, and surely (outside the USA) that's what the majority of people do anyway. As for what the classes are - its good there's one mass market boat, and its good there's one modern boat, but do we really care what the others are as long as they aren't 'my' class. I bet most of the sailors aren't 'that' bothered, provided there's something that suits their weight. Although I suppose the hilarious speed at which the Olympic boys discard gear must help people running 49ers on a budget with all that second hand kit about.