World Sailing President Interview by Sail-World: Some Highlights
Regarding the Laser
Andersen is adamant that the Laser has not been kicked out of the Olympics. "We are running that process with the Laser. It is not true that the Laser has been kicked out. We are just applying "anti-monopoly" so that we don't get into trouble. The Council has the freedom of choice to say they would like a Laser."
About Anti-Trust, Monopoly and the Finn
Andersen raised a novel view of what constitutes a monopoly in sailing, claiming that the EU believed that when World Sailing was selecting a class or discipline at the Olympics, a monopoly was created because "you are not allowing the other classes in. You can say that the longer a class has been at the Olympics the bigger the monopoly is because we have had all the other classes out. And they have never had a chance to get into the Olympics." "That is at the highest level of monopoly," he concluded. "In the Rio Olympics, the Finn class is probably the biggest monopoly. Because there are 23 boats, 22 of those came from the same manufacturer."
(note: there was no official reaction of the Finn class on its website as of Oct. 27 2018)
About Gender Equality
Andersen's response (before listening to the video below) is that World Sailing's Council had made the decision to have Gender Equality in terms of numbers of sailors participating in the Olympic Regatta and that the number of Events/Medals should be equal for male and female sailors.
The video refers to IOC’s Kit McConnell stating that sailing, among a range of other sports, has already reached gender equality.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx_08vB7IFc
While stating a slightly different personal view, whereby focus should be on gender balance at the club level, he states "If we want to do something and change the sport, we have to do something at an Olympic level, and that is what Council has agreed. That is also what I would support."
About Mixed Events
The proposed Event slate for the 2024 Sailing Regatta shifts from one mixed event in Rio and Tokyo to four Mixed events in Marseille. Why such a big change?
"I don't think the question was why do we have four? The submission we approved in Mexico was that we should have a minimum of two and a maximum of four. I think the maximum was put in there so that we should change to have more Mixed in order to be more engaged with women sailors. »
About an Offshore Olympic Event
"If we had equipment in there like the offshore program as a sponsor, we could activate an offshore program, but we cannot activate on a Finn or a 470 or a Laser. I am asking if we are missing some opportunities in sailing? I think we do have an opportunity with ten medals to show our sport in a different way, and also making a very strong program."
"Frankly speaking I cannot see why a good keelboat sailor should not have Keelboat class in the Olympics."
(note: there was talk about an offshore event to be sailed on the Beneteau Figaro 3 — probably the sponsor referred to by Andersen)
About the Future of Sailing as an Olympic Sport
Andersen shares the view that despite the IOC's oft-quoted line of "change or be changed" that Sailing should not have any real concerns about being dropped as an Olympic Sport.
"I don't think Sailing is threatened in the Olympics as a sport", he says. "When I am talking to the IOC they think we are a good sport. We are not having doping issues; we are not having management issues; we are not having governance issues. So on that scale, we are doing well.
About the Mixed Single Handed and other novelty events
A point of real contention in the 2024 Olympic event slate was the creation of events such as relays and combined scores in the single-handed dinghy and Kiteboarding events when these formats are not used at World Championship events?
"When we are having these changes the lobbying is so heavy that the logic that comes out of these debates is not that clear. I think we can do some of the events which we are dealing with now. But that is not to say that we couldn't do something different and maybe better."
About the Narrow Weight Ranges for Single-Handed Dinghies
"We have a narrow weight band now on men and women, and that is an issue and is why I agree with you. This is why I tried to make a Proposal at the Mid-Year meeting. But that was voted down. If we were going to have a Mixed one person dinghy event that should maybe be a Finn and a Laser. But then, of course, that is costing on Universality."
About Windfoiling to Replace the RSX
"As I said, previously, I would like to see some changes on the Equipment side. So personally I don't think you need to go foiling to make our sport exciting or to broadcast it in an exciting way. So I don't see the reason for not keeping the windsurfer as it is [RS:X].
About World Sailing Finances
« I think there has been a lot of talk. Unfortunately, it has been very, very bad talk and bad for World Sailing. It is totally flawed and based on all the wrong reasons. "That is what is going on in the "click media" as I call it. There are things which are simply wrong, and you can see that the people who are writing it don't understand financials at all. "That is really a scam for the sport. » …. « But we came to good [termination] terms with Gazprom and got half of the money, and they applied the termination clause in the contract. We lost only half of what we were looking at to be a loss, and we were quite happy. »
About Tier 1 Sponsors for World Sailing
« Right now we have Tier 1 sponsors SAP, Volvo and Rolex. » "We want to introduce a new major sponsor in November. »
About the London Headquarters
"We evaluated all these places, and London was a good option. yes, it is much, much more expensive than where we were in Southampton, but looking for the new lease for Southampton that was also going to be a substantial increase." … « London was the best option for an international organisation that is easily accessible. »
Regarding the Exclusion of Parasailing in 2024
Andersen would not say what the outcome could be if the International Paralympic Committee conceded that they had made an error in their evaluation. And in particular, if Parasailing could be reinstated for Paris2024. However, he did reveal that ParaSailing had been excused early in the process.
« At a Board and the Executive level, we are still challenging the Evaluation. And being left out so early in the process is definitely wrong, compared to the Evaluation I have been seeing. » … « I can only say that I think we have been misjudged. And of course, if we have been misjudged, then we should be given another chance. »
Read the full interview article by Richard Gladwell
Part 1: https://www.sail-world.com/news/211464/World-Sailing-President-on-Anti-Trust-and-Olympics
Part 2: https://www.sail-world.com/news/211503/World-Sailing-President-on-Gender-Equality
Part 3: https://www.sail-world.com/news/211549/President-responds-to-financial-issues-and-Paras
