Save Olympic Sailing*: Petition gets strong support

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com/nz 3 May 2018 20:30 PDT 4 May 2018

An online petition to call a halt to the Review of the Olympic Sailing events and classes is rapidly gathering signatures from sailors around the world. Launched 48 hours ago, the petition had a quiet 24 hours gaining only 250 signatures, but in the next 24 hours took off pulling over 5,000 digital signatures - that's a rate of three signatures a minute!

In six days, World Sailing meets for its Mid-Year session in the Chelsea Football Club. If that signature rate continues (which it should as the petition gets more embedded in social media) the petition could total 30,000 signatures by the time of the meeting.

While impressive, that is quite a modest total by change.org petition standard - most of which are well into six figures. Where it gets to by the November Annual Conference where the changes to classes will be made, is anyone's guess.

A second petition launched in January aimed at garnering support to keep windsurfing in the 2024 Olympics has over 22,000 supporters click here to view and support

In 2012 a similar petition to have windsurfing reinstated in the 2016 Olympics attracted over 30,000 online supporters.

Click on the "Read More" button above to see the petition and show your support

The issue of which classes and events that should make up the Olympic Sailing Regatta have always been vexed, except maybe for the 2009/10 ISAF Olympic Review. Olympic regatta change has never been handled well by the world body - be it the International Yacht Racing Union, International Sailing Federation or as it is currently known - World Sailing.

In fact, no selection process has been used twice - save for earlier in IYRU history when a category was selected for formal evaluation trials - and the existing class was pitted against other contenders - being established national or international classes or prototypes of new boats. The last class to be chosen by this method was the 49er skiff in 1996.

While some believe that the classes should be changed regularly to present a new shop-window for the sport, that approach is extremely expensive for those who have invested in Olympic sailing classes as builders or owners. Also badly affected are the Olympic pathways for new and Youth sailors. Coaching is also subject to disruptive change - both at an individual level and also in coaching material which is increasingly provided online and easily accessible by all.

In the past, some changes have only lasted just one Olympic cycle as happened with the introduction of women's match racing for the 2012 Olympic Regatta in Weymouth. Others like the Nacra 17 catamaran have been completely redeveloped between Olympic regattas.

This year the favoured process is one of policy enshrined in regulation - all six pages of it, backed up by another 20 pages of explanation. That process has drawn over 65 submissions from some of the 139 member nations and 100 sailing classes, plus World Sailing Committees.

The proposals (along with the Anti-Trust review) advocate change to seven of the 10 Olympic events and their classes - eight by one count as the Nacra 17 has already been changed to a full foiler and effectively a new class.

Ostensibly the changes have been triggered by the International Olympic Committee, and their published requirements set out in Agenda 2020 - which other sports have taken as requiring change for the 2020 Olympic Regatta, while World Sailing is pitching their changes for the 2024 Olympics.

Other than what is contained in Agenda2020 (a 40 point document of which three are directly relevant to Sailing) nothing has been published from the IOC to support the level of change that is being promoted in the Submissions.

In fact, Sailing pre-empted the change process ahead of Agenda 2020 with the ISAF Olympic Review conducted in 2009-2010 and which identified and detailed many issues within the sport and Olympic Regatta generally. The recommendations were partially implemented in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Regattas. These included the pillars of Gender Equality and Universality which are the key requirements of Agenda2020.

The classes which appear to be most at risk are the Finn and 470 (Mens and Womens), with the RS:X being in the 2024 Olympic crosshairs as well - with the agenda being to retain the event while replacing it with another windsurfer class/category.

Chopping the Finn and 470 would make way for the entry of Kiteboarding and an offshore keelboat event.

The Olympic Review is accompanied by a parallel Anti-Trust exercise to ensure compliance with European Union regulation. The outcome from that process could trigger a second wave of change within the Olympic classes. The classes caught in that exercise are the current windsurfer event, the RS:X, along with the Laser (Standard and Radial) used in the Mens and Womens singlehanded event.

The Laser would be replaced with a new singlehander class from another manufacturer, or retain the hull but with a new rig (spar and sail). Both RS:X and Laser are covered by complex licencing issues - and any move to modify that situation would be messy legally.

The only class not affected in the review is the 49er and 49erFX skiff. The Nacra 17 catamaran was changed from a part to a full foiler after the 2016 Olympics.

In addition to the potential change of classes, the gender balance of several events could be affected with World Sailing President has expressed a personal view that there should be an additional three mixed gender events for a total of four. There are only 18 Mixed gender events in the 2020 Olympics with most sports just splitting equally down gender lines in terms of medals and events.

The concerns of top Olympic sailors at the degree of change and reasons for it was covered in an Open Letter released earlier in the week by six Olympic medalists and the most successful coach in Olympic Sailing.

The degree of change threatened through the Submissions is clearly too much to be sustainable, in the view of the Olympic medalist group.

*Thanks to SailingIllustrated.com for giving a new twist to the classic distress call

Click here to go to the petition page and Open Letter from the Olympic Medalists