Tornado with spinnaker for Athens 2004

by Darren Bundock, John Forbes Olympic Silver Medalli on 13 Nov 2000 Announced at the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Annual General Meeting in Edinburgh yesterday,
the Tornado catamaran will be sporting a new look at the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece with the addition of
a spinnaker and twin trapeze.

Sydney's Darren Bundock and John Forbes are delighted at the news saying the addition of the extra sail
and trapeze will greatly assist them and remove any advantage the Gold medal winning Austrian team of
Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher had over them during the recent 2000 Olympic Games.

The added spinnaker more than doubles the current sail area on the already awesome high speed catamaran
when sailing downwind which would remove any advantage lighter weight teams currently have in the
Tornado class. This advantage was obvious during the 2000 Games when Sydney experienced over 7 days
of competition contested in winds of 10 knots or less allowing the Austrian's to win the Gold with two races
to spare - ahead of the Australian's who were at times 20 kg heavier than their counterparts.

Bundock said after today's ISAF Council announcement 'the addition of the spinnaker to the Tornado is a
great thing not only for our team, but also for the Tornado class. In Europe other catamarans have been
using spinnakers for some years now and it has proven to be quite popular, but it has taken some time for
the concept to take off in Australia, NZ and the USA. The decision by ISAF will see the Tornado maintain
its status as the number one off-the-beach catamaran in the world.

John Forbes, former Tornado Class President and Bundock's sailing partner of 5 years also said 'for us as a
team the spinnaker is very welcomed. It not only possesses great speed advantages in light winds but also
provides the class with more colour and excitement as well as a greater sponsorship opportunity with a 21
square metre billboard at the front of the boat.'

Darren and John have committed to campaign the Tornado for Athens 2004 after having one of the most
successful partnerships in Australia's Olympic history with them not only winning the Silver medal, but also
had claimed the 1998 World Championship, the 1999 European Championship and were ranked number one
on the ISAF O'Neill World Rankings in 1999 and early 2000.

Forbes had also won the Bronze Medal at the 1992 Olympic Games and two previous World Championship
titles in 1989 and 1992 being the first Tornado sailor to win 3 world crowns.

Forbes said after winning the medal in Sydney 'I now have the Barcelona Bronze and the Sydney Silver, so
it would only be natural to try and win the Greek Gold.' But before they do they have four annual world
championships and other numerous international events to participate in as part of the Australian team
selection process for 2004.

The spinnaker should be officially introduced into Tornado racing in late 2001 or early 2002 after the
International Tornado Association establishes a set of rules and guidelines for the new rig additions and
has them ratified by ISAF presumable in November 2001.

The decision to keep the Tornado as the Olympic multihull for 2004 was unanimous with the ISAF Multihull
Committee, the Events Committee and ISAF Council after all three bodies voted unanimously for the
Tornado ahead of the Hobie Fox and Hobie Tiger Formula 18 submissions.