Olympic debate

Peter Bentley comments on Paul Henderson's plans for change

Better instead to settle the battle on the conceptual idea of what the Olympic regatta is about. Is it as the Olympics are decreed to be a ‘Festival of Youth’ or does ISAF (as was its avowed intention with the introduction of the Women’s keel boat) have a responsibility to prolong the careers of its athletes? Is history and continuity more important that keeping the event up to date? Do we need boats for individuals of all sizes and body types or can e accept that some people will never be able to compete successfully in an Olympic class? You don't see many 60Kg shot putters or discus throwers.

When making these conceptual decisions it would be as well to remember the impact that Olympic sailing has (and in many nations doe not have), on the overall sport of sailing. Here in the UK, the Olympic classes have all but faded from the domestic scene. Only those fully intent on Olympic glory sail the chosen classes of the five ring circus, while the majority of recreational sailors almost invariably sail something new, modern and fast. Most of the new boats are one-designs which must add some credence to Henderson's arguments in favour of ‘out of the box’ boats.

Henderson’s outspoken comments in Sydney about the use of on-the-water communications by team coaches very nearly landed him in hot water at the time but that does not mean now is not a good point to review policy in this respect. The allegation in Sydney was that the well prepared teams were using weather spotters to provide information to their coaches and competitors. Now Henderson is suggesting that all on-the-water communications should be banned. He is also proposing that no ‘weather boats’ should be allowed on the course area before or after each day’s racing.

But will the proposed changes really make any difference? There is no doubt that a good understanding of the wind and weather is vital to success. The top teams spend years and thousand of pounds on research long before the Olympic regatta gets started. By the time the event begins, the majority of the work is long done. Is Henderson seriously suggesting that Ben Ainslie or Shirley Robertson sailed to a particular side of the course because of what their coach heard on the radio ten minutes before the start? No chance; they sailed the way they did because of the vast experience they and their coaches had accumulated sailing in Sydney Harbour for weeks and months and years before the Games.

In his heart you feel that Henderson would like to ban all the coaches from the Olympic venue and have a ‘pure’ regatta where the sailors stood or fell on their own merits. His ability to do this is limited to some extent by the IOC and even more by financial constraints. As he himself points out, the coach boats provided by the teams saved the Sydney organisers a huge amount of money.

The saving to the rich teams would however be marginal. The real cost of coaching comes not at the Games themselves but in the months and years of build-up. Good coaches are in short supply and the laws of supply and demand work here as elsewhere.

And it’s not just at Olympic level that coaches cost money. Research by the RYA shows that more than 1000 junior sailors are required at the bottom of their national Programme to generate on World Class sailor at the top. While individual talent will continue to shine through, the countries that have well resourced and well organised junior squads will continue to dominate the medal tables. Nothing Henderson can do to reduce the cost of equipment or coaching support at the Games can alter that. Do we really want to restrict the budgets of national youth programmes?

The simple fact is that the National and individual teams that have money will always find a productive way to spend it.