SailJuice Shake-Up!!!

There has been a big shake-up, re-organisation and expansion of all things SailJuice.

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What the Athletes Say

Following on from the graphs published yesterday, here are the anonymised comments of some of the Olympic sailors who added their views.

One of the strong messages coming through is that the Athletes really do want to have one of their peers sitting at the 38-strong table of ISAF Council.

Comments from the Athletes Commission survey of Olympic sailors

Laser Class
 There should be an effort to put Team Racing in the Olympics. It's fun to watch, cheap and a lot of fun for the sailors.
 Selection should be based on representing the wider trends in sailing. Course racing for sailboards is not popular outside of the Olympics
but moth sailing is growing rapidly.

Tornado Class
 I think that the Olympics should represent all aspects of sailing, such as dinghy, skiff, multihull. We need classes that are exciting to
watch and that will make people want to try sailing and classes that look good on TV for media coverage.

Finn Class
 I took part in the 2007 ISAF meeting and think as a sailor that ISAF needs a long term strategy regards to classes and media and
therefore need a new selection procedure.
 The one representative per Country rule should be abolished as some of the worlds best miss out due to this rule.
 I believe that in order to attract more spectators, fleet racing should change to match racing something like tennis. Have a ranking list,
competitors should get an invitation for regattas and have the finals. Also a good idea is to include money awards for regatta first ten
boats.
 470 men & women OUT and choose a 29er and 49er and the double-handed classes.

Radial Class
 I think that the one design aspect is very critical, so that the Olympics are a true test of sailing ability and not funding into sail / mast
development. There needs to be more variety of boats to sail for women as at the moment there are no fast or exciting boats for women
to sail, the men get the 49er and the women get nothing fun. There should be a one design skiff for women to keep sailing exciting and
more media friendly.
 The most important thing is to choose classes that are interesting to watch and affordable and reasonably easily available. The
continuity is important for media perspective and for the same reason making the classes clearer ie: Laser & Laser Radial / 49er and
29er) We need to move forward --> fast and fun boats which attract youth to sail them --> stronger sport.
 Mix of events should be "understandable" (not match racing keelboat women / fleet racing keelboat men). Mixed or open events should
be realistic classes sailed by men & women, not heavy-weight dinghy but rather a keelboat!


Star Class
 More active sailors in deciding committees!!
 Give the Athletes a vote at the ISAF council
 Let the athletes vote!
 The officials are too many, more real sailors!
 Best sailors in the world sail Stars, so Stars should be in the Olympics
 I am afraid British Federation has caused a ridiculous situation changing their minds after complaints from cat sailors. Can ISAF afford
women’s match racing? Does having top sailors sailing (i.e. the Star) create higher levels of competition? That is what the Olympics is
supposed to be about.
 I think we need to consider weight of sailor as an important part of selecting the class of boats, ie 470, 49, Tornado all are similar weight
sailors.
 The Star is the only boat I sail at this level given my size.
 I believe that any decision should include full size sailors, not simply small individuals.
 Keep the Star in the Olympics. It is the only class for the slightly older, big name sailors. The little guys already have plenty of options.
 Finn out – Tornado in. Match racing is a must have at the games!
 Basically there are not enough girls sailing. Why introduce new women’s classes? No one wants to match race.
 If about 85% of the people who sail are male Olympic games must be about 6/4 or 7/3 events for male or female. To make the games
more spectacular and get media image must be an amount of races to determine who 10 are going to sail the medal race. And then that
race should be the final result not taking into consideration the previous races.
 I personally think we should have a revote because we should catamarans in the Olympics as keelboat but I also think that for example
the 470 men/women can be exchanged to cats and female shift class to the 29er for example. Keelboats need to stay in the Olympics
especially the Star because it’s a very challenging boat form 3-25kts and also for all different weight categories sailing it. Keelboats make
70% of all worldwide sailing.
 Affordability is a factor that athletes control. Everyone looks for an advantage somewhere and most spend heaps to get it because it’s
easier.
 There should always be an Olympic class in which people can sail at an advanced age so that the sailors Olympic career does not stop at
say 35 years.
 The star must remain an Olympic class for many reasons, 1) the big names in the sport of sailing sail Star boats. 2) close intense racing. 3)
The tradition of the class is second to none. 4) the cost of campaign the Star makes sense.
 The Olympics should be about what is good for sailors and not TV rights.
 Thank you for letting sailors comment. Change is not always good, be careful and wise. Do not make or choose sport events for media
and or public views. They will follow the best sports/athletes.
 Two singlehanded boats are not necessary. Why do we have this expensive Finn class in the Olympics?
 I would like to see the disciplines reviewed less frequently as changes have far reaching cost for very little benefit to the sailors. 2) Ban
coaches as a cost cutter 3) Boat builders to supply equipment for Olympics as a measure to lessen pressure on the measurement rules.
 The Star Class has to stay in the Olympics because it is the only class who attract sailors out of all the Olympic classes. Further I is a class
where the name of sailing compete in (eg Russel Coutts, Paul Cayard, Robert Scheidt, Hamish Pepper and so on…). The Star class is a very
big worldwide fleet where everybody can race.
 I sail the star because of good local competition. I’m pleased that it is in the Olympics because I have the opportunity of compete
against the best sailors in the World. Personally I have no hope of ever going to the Olympics.
 The Star class is the only Olympic discipline where all the best sailors in the world can sail and compete. Young talents, former world
champions from all other Olympic classes, professional sailors from the A-Cup everybody is competing in the Star class.
 Disciplines should be chosen according to the worldwide sailing activity ie (keelboats, dinghies, catamarans) to keep at least the sailing
public interested. Disciplines like windsurfing which is not practiced in this form outside of ISAF events are obsolete. The Star class with
all the former champions of the Laser and Finn class as well as the champs from big boats must remain the highest valued Olympic class
to attract the most successful sailor beyond their dinghy years.

470 W Class
 Athletes shouldn’t decide next Olympic events but a good representative board to choose right classes

470 M Class
 Considering number of Multihulls worldwide, it’s a disaster if there is no representation at the games
 Rather choose skiff than a woman keelboat!
 No need for two single handed male classes
 Kite surfing and speed sailing should never be Olympic
 Sailing should be shown in all its differences like sailing is a multisided sport.
 Reconsider number of boats in all events that must be related to number of country’s sailing
 Big boys can sail star, lose the Finn
 Open classes are not for real, it’s happening only once
 I totally agree same male as female events
 470 is so global it should stay Olympic
 Multihull for woman is not possible. This should be exhibition class like moth of kite surfing
 Cheapest for poorest countries: all sizes is essential to have popular Olympic events. We are in 21th century, men and woman are equal.
So should be equal at games

QUESTION: What are the most useful comments to come out of this survey? What should ISAF pay most attention to?

Olympic Athletes Survey

Here are some details from that Athletes Commission survey that I mentioned in my last post. Marcelien de Koning presented some of the findings to ISAF at the Conference recently, although as Star call representative Mark Reynolds points out, there are some anomalies in the results, as not all of the Olympic classes received exactly the same version of the questionnaire.

Also, Mark says that some of the questions may have been misunderstood by those for whom English is not their first language, so that needs to be borne in mind too.

There is a question in there about whether the sailors would have wanted a revote on the 11-into-10 medals dilemma which saw the multihull thrown out last year. Of course this is all history now, but it's interesting to see that the majority of sailors would have liked to see a revote, suggesting they weren't happy with the outcome. I thought Mark, as a Star sailor himself, would not have wanted to ask that revote question, although funnily enough he pushed for the question to be included.

click on the image below to see the full-size chart:

Not surprisingly though, the survey reveals that most of Mark's Star colleagues did not want to go digging up the Tornado from its freshly made grave. That's understandable. Mark paraphrased 470 Men's representative, Andreas Kosmotopoulos's apt description: "Why would we want to go back and play another game of Russian roulette where there's one bullet in the chamber for 11 of us?" The Tornado took the bullet 12 months ago, and now we have to wait and see if Goran Petersson could bring the multihull back from the dead, to convince IOC to allow an 11th medal.

Click on the thumbnail below to see the details of the bar chart:

QUESTION: What statistics surprise or interest you from this survey?

Ask the Kids!

In the previous post I argued for greater leadership from the President of ISAF, encouraging Goran Petersson to take a firmer grip of the unruly form of 'democracy' represented by ISAF Council. More dictatorship, less democracy please.

At the same, it would be nice to see more democracy too. But surely that would be having my cake and eating it, wouldn't it? Well, yes, and no. Because democracy means representing the people, and I'm not convinced that ISAF Council is doing that to any great degree. It wouldn't be too hard to revert to a bit of true democracy, by actually asking the sailors what they want.

Every time an actual sailor - someone actively engaged in Olympic campaigning - gets up to speak at ISAF Conference, their wisdom is widely applauded and well received. The fact that they know what they're talking about shouldn't really come as too much of a surprise though, should it! These are the people spending almost all the time and money at their disposal on doing this stuff, not just talking about it. So of course they know what they're talking about.

At least ISAF has formed an Athletes Commission. That's a step in the right direction. The next is to give the AC a seat on the Council.

There's another very obvious way to ask the sailors what they want. Get them to fill out an online survey.

Maybe you remember the SailJuice Survey which we conducted a year ago? We got 1488 respondents, and a good chunk of them were active Olympic sailors, but the most were weekend enthusiasts who were keen and willing enough to spend some time sharing their views. I didn't expect ISAF to pay much attention to it, although the Survey certainly send a few ripples through the Conference last year.

If you want to see the top-line figures from that Survey, they're still available by clicking through to my old and currently dormant SailJuiceBlog.

Click here for the 2007 Survey results...

Even better, the Athletes Commission went on to conduct its survey of Olympic sailors by polling all those who competed in Olympic class world championships this year. Unfortunately the data was not entirely consistent, according to AC chairwoman Marcelien de Koning, so some of the answers are not as accurate as they could be, but there are still some strong trends worth taking note of. I'll be publishing the details of the AC Survey in the next SailJuice post.

No one has yet conducted the most important survey of all yet, however, and that is to ask the kids who are competing at the Volvo ISAF Youth Worlds what they want to sail if and when they move into Olympic classes. Rather than all us grown-ups (most of us middle-aged men) surmising and claiming that we know what type of boat teenage girls might like to sail, why don't we ask them!

No survey should be treated as gospel, but it's the best mechanism I can think of for finding out what the youth sailors are thinking. It's better than not asking them at all.

I really hope ISAF takes note of this. If a blogger like me can organise a survey (cost: $20 and a few hours work) and if the Athletes Commission (full of full-time sailors with busy lives already) can organise a survey, then surely ISAF can do one too. So go on ISAF, ask the kids what they want!

QUESTION: Or am I just being naive? Should ISAF ask youth sailors what they want, or are they not old enough to know what's best for them?

Cancel the Council

Now if you've been a regular reader of SailJuice over the past year, it won't have escaped your notice that I'm no fan of the way ISAF is structured, and particularly the powers that are bestowed upon the 38-headed hydra known as ISAF Council. It's been this way for so long now that I wonder if people have forgotten to ask if there is a better way. Council is over-democratised and over-politicised and incapable of making coherent decisions.

That's not to say the 38 individuals on the Council are stupid, but the net result of 38 individuals voting on things about which they disagree means the collective decision making process is rendered useless. Too often the result is collective stupidity.

One of the jokes going around Madrid was that someone should put in a submission next year to disband all the expert committees and subcommittees, because ISAF Council doesn't pay any attention anyway! That way you could have a three-day Conference instead of a 10-day Conference, and save a whole lot of wasted breath, because the outcomes would be the same but the hotel bills would be a lot smaller.

Another way of looking at it could be to turn the Conference on its head, placing the ISAF Council meeting first, where the 38 members tell everyone what they'd like to see for their respective interest groups, and then it would be up to the expert committees to make the final decisions, adopting ISAF Council requests where they fitted in with the overall ISAF strategy, and discarding the ones that didn't. I like the sound of that.

But fat chance of that happening.

Alternatively you could revert to the strong-arm approach that used to be taken by Paul Henderson, who as ISAF President would throw his weight around and get stuff done through a form of dictatorship. Henderson was not the easiest man to work with, by all (and I do mean all!) accounts, but stuff did get done. A number of people are certainly looking for a stronger form of leadership from Goran Petersson now that he's secured his second and final four-year term in office.

If Petersson were to remove many of the decision-making powers from ISAF Council and create a more effective process for Getting Stuff Done, then he might not be very popular with some of the 38 members of Council (although he would be popular with many), and he would secure the gratitude and respect of a huge number of sailing fans who want to see ISAF moving in a coherent progressive direction.

QUESTION: Will Petersson or anyone else ever be able or brave enough to restructure ISAF into a body that is capable of making progress quickly and effectively?

Views from a Medallist

Marcelien de Koning is not a girl for standing still. Having bagged a silver in the 470 at Qingdao, she flew off to compete in the New York Marathon (completed in 3 hours 50 minutes, 9476th place out of 39,000), and then jetted straight back across the pond to the ISAF Conference in Madrid.

The Netherlands sailor was there in her capacity as chairwoman of the Athletes Commission (AC), set up just over a year ago as a representative voice for the Olympic sailors, with one rep per class. The AC was angling to get a representative on to ISAF Council, but this decision was deferred until May next year, so at the moment the Commission is a toothless organisation. Even so, de Koning has some strong opinions, and as successful athlete (three-time 470 world champion in addition to the silver medal), her views will get noticed.

I asked de Koning about a number of things. She wanted it pointed out that these are her personal opinions as a sailor, not as chairwoman of the AC:

The current decision-making structure of ISAF: “In the past 12 years, sailing has gone nowhere. In the end the Council will always decide what's best for themselves. The Athletes Commission really liked the submission from Yachting Australia, we agreed with 98% of it, and we hope ISAF will implement it. The ways things are structured now, you can never follow a long-term strategy.”

On the future of a women's High Performance class. “I think it will next happen for 2016. If it doesn’t, then ISAF doesn't hear the cry from the female youth wanting a high performance skiff."

470 or 29erXX this time? "470. I wouldn't want to see the 470 go out next time either. It is a good boat. But I don't think we were quite ready for the 29erXX, and I would prefer to be sailing a 49er Minus Minus than a 29er Plus Plus!!!"

What about women's match racing. “Match racing has to overcome a lot of problems. For the first event in Miami next year, the women will have to pay $2500 to enter, which I think is a lot of money. Also, a lot of sailors don’t want anything to do with jury or umpires because crucial mistakes are made which can cost sailors a year's salary. To have a sport which is even more reliant on umpires is not that attractive for many current Olympic sailors.”

Question: Do Olympic sailors deserve a seat at the table of ISAF Council, or is it better that they are kept out of the politics for other people to decide on their behalf? Any other comments or observations about de Koning's views?

An Olympic Strategy, for a change!

So the ISAF Annual Conference comes to a close for another year, and has the sport moved forward since Portugal 12 months ago? Hmmm...

I've spent the day on the phone talking to various attendees, mostly off the record unfortunately. There are a lot of people who feel very strongly that ISAF needs to march to a different - and rather more purposeful - beat, but few are in a position to be able to say so. Marcelien de Koning, 470 silver medallist from Qingdao and chair of the Athletes Commission, gave a very forthright interview however, and SailJuice will bring you that in the near future.

In the mean time, take a look at this strategy document put forward by Yachting Australia, and which was widely acknowledged as a good proposal. How on earth the sensible solutions being put forward in this document will ever be implemented while the highly politicised and over-democratised structure of ISAF Council is allowed to prevail, I'm not quite sure. But at least this submission from Australia points the way, for Olympic sailing anyway.

If you want to do a quick scan, I've underlined a few sections which I think are worth noting. If you've got the time, though, read it from start to finish.

Olympic Sailing Competition - Strategy

A submission from the Yachting Australia

Proposal:

ISAF develops, agrees and promotes a comprehensive vision and overarching strategy for the sport of sailing in the Olympic Games. All future decisions, including those on events and equipment, will then be made in line with this strategy.

The terms of reference and title of the existing Olympic Advisory Commission should be reviewed. The Commission will be responsible for the development the strategy for the sport of sailing in the Olympic Games in consultation with the relevant Committees, Sub Committees and Commissions. The Commission will oversee the development of sailing in the Olympic Games, monitoring and providing input to ensure that all decisions taken are in line with the agreed strategy.

The Executive Committee should reconstitute the Commission as soon as possible, with the terms of reference, associated processes and implementation schedule agreed at the ISAF Mid-Meeting in May 2009.

Current Position:
There is no overarching strategy. The current ISAF Yearbook does not list the Olympic Advisory Commission as one of the Commissions, nor are its’ members listed. Despite the importance to our sport, no single group within ISAF is dedicated solely to the development of sailing in the Olympic Games.

Reasons:

The Need for a Strategy

In order to strengthen the position of sailing in the Olympic Games it is essential that ISAF set a strategy that is transparent and widely understood. The decisions taken in November 2007 on the Olympic Events for 2012 are an obvious example that ISAF is simply not working to a clear strategy.

In September 2004, ISAF was asked to complete a questionnaire and return it the IOC Sports Department. It is based on the information provided by ISAF that the “IOC Olympic Programme Commission Report – 24 May 2005” in discussing “Increasing the Appeal of the Sport” states:

“With a view to presenting its sport in a more interesting and attractive manner, the ISAF has taken the following steps….Equipment innovation introducing faster and more spectacular boats, on-board cameras and sound and GPS responders displaying boat positions.”

This was in 2005. In November 2007, ISAF made two decisions that moved sailing in the Olympic Games in a different direction. Both the removal of the Multihull and the choice not to introduce a High Performance Dinghy for Women are examples that would be considered contrary to the direction indicated to the IOC just 2 years previously.

Our vision and strategy for the Olympic Games must be future focused. The sport is becoming more professional. More than ever, the decisions taken by ISAF are effecting the lives of our young, elite athletes. Sudden, unexpected changes in strategy can have a major impact. ISAF has a responsibility to set and maintain a clear direction. This will allow sailors, coaches and administrators to plan accordingly. Certainty is a key to our future success.

The Value of the Olympic Games to Sailing

ISAF must have in place a strategy that strengthens our value as a sport in the Olympic Games. This is a matter of sound, pragmatic business sense.

ISAF has a product, Sailing. We have one key partner, being the IOC. We promote our product to the IOC, as do other sports.

The IOC packages a number of sports together to ‘sell’ to the global market. Collectively and under the brand of the Olympic Games, the IOC generates considerable sponsorship and rights revenue. The greater the audience interest, the more valuable the rights to the various sports that the IOC is selling and the greater the revenue that can be generated. Over 50% of the IOC income is generated from broadcast rights.

We share in a portion of the revenue from these broadcast rights. In fact our sport relies on the IOC for approximately 65% of the income of ISAF. The IOC is therefore a very important partner for ISAF.

ISAF Member National Authorities (MNAs) also benefit significantly as a result of sailing being an Olympic sport. Governments, National Olympic Committees and sponsors support many MNAs because, and only because, our sport is in the Olympic Games. This support is estimated to be more than half a billion Euros every 4 years. Both ISAF and the MNAs therefore have a collective interest in ensuring the IOC is as satisfied as possible with the performance of our sport in the Olympic Games.

The IOC publishes tables that show that on the ladder of hours of broadcast from the Olympic Games, our sport sits at 26 out of 28. Set against this, the television coverage of our sport is very expensive by comparison to other sports, as are the facilities for hosting it. The IOC also notes a number of other significant facts, such as ticket revenues for our sport account for around one 1/4 of one percent of the total from the Olympic Games.

There are a number of other sports that would very much like the IOC to adopt their sport in preference to ours. Other sports lobby the IOC for inclusion and are prepared to be flexible and adapt their sports to make them more attractive to the IOC needs.

The IOC has made it clear to ISAF for a number of years that there is concern over the level of public and media interest that there is in sailing. They also express some concerns about the costs of staging the sport. Are there ways we can perhaps make sailing more attractive and less expensive?

ISAF has responded by making some changes to our sport. We run more races around shorter courses; we introduce a medal race, an effort to provide a 'final' in each event; we set out to establish a World Cup to ensure more regular exposure for our sport outside the Olympic Games. But are we doing enough quickly enough and do we have a clear plan to further strengthen our position?

Strengthening our sport in the Olympic Games not only helps to protect our current position, but provides the platform to improve that position. A higher profile for sailing means a stronger argument to the IOC for a greater share of the marketing revenues and better support for MNAs from their funding partners. This in turn means more money to invest in the development of sailing at all levels.

The Olympic Games is the major part of the business of ISAF and its MNAs. The implications of not taking steps to secure this part of our business are enormous. The future of sailing in the Olympics is far too important to all of us to be left to chance.

Establishing a Strategy

This paper does not attempt to set out the strategy but some of the issues that must be considered include:

• What the environment will look like in the short to medium term and how can we align with it?
• What will future generations be looking for, be they participants or spectators, and what drivers will capture them?
• How will people consume reports, results and information from events?
• ISAF established itself as a leader in the early use of internet technology. Is there an opportunity to do the same with on-line coverage?
• What will our business model look like?
• What is the vision for sailing in the Olympic Games?
• Are we leading, are we following or are we trying to do both?
• What types of sailing should we be catering for?
• Should the events be the same for both genders?
• Do we have a focus on youth participation or are we trying to cater for a range of ages?
• What are the limiting factors?
• If sailing was more popular as an Olympic sport, would we still be under pressure to reduce the number of athletes and the number of medals, or would we have a case for greater participation?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of sailing now and what are the opportunities and threats for our sport in the future.
• How can we differentiate ourselves from other sports to add value in the Olympic mix?
• What are the implications on other parts of our sport to changes at the Olympic Games?
• What alignment should there be with other events, such as the ISAF World Cup and ISAF Sailing World Championship?
• How can we best use our participation in the Olympic Games to attract more people and countries to our sport?
• What links should there be between our strategy for growing sailing, our strategy for youth development and events, and our strategy for the Olympic Games?
• How can we better present our sport and our athletes to both the live and remote audience, reflecting all that we have to offer in an attractive and positive way?
• How can developing technologies help us?

Once these and other questions have been addressed, we can then build strategies and outcomes to help strengthen our position as a sport in the Olympic Games.

The Decision Making Process

Various Committees, Sub Committees, Commissions and Working Parties currently provide input to a range of decisions about the Olympic Games. However there is no single group within ISAF responsible for the planning and coordination of sailing on the Olympic Games. As a result of the lack of coordination, a number of things occur:

Poor setting of priorities - There is a focus on some issues and an almost complete disregard for others. This is mainly due to the interests of those within the ISAF family. Events, Equipment and Format tend to dominate because we are all sailors and these are things we understand. Set against this our focus on TV, media, marketing and promotion is limited and yet this is what we are being asked by the IOC to address. Our expertise in these areas is limited.

Focus on Processes not Outcomes – Our focus and time is on the processes and not the outcomes. The lack of strategy means that the outcomes are not clearly defined and understood. It is too easy for our Committees to become focused on the process, particularly when so much of what we do and the decisions we make are driven by the ISAF Regulations. The Regulations become an outcome of themselves.

Decisions are not effectively implemented and promoted – Good decisions are often poorly executed. As one example, when the Medal Race was introduced, there was a lack of detail as to how it should be run at the major Olympic Class Regattas. Each did it slightly differently. This was confusing and unfair. Also we have failed to promote the advantages of the Medal Race to the media. No decision is good if it is poorly executed, nor can the benefits be properly assessed.

Lack of consideration of the impact of decisions – The decisions that we make about the Olympic Games have impacts on other events and areas within our sport, yet there is very little consideration of these impacts when decisions are made. What, for example, will be the wider implications of the decision not to include the multihull at the 2012 Olympic Games? Conversely, we need to ensure that the decisions we make in other areas are consistent and not in conflict with our strategy for the Olympic Games.

No analysis of decisions made – Research and feedback systems should be in place to allow a proper analysis of the impacts of the decisions that we make. This should be considered as part of the decision making process. Instead it is an afterthought, undertaken in a spasmodic and piecemeal way.

The establishment of a strategy and reconstituting of the Commission is seen as a way of addressing these issues.

The role of the Commission

The strategy, once established, must be actively implemented and reviewed. The role of the Commission would be to both develop the strategy in consultation with the Committees and Commissions within ISAF and to then ensure that all decisions are made with reference to the strategy once agreed.

Importantly, all Committees, Commissions and the Council would be involved in establishing and agreeing the strategy and for any subsequent review. With all parts of the organisation working to a common strategy and only making decisions in line with it, there would be more consistency in the outcomes.

QUESTION: What do you make of the Yachting Australia submission? Does Olympic sailing need a strategy, or is it doing OK anyway?

Broken Glass

Former 470 campaigner from the US, and now sailing a 29er, Jen Glass wrote her response to the ISAF Council decision for SailJuice:

"As a young female skiff sailor and the 29erXX Representative on the 29er Executive Board, today's ISAF Council vote brought me great disappointment. Following six years' campaigning in the 470 I gave the 29er a try on a whim in between quadrenniums. I was instantly hooked on skiff sailing and the true athleticism it brings to the sport.

Not long after stepping into the 29er I had the opportunity to try out the 29erXX. It was amazing! A boat where both the skipper and crew needed to be coordinated, acutely aware of their actions, and work together with the boat. And when you get all of these things right, you're generously rewarded with amazing boatspeed.You can't sail the 29erXX without grinning from ear to ear. Now here's a boat I can spend a few quadrenniums in!

The 29erXX is the future of sailing. We want something fast, fun, physically challenging and extreme. But today ISAF chose to keep us in 1963.

Photo: Dave Keane

So I just have one question for the Council. Why put the folks on the Equipment, Events and Women's Committees through the countless hours they put into their research and eventual decision, if you're not going to follow what all three of them recommend?

Lady sailors, let's vote by sailing.

The 29erXX will join the 49er at their World Championship July 12-19th on Lake Garda, Italy. The class is now sponsored by Seiko and the event promises to be amazing. Come and join us!"

Question: What chance of a women's high performance skiff being voted in by ISAF in four years' time?