Star in, Solings out for next Olympics, Athens 2004
by Tony Clare on 12 Nov 2000
Soling crew from Denmark win Gold
Jesper Bank, Henrik Blakskjaer and Thomas Jacobsen Katrina Butler
Disappointingly I have to announce that the ISAF Council decided today not
to include the Soling in the classes for 2004. The fleet/match discipline
had been previously discarded by Council and the decision was therefore a
straight vote for the men's fleet event head to head against the Star
Class. The voting was 20 for the Star and 17 for the Soling. (Only 2
delegates voting differently would have changed the vote.) The only other
keelboat event is to be a women's three person fleet event. The Soling is
being actively considered by the Women's Committee but we have no
indication of the likelihood or otherwise of this selection.
Like all ISAF decisions it is difficult let to analyse exactly the reasons
for discarding the Soling and it would not be helpful to speculate at this
stage.
Your Executive is sorry to bring you this bad news, but we may find - and
hope and trust as other classes have - that the decision will help us to
generate the growth of the grass roots for what remains as good and
exciting a boat as it was before this somewhat eccentric decision.
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