Resolving the 2024 Olympics Lineup: a Solution
Resolving the 2024 Olympics Lineup: a Solution, by Jean-Pierre Kiekens
Note: please find at this link a more recent and probably more realistic proposal:
https://optimist-openbic-sailing.blogspot.com/2019/03/2024-olympic-sailboat-lineup-proposal.html
One of the most exciting moments in the history of sailing at the Olympics was the match race, within the fleet race, between Ben Ainslie and Robert Scheidt, at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. So before reading this, please watch, or re-watch, this video.
So what about match racing at the 2024 Olympics, in the Laser, but this time, in the Radial, and in a mixed format?
When one races in the Laser Radial, it’s remarkable how both male and female athletes are competitive at the highest level. That would be similar in other single-handed dinghies, as long as the optimum sailor weight to sail them would not exceed 150 lbs (68 kg), which is the typical target weight for Laser Radial sailors.
The Mixed Single Handed event, decided upon last May by World Sailing, and replaced this November by offshore sailing, was derided by many, including myself, as nonsensical. Since May, no real effort seems to actually have been done to find a format that would work. For example, we have not seen anything from World Sailing, with options to make this work. The Laser class came up at the last minute with the suggestion of using its slalom format. But nothing really serious, really credible, worthy of the Olympics, was proposed.
World Sailing claims to have put "considerable thought" into this (see Submission 037-18), but in actual fact, they did not do their homework, probably because they were simply more interested in their offshore proposal and the sponsoring that would go with it.
The replacement of mixed single-handed with offshore sailing, at the World Sailing Sarasota meeting, was actually not a great idea, when one looks into the details. As I discussed elsewhere, the Olympics will never be the pinnacle of the sport of offshore sailing, and because the light winds, short duration of about 60 hours, and short course expected in Marseilles, genuine offshore sailing will not to take place at the 2024 Olympics. Same is to be expected in 2028 in Los Angeles / Long Beach Yacht Club. It may be a travesti that may prove to be uninteresting to both sailors and the public.
It's possible to do much better than that. And we are 6 years ahead of the event. Let's hope this can still be corrected.
There is still a tiny likelihood that the Sarasota decision be reversed. Indeed, it has been revealed that there were at least three misrecorded votes in Sarasota on submission 037-18, and that the 75% threshold required to reverse the London mixed single-handed decision was actually not achieved.
Read the article "World Sailing: Voting irregularities claimed on crucial Olympic vote" by Richard Gladwell -- https://www.sail-world.com/news/212753/Finn-proponents-said-to-have-voted-against-class
But the point of the present article is to make a constructive, feasible proposal. It’s obviously late, but here is how a mixed single-handed event could actually take place, in the form of match racing — a discipline that is important in sailing, yet neglected at the Olympics.
There was an event for female sailors at the 2012 Olympics, in Elliott 6 M, but it was not re-conducted in 2016 in Rio. (see details below)
As explained below, such proposal would allow not only to maintain the Laser, but also the Finn, and yet also introduce one new more modern single-handed dinghy (RS Aero, Melges 14 or Devoti Zero). So this proposal is far reaching, even though in draft form and any suggestions for improvement is obviously most welcome.
In a nutshell, the evolution of the Olympic Lineup from 2020 to 2024 would be as follows.
Note that an alternative to match racing, that would also work in the context of a mixed singlehanded format, is two-boat team racing. This could operate in a similar format as with match racing, with a round-robin followed by quarter finals, semi-finals and finals. Such two-boat team racing would require the same boat - say a Laser Radial, operated by both the male and the female sailor of each team. This is a video of a 2-boat team racing event, in a keelboat.
Match Racing in the Laser Radial (or Equivalent)
How was the match racing implemented at the 2012 London games? The selected boat was the Elliott 6 M, raced by 3 sailors each. There was a total of 12 teams, i.e. 36 sailors.
Races were short, with a target time of 18 minutes. First, there was a round robin, with each competing once against each of the other teams.
And then, the top 8 teams entered the quarter finals. At that point, there were 5 matches to be raced (3 wins needed), to go to the next stage. So there were 8 teams in the quarter finals, 4 teams in the semi-finals, and 2 teams in the finals. There was also a match between the defeated semi-finalists for the bronze.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing_at_the_2012_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Elliott_6m#Round_Robin
How could such format be implemented for a mixed single-handed event?
The idea would be to use the same boat, the Laser Radial (or equivalent), for both male and female sailors. Each team would be comprised of one male sailor and one female sailor. There would for example be a round-robin for male sailors, and also one for female sailors. Points would be added, and the top 8 teams would get into the quarter-finals.
For each quarter finals, there would be 5 races. For each match, one would start with 2 races involving the female athletes, and 2 races involving the male athletes. If no team has won at that point, there would be a fifth race and each team would determine which sailor (male or female) to designate for the fifth race. Some variation on this format would also be possible.
Note that in London, such 5th race was needed in only 2 out 8 matches of the knock-out and final matches.
If one keeps 12 teams, that would involve 24 sailors. One could increase the number of teams, say to 20 or 24, involving 40 or 48 sailors.
Note that a variation would be to have the match racing on two different boats (like the Laser Standard and the Radial). But that would prevent matches involving both male and female sailors, while a common platform would enable such matches.
Of course, some may say the Laser is not the best boat for match racing. But there are severe limitations at the Olympics in terms of the number of sailors. And there are already (too?) many double-handed boats. So a single-handed formula is the most appropriate in this particular situation.
In addition, the athleticism of Laser sailing, with the roll tacks, roll gybes, etc., the short duration of the races, and the high stakes involved at each of the race, have the potential to make this a genuinely exciting event - much more exciting than fleet racing, and certainly more exciting than a 60 hour long "offshore" race featuring sleep deprived sailors in likely light winds and for a large part in the night.
From a TV perspective, such races would be short, and the filming could really focus on the athleticism, the manoeuvers, with top quality commentary about the strategy and tactics. The high stakes of each of the races will help build the drama. And drone footage coupled with onboard and other cameras could actually make the event much more appealing than conventional fleet racing. The TV coverage would focus on the quarter finals, semi-finals and finals, featuring the 8 best teams.
Actually, it's worth noting that the Star Sailors League, starting its 2018 edition in Nassau as this piece is being written, has also distanced itself from conventional fleet racing. Their format features, after fleet qualifiers, an elimination stage with 10 boats, that leads to the actual finals.
And think about tennis, Who actually watches Roland Garros, Wimbeldon or the US Open prior to the quarter finals?
A format involving a round robin, followed by quarter finals, semi finals and finals makes lots of sense.
One Step Further in the Thinking ….
It’s obviously all speculative, but if such event takes place, and the offshore be dropped, one could have the following scenario.
The Finn is maintained for the male single-handed fleet racing. And the Laser Standard is dropped. Fair or unfair? In fact, most Laser Standard sailors can either bring their weight down at 150 lbs, or up at 200 lbs, which is now a very decent weight to sail the Finn, thanks to the evolutions in the Finn equipment.
For women, the fleet racing could take place on the Laser Radial, but much more appropriately on a boat with a lower optimal sailor weight, of say approximately 120/130 lbs. This was something asked for by a number of delegations, such as the Canadian one, but not at all achieved with the lineup approved in Sarasota.
And if it’s a matter of opening the Olympic classes to newer designs, then the three boats in contention against the Laser, i.e. the Devoti, the Melges 14 and the RS Aero, would all be appropriate, as long as the right rig/sail size is decided upon. This could for example be the RS Aero 5 - the smallest available rig of the 3 rigs in the RS Aero lineup.
The advantage of such line up would be that both lighter weight male and female athletes would be able to sail single handed at the Olympics. And the heavier weight male sailors would also be in - contrary to the Sarasota lineup.
The lighter weight males would sail the Radial in the match racing event, along with the female sailors with a weight appropriate for the Radial. These sailors will typically be around 68 kg (150 lbs).
The heavier male sailors would be able to sail the Finn. Some may need to take a few pounds for doing so, but many former Finn sailors were sailing the Laser before, Ben Ainslie being the most famous one, so that is not really a problem.
And the light weight female sailors, which constitute a substantial share of the world population, would finally have an opportunity to sail single-handed at the Olympics, something they have been denied since 2008, when the Radial replaced the Europe at the Beijing Olympics.
Evolution, Not Revolution
In terms of equipment, such approach would introduce a much needed more modern single-handed design at the Olympics: the Devoti Zero, the Melges 14 or the RS Aero.
At the same time, it would maintain the Laser and the Finn.
The Olympic lineup contemplated for the 2024 has the big problem that it disenfranchises numerous sailors by preventing them to compete in single-handed events. Indeed, the optimum weight ranges for sailing at the highest level both the Laser Radial and the Laser standard are extremely narrow: approx. 145 to 155 lbs (65 to 70 kg) for the Radial, and 180 to 185 lbs (80 to 85 kg) for the Laser Standard (according to the International Sailing Academy).
Introducing a match racing event in the Laser Radial, keeping the Finn for male fleet racing, and introducing a new single-handed dinghy with a rig geared towards light weight female athletes would go a long way to welcome many more athletes into single-handed dinghy Olympic racing. It would largely address the issue of exclusion of many athletes from Olympic single-handed racing, just because of their physique, without introducing numerous weight categories, and actually without increasing the number of athletes - as long as offshore is left … off shore :)
In terms of race format, match racing is an integral part of the sport, and it can be made pretty interesting for the public, as these are short races involving each 2 competitors only. Each match involves in fact 2 nations, and that's a pretty exciting feature. Presently, all the Olympic events involve fleet racing, which are hard to appreciate for the non-initiated. Introducing a match racing event would diversify the Olympic offering, yet use a format that is well tested, and be much less risky and costly than the offshore event presently retained for 2024.
A Tool for Youth Sailing Development
It's important to stress too that in a class like the Optimist, team racing involving 4 boats in each team, plays an important role. Team racing is being part of the training routines of most high level Optimist race teams. Team racing is an event at the Optimist Worlds that is closely watched. These are short races featuring advanced sailing skills, including impressive fast roll tacks, sometimes implemented simultanously by 2 or 3 boats.
If match racing in the Laser would be introduced at the Olympics, one would immediately see the training routines of the Laser sailors to include match racing. There would instantly be thousands of Laser sailors around the world, particularly youth sailors in the 4.7 and the Radial, who would start training into match racing.
And for sure, in 6 years, there would be immensely talented match racers in the Laser, ready for the Olympics. Competition would be extremely tight. These Olympic sailors of tomorrow would represent very well the future of the sport. These match racers would become the professional match racers of tomorrow, in events such as the America's Cup.
In Conclusion
In sum, this is a practical solution to the mixed single-handed dinghy concept, with as added bonus that it provides opportunities for a much wider range of sailor physiques to compete single-handed at the Olympics. It also introduces match racing, providing more variety in the racing formats offered at the Olympics. Obviously, the proposal is gender balanced, as each team would be composed of one male and one female athlete.
And with this approach, the other equipment for the 2024 games would remain unchanged: mixed 470; 49erFX; 49er, mixed Nacra 17, Windsurf male and female and mixed kiteboarding.
And as mentioned earlier, this proposal is in draft form. Any suggestions for improvement are obviously most welcome!
For feedback, kindly contact me via messenger: https://www.facebook.com/jpkiekens
You may also follow the FB Group I facilitate, with daily updates and lots of content, on Youth and Olympic sailing: https://www.facebook.com/groups/optimistopenbicsailing
Note: please find at this link a more recent and probably more realistic proposal:
https://optimist-openbic-sailing.blogspot.com/2019/03/2024-olympic-sailboat-lineup-proposal.html
One of the most exciting moments in the history of sailing at the Olympics was the match race, within the fleet race, between Ben Ainslie and Robert Scheidt, at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. So before reading this, please watch, or re-watch, this video.
 |
| Ben Ainslie and Robert Scheidt Battling for Gold at the Sydney Olympics |
So what about match racing at the 2024 Olympics, in the Laser, but this time, in the Radial, and in a mixed format?
When one races in the Laser Radial, it’s remarkable how both male and female athletes are competitive at the highest level. That would be similar in other single-handed dinghies, as long as the optimum sailor weight to sail them would not exceed 150 lbs (68 kg), which is the typical target weight for Laser Radial sailors.
The Mixed Single Handed event, decided upon last May by World Sailing, and replaced this November by offshore sailing, was derided by many, including myself, as nonsensical. Since May, no real effort seems to actually have been done to find a format that would work. For example, we have not seen anything from World Sailing, with options to make this work. The Laser class came up at the last minute with the suggestion of using its slalom format. But nothing really serious, really credible, worthy of the Olympics, was proposed.
World Sailing claims to have put "considerable thought" into this (see Submission 037-18), but in actual fact, they did not do their homework, probably because they were simply more interested in their offshore proposal and the sponsoring that would go with it.
The replacement of mixed single-handed with offshore sailing, at the World Sailing Sarasota meeting, was actually not a great idea, when one looks into the details. As I discussed elsewhere, the Olympics will never be the pinnacle of the sport of offshore sailing, and because the light winds, short duration of about 60 hours, and short course expected in Marseilles, genuine offshore sailing will not to take place at the 2024 Olympics. Same is to be expected in 2028 in Los Angeles / Long Beach Yacht Club. It may be a travesti that may prove to be uninteresting to both sailors and the public.
It's possible to do much better than that. And we are 6 years ahead of the event. Let's hope this can still be corrected.
There is still a tiny likelihood that the Sarasota decision be reversed. Indeed, it has been revealed that there were at least three misrecorded votes in Sarasota on submission 037-18, and that the 75% threshold required to reverse the London mixed single-handed decision was actually not achieved.
Read the article "World Sailing: Voting irregularities claimed on crucial Olympic vote" by Richard Gladwell -- https://www.sail-world.com/news/212753/Finn-proponents-said-to-have-voted-against-class
But the point of the present article is to make a constructive, feasible proposal. It’s obviously late, but here is how a mixed single-handed event could actually take place, in the form of match racing — a discipline that is important in sailing, yet neglected at the Olympics.
There was an event for female sailors at the 2012 Olympics, in Elliott 6 M, but it was not re-conducted in 2016 in Rio. (see details below)
As explained below, such proposal would allow not only to maintain the Laser, but also the Finn, and yet also introduce one new more modern single-handed dinghy (RS Aero, Melges 14 or Devoti Zero). So this proposal is far reaching, even though in draft form and any suggestions for improvement is obviously most welcome.
In a nutshell, the evolution of the Olympic Lineup from 2020 to 2024 would be as follows.
 |
| Proposal for an Evolution of the Olympic Equipment Lineup - with a Mixed Single Handed Event in 2024 |
Match Racing in the Laser Radial (or Equivalent)
How was the match racing implemented at the 2012 London games? The selected boat was the Elliott 6 M, raced by 3 sailors each. There was a total of 12 teams, i.e. 36 sailors.
Races were short, with a target time of 18 minutes. First, there was a round robin, with each competing once against each of the other teams.
And then, the top 8 teams entered the quarter finals. At that point, there were 5 matches to be raced (3 wins needed), to go to the next stage. So there were 8 teams in the quarter finals, 4 teams in the semi-finals, and 2 teams in the finals. There was also a match between the defeated semi-finalists for the bronze.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing_at_the_2012_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Elliott_6m#Round_Robin
How could such format be implemented for a mixed single-handed event?
The idea would be to use the same boat, the Laser Radial (or equivalent), for both male and female sailors. Each team would be comprised of one male sailor and one female sailor. There would for example be a round-robin for male sailors, and also one for female sailors. Points would be added, and the top 8 teams would get into the quarter-finals.
For each quarter finals, there would be 5 races. For each match, one would start with 2 races involving the female athletes, and 2 races involving the male athletes. If no team has won at that point, there would be a fifth race and each team would determine which sailor (male or female) to designate for the fifth race. Some variation on this format would also be possible.
Note that in London, such 5th race was needed in only 2 out 8 matches of the knock-out and final matches.
If one keeps 12 teams, that would involve 24 sailors. One could increase the number of teams, say to 20 or 24, involving 40 or 48 sailors.
Note that a variation would be to have the match racing on two different boats (like the Laser Standard and the Radial). But that would prevent matches involving both male and female sailors, while a common platform would enable such matches.
Of course, some may say the Laser is not the best boat for match racing. But there are severe limitations at the Olympics in terms of the number of sailors. And there are already (too?) many double-handed boats. So a single-handed formula is the most appropriate in this particular situation.
In addition, the athleticism of Laser sailing, with the roll tacks, roll gybes, etc., the short duration of the races, and the high stakes involved at each of the race, have the potential to make this a genuinely exciting event - much more exciting than fleet racing, and certainly more exciting than a 60 hour long "offshore" race featuring sleep deprived sailors in likely light winds and for a large part in the night.
From a TV perspective, such races would be short, and the filming could really focus on the athleticism, the manoeuvers, with top quality commentary about the strategy and tactics. The high stakes of each of the races will help build the drama. And drone footage coupled with onboard and other cameras could actually make the event much more appealing than conventional fleet racing. The TV coverage would focus on the quarter finals, semi-finals and finals, featuring the 8 best teams.
Actually, it's worth noting that the Star Sailors League, starting its 2018 edition in Nassau as this piece is being written, has also distanced itself from conventional fleet racing. Their format features, after fleet qualifiers, an elimination stage with 10 boats, that leads to the actual finals.
And think about tennis, Who actually watches Roland Garros, Wimbeldon or the US Open prior to the quarter finals?
A format involving a round robin, followed by quarter finals, semi finals and finals makes lots of sense.
One Step Further in the Thinking ….
It’s obviously all speculative, but if such event takes place, and the offshore be dropped, one could have the following scenario.
The Finn is maintained for the male single-handed fleet racing. And the Laser Standard is dropped. Fair or unfair? In fact, most Laser Standard sailors can either bring their weight down at 150 lbs, or up at 200 lbs, which is now a very decent weight to sail the Finn, thanks to the evolutions in the Finn equipment.
For women, the fleet racing could take place on the Laser Radial, but much more appropriately on a boat with a lower optimal sailor weight, of say approximately 120/130 lbs. This was something asked for by a number of delegations, such as the Canadian one, but not at all achieved with the lineup approved in Sarasota.
And if it’s a matter of opening the Olympic classes to newer designs, then the three boats in contention against the Laser, i.e. the Devoti, the Melges 14 and the RS Aero, would all be appropriate, as long as the right rig/sail size is decided upon. This could for example be the RS Aero 5 - the smallest available rig of the 3 rigs in the RS Aero lineup.
The advantage of such line up would be that both lighter weight male and female athletes would be able to sail single handed at the Olympics. And the heavier weight male sailors would also be in - contrary to the Sarasota lineup.
The lighter weight males would sail the Radial in the match racing event, along with the female sailors with a weight appropriate for the Radial. These sailors will typically be around 68 kg (150 lbs).
The heavier male sailors would be able to sail the Finn. Some may need to take a few pounds for doing so, but many former Finn sailors were sailing the Laser before, Ben Ainslie being the most famous one, so that is not really a problem.
And the light weight female sailors, which constitute a substantial share of the world population, would finally have an opportunity to sail single-handed at the Olympics, something they have been denied since 2008, when the Radial replaced the Europe at the Beijing Olympics.
Evolution, Not Revolution
In terms of equipment, such approach would introduce a much needed more modern single-handed design at the Olympics: the Devoti Zero, the Melges 14 or the RS Aero.
At the same time, it would maintain the Laser and the Finn.
The Olympic lineup contemplated for the 2024 has the big problem that it disenfranchises numerous sailors by preventing them to compete in single-handed events. Indeed, the optimum weight ranges for sailing at the highest level both the Laser Radial and the Laser standard are extremely narrow: approx. 145 to 155 lbs (65 to 70 kg) for the Radial, and 180 to 185 lbs (80 to 85 kg) for the Laser Standard (according to the International Sailing Academy).
Introducing a match racing event in the Laser Radial, keeping the Finn for male fleet racing, and introducing a new single-handed dinghy with a rig geared towards light weight female athletes would go a long way to welcome many more athletes into single-handed dinghy Olympic racing. It would largely address the issue of exclusion of many athletes from Olympic single-handed racing, just because of their physique, without introducing numerous weight categories, and actually without increasing the number of athletes - as long as offshore is left … off shore :)
In terms of race format, match racing is an integral part of the sport, and it can be made pretty interesting for the public, as these are short races involving each 2 competitors only. Each match involves in fact 2 nations, and that's a pretty exciting feature. Presently, all the Olympic events involve fleet racing, which are hard to appreciate for the non-initiated. Introducing a match racing event would diversify the Olympic offering, yet use a format that is well tested, and be much less risky and costly than the offshore event presently retained for 2024.
A Tool for Youth Sailing Development
It's important to stress too that in a class like the Optimist, team racing involving 4 boats in each team, plays an important role. Team racing is being part of the training routines of most high level Optimist race teams. Team racing is an event at the Optimist Worlds that is closely watched. These are short races featuring advanced sailing skills, including impressive fast roll tacks, sometimes implemented simultanously by 2 or 3 boats.
If match racing in the Laser would be introduced at the Olympics, one would immediately see the training routines of the Laser sailors to include match racing. There would instantly be thousands of Laser sailors around the world, particularly youth sailors in the 4.7 and the Radial, who would start training into match racing.
And for sure, in 6 years, there would be immensely talented match racers in the Laser, ready for the Olympics. Competition would be extremely tight. These Olympic sailors of tomorrow would represent very well the future of the sport. These match racers would become the professional match racers of tomorrow, in events such as the America's Cup.
In Conclusion
In sum, this is a practical solution to the mixed single-handed dinghy concept, with as added bonus that it provides opportunities for a much wider range of sailor physiques to compete single-handed at the Olympics. It also introduces match racing, providing more variety in the racing formats offered at the Olympics. Obviously, the proposal is gender balanced, as each team would be composed of one male and one female athlete.
And with this approach, the other equipment for the 2024 games would remain unchanged: mixed 470; 49erFX; 49er, mixed Nacra 17, Windsurf male and female and mixed kiteboarding.
And as mentioned earlier, this proposal is in draft form. Any suggestions for improvement are obviously most welcome!
--------------
For feedback, kindly contact me via messenger: https://www.facebook.com/jpkiekens
You may also follow the FB Group I facilitate, with daily updates and lots of content, on Youth and Olympic sailing: https://www.facebook.com/groups/optimistopenbicsailing
