Don't be fooled, the Australians are coming

by ISAF Olympic Preview on 11 Aug 2004 Used as Olympic Equipment since it was selected for the Olympic Games in Montreal in 1976, the Tornado has since appeared in every Olympic Games. In 1999 it was announced that the event for 2004 would be open for selection and the class went about a period of redevelopment.

In November 2000 the class was reselected for the 2004 Olympic Games. The development that had been ongoing for a number of months resulted in the conception of the 'turbocharged' Tornado.

The inclusion of an asymmetric spinnaker, as well as an increase in upwind sail area and the addition of a second trapeze made one of the world's fastest multihulls even faster.

49er style flags on the Tornado gennaker will increase spectator awareness of who is where on the all-important downwind legs, and with the blistering pace of these boats that kind of visibility will be vital.

The fleet will be sailing on course area Charlie, sharing the water with the 470 men and women’s fleets, although racing on different days. The fleet size of 17 nations represents the pinnacle of Olympic multihull sailing, and the experience in the fleet is matched only by the enthusiasm and winning potential of those making an Olympic debut.

Of the 34 Athletes in 17 teams, there are only six making their Olympic debut here in Athens, Leigh McMillan and Mark Bulkely (GBR) perhaps represent the best hopes of the “newcomers to the class” but other athletes competing for the first time include local heroes Iordanis Paschalidis and Christos Garefis (GRE), Francesco MarcolinI and Eduardo Biahchi (ITA), Oskar Johansson and John Curtis (CAN), Olivier Backes and Laurent Voiron (FRA), and Fernando Echavarri and Anton Paz (ESP).

The ISAF World Sailing Rankings are led by Roman Hagara and Peter Steinacher from Austria. They come into the Olympic Sailing Competition having won the ISAF Grade 1 SPA Regatta and finished ninth at the 2004 World Championship, but this pair have been sailing the boat for a number of years and their first significant victory came at the 1995 Eurolymp Regatta in Hayling Island (GBR).

Multiple World Champions and Tornado gurus Darren Bundock and John Forbes (AUS) were instrumental in the development of the turbocharged Tornado and their ability in the boat is unquestioned.

Don’t be lulled by their apparently low ranking position of ninth, this team have won four World Championship titles and a silver medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

Santiago Lange and Carlos Espinola are two of the world’s most experienced Olympians and come into the 2004 Olympic Sailing Competition having already competed at three other Olympic Games between them. Espinola’s greatest form came in Sydney when he finished with a silver medal in the Windsurfing Men event. The pair is currently ranked third in the world and will go into Athens looking very good for a medal in the class.

Mitch Booth and Herb Dercksen (NED) are a relatively new team following Booth’s change of nationality after he won a silver medal in 1996 in Atlanta for Australia.

Teaming up with Dercksen (NED) the pair has steadily been developing into medal prospects and a recent victory at the ISAF Grade 1 Semaine Olympique Francaise stands them in excellent stead for medals.

Of those making their Olympic debuts, as well as Leigh McMillan and Mark Bulkely (GBR), who finished a credible fifth place at this year’s World Championship and won the 2003, SPA Regatta, Olivier Backes and Laurent Voiron (FRA) represent the highly fancied French team in Athens. The French team led the ISAF World Sailing Rankings in 2003 but have since then slipped off the top spot as more and more teams raise their game. They are still highly fancied however and will be fighting it out amongst the best of them on the Saronic Gulf.

John Lovell and Charlie Ogletree are the US representatives in Athens and as always for an American team, will be well prepared and in the right frame of mind for the regatta. Their preparation has included endless competition in Europe this year and with a victory in the Princess Sofia Trophy and a second at the World Championship, they seem to be peaking at the right time to do well in Athens.

The Tornado fleet are one of the last to start racing with a practice race on 20 August and Olympic racing starting on 21. Their medal ceremony will take place on Saturday 28 August.