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?

Will Council vote for old or new?

"What about the other skiffs?" has been a common question that I've heard in phone conversations, Skype messages and emails since posting yesterday's story. It's a fair question, and one I'll deal with in due course. The 29erXX was just one of a number of boats that put itself up for consideration at ISAF's Evaluation Trials in Hyeres last year, and yet here we have just the 29erXX against the women's 470. Questions need asking about how this came to be, but not now, not in the next 24 hours. Right now, the only question that matters is whether it will be 470 or 29erXX.

Photo: Dave Keane

As an ex-470 sailor I have an affection for the venerable old boat, and wish it could still remain in the Olympic line-up, rather than yield to the half-arsed, ill-thought-out new discipline currently being crow-barred into the 2012 Games, women's match racing.

But given that it's a fight between new skiff and old dinghy, I'd vote for the skiff. The 470 has had its chance to attract hoards of women into Olympic sailing. It's been moderately successful, certainly more so than the Yngling, but it hasn't exactly been a runaway success. The 29erXX has a greater likelihood of attracting young women into top-level competition. For that reason alone, it deserves to succeed.

Will ISAF Council see things the same way? I hope so, but I'm not betting my house on it. In an ISAF press release sent out today, ISAF President Göran PETERSSON (SWE) says the Council provides the final, worldwide perspective on issues. "We must remember it is the Council who are the true democratic voice of ISAF. They represent the Member Nations who combined form the International Sailing Federation, and who individually represent the sailors, clubs, classes and sailing organizations within nations." If only I could share his faith in the 'democratic' process.

The President also paid tribute to the work of all the Committees who have contributed to the debate in Madrid this week. "It would be impossible for one group to incorporate all the expertise that would be needed to review the range of issues within the sailing world. The Committees are crucial to the work of ISAF as they provide an expert forum for issues to be discussed and voted on, with their recommendations bringing a vast range of knowledge to the Council table. I thank them for all their work, both during this Conference and over the past four years," he said.

Not much to disagree with there. Except that last year the Events Committee laid out a strategy which was largely ignored by Council, where too often the thinking by individuals on the Council is self-serving, tactical and short-termist. Please, Council, prove me wrong this time. The sub-committees have made their views known, so please consider their arguments rather than do what you were going to do anyway. Otherwise, what is the point of 400-odd people flying in and staying in expensive hotels for more than a week, when little of the week's discussions comes to anything?

Council, you've been given your lead to do something out of the ordinary, to make a decision that might excite a new generation of female sailors to get on the Olympic campaign trail. To borrow a phrase from another recent vote between old and new: "Yes, you can."

Question: “Yes, they can.” But will they? Where are you putting your money on tomorrow’s vote?