Optimist, Open Skiff, Youth & Olympic Sailing Blog

Something pretty astounding occurred in Bermuda today. World Sailing voted to replace the RS:X by the iFoil for the 2024 Olympics. Windfoiling is an amazing discipline, yet the rapid selection of this new equipment for the Olympics is truly noteworthy. Indeed, there were several reasons why windfoiling could have been rejected: 1. Windfoiling is really new. Just a few years old, while conventional windsurfing has been around for over 50 years. 2. Windfoiling is still, to a certain extent, an unproven discipline, especially for racing in large fleets, and will probably require new race formats 3. Windfoiling, will undoubtedly generate accidents, injuries, and the proper prevention measures have not yet been fully developed 4. The chosen iFoil equipment has been very recently developed and is barely available world-wide 5. Windfoiling is more present on Youtube than in reality — today, this equipment is simply not present in most countries. 6. As far as World Sailing reg...

Ceci constitue la suite de l’article présentant douze idées pour développer une équipe provinciale au Québec. La première partie, si vous ne l’avez pas encore lue, est accessible à ce lien . Un développement est survenu depuis: la publication de la version officielle du projet d'équipe provinciale de la fédération. Ce document a été transmis par la fédération malgré d’évidentes faiblesses et le peu de consultations dont il a fait l’objet. Ceux qui disposent du document de la fédération pourront constater que l’approche préconisée est très différente de ce qui est suggéré ici - avec notamment pour différences le rôle de l’Optimist, le nombre, la destination et le coût des déplacements en hiver et au printemps, et le type de structure proposé pour soutenir les athlètes. Bien que les parents aient à répondre d’ici deux semaines, espérons que des ajustements pourront être faits pour améliorer le projet de la fédération, qui semble présentement susciter plus de questionnements que d...

Cela fait maintenant quelques années que l’on parle de reconstituer une équipe provinciale de voile jeunesse au Québec. Voici quelques idées pour le faire, qui sont non seulement adaptées à la situation particulière au Québec, où la voile de compétition est un sport peu pratiqué, mais qui reposent aussi sur les méthodes utilisées là dans le monde où l’on produit régulièrement des athlètes de haut niveau. Ces idées portent essentiellement sur les jeunes de 12 à 18 ans et visent à les faire réussir sur le plan sportif, sans porter préjudice à leur scolarité, qui devient typiquement de plus en plus exigeante au fur et à mesure que les années avancent. Les considérations abordées sont diverses, du choix des embarcations à la planification annuelle et au contrôle des coûts. Ces idées sont le fruit de multiples discussions et réflexions sur le sujet au cours des dernières années. Elles forment toutefois un ensemble cohérent, visant à susciter l'engouement des athlètes, des entraîneurs...

For a few years now, there has been talk about reconstituting a provincial youth sailing team in Quebec. Here are some ideas for doing so, which are not only adapted to the situation in Quebec, where competitive sailing is a little practiced sport, but which also rely on the methods used where high performance athletes are regularly produced. These ideas focus on youth sailors aged 12 to 18 and aim at making them more successful without hurting their schooling, which typically becomes more demanding as the years go by. The considerations discussed here are diverse, from the choice of boats to annual planning and cost control. These ideas are the result of many discussions and reflections on the subject in recent years. They aim at offering practical solutions that address the needs of athletes, coaches, parents, as well as club and provincial officials. Find here the original document in French. Trouvez ici la version originale en français. ————————————————— CONTENTS I. Strat...

A Surprisingly French Scene in Toronto: Techno 293 Windsurfs & a Diam 24. Here is a quick post following a 10 day stay in Toronto, which enabled me to have a look at the sailing scene, and now to contrast it with the situation in Montreal. First impression was that, in addition to the youth sailing, which is pretty strong in several clubs, I saw two active fleets: (master) Lasers and Albacores. The latter was pretty impressive, sailing most evenings during the week. Many boats are apparently in good condition and have quality sails. The quality of sailing was pretty good. Lots of the sailing takes place on club-owned boats. For their part, the Laser master sailors form an amazing group, sailing mostly from the Water Rats club. The club has as members several of the best Laser master sailors in Csnada and the world, and they train regularly.  Albacores mostly sail from another nearby community sailing club. In Toronto, big clubs such as the Royal Canadian Yacht Club ...

Optimist sailing is great, but all good things come to an end. Now what to sail after the Optimist? This is the question that will be addressed by Jean-Pierre Kiekens, a recently graduated optimist father, after over 10 years of service in that capacity. He is also very familiar with the Club 420 and Laser Radial as used in youth sailing. Jean-Pierre is not only a sailor (Laser, Snipe, etc.) but he is also running a specialized blog on youth sailing and has written many articles on the challenges associated with youth sailing development, particularly in the North American context. The webinar will discuss what's best to do after the Optimist: - Youth sailing development: what are the goals? - Single-handed or double-handed sailing? Or both? - Laser and C420s: are they still suitable for youth sailors? - Two missing links in youth sailing in North America: the Laser 4.7 and the RS Feva - 29er, i420, Nacra 15, etc.: multiple choices, but few real options - What about windsur...

Number of Sailors in Attendance at 2018 Youth Championships in 3 Juridictions - on various types of equipments - chart With the youth championships in New South Wales, Australia, starting today, with a remarkable number of 326 entries, totalling some 399 sailors, a comparison can be done with the numbers achieved at the recently completed youth provincial championships in Ontario and Québec. Interestingly, NSW, ON and QC are  juridictions with populations numbers that are not that far apart: approx 7.5 million in NSW, 13.6 million in ON and 8.2 million in QC. The three jurisdictions offer plenty of opportunities for sailing. It's also important to note that, in Canada, Ontario and Québec are traditionnally among the most dynamic jurisdictions for youth sailing, along with British Columbia and Nova Scotia. To proceed with the comparison, one has grouped some boats. The single handed Open Bic and Sabot, both absent at the QC and ON championships, are lumped together. The T...

RS Feva: Endorsed by the Fédération française de voile, the Royal Yachting Association, among other sailing federations We all know about conventional youth sailing, with the Optimist, the 420, the Laser, sometimes the 29er. But we all know too that youth sailing is in trouble in many many clubs around the world. Solutions exist, and they are being tried in various locations. A key is to diversify the equipments, particularly for sailors below age 15.  It's critical to provide more opportunities, to accomodate a wide range of physiques and weights, to address the desire of some sailors to do double-handed rather than single-handed sailing, and to provide more opportunities for learning core sailing skills through the diversity of platforms. Some countries are making substantial efforts in that direction. For example, the first video features the 2018 French national championships for sailors under 15 - and the variety of equipments is significant. It includes several...

2018 Nacra 15 World Champions from Belgium Henri Demesmaeker and Frederique van Eupen with their coach Sebbe Godefroid With the controversy surrounding the process for revising equipments and events for future Summer Olympics, it’s interesting to analyze what has been decided, by World Sailing and IOC, in 2016, for the 2018 Youth Olympics, to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in October. There will be 5 competitions in the sailing category: 2 for Windsurfing, 2 for Kite boarding and 1 for Catamarans. The two windsurfing competitions, one for men, one for women, will be raced on Techno 293+. The two kiteboarding competitions, one for men, one for women, will be IKA twin tip racing.  The catamaran competition will be mixed and sailed on the Nacra 15. In total, there will be 100 competitors: 48 in windsurfing, 24 in kiteboarding and 28 in catamaran. In terms of equipment, there will be a total of 48 windsurfs, 24 kite boards and 14 catamarans. (86 « boats » -...

Olympic Sailing: Why Not Making it Simple, Accessible, and Affordable? Contribution to Sailing Illustrated I was reading various contributions about what sailing should look like at the 2024 Olympics in Marseilles, France.  And frankly, I was disappointed. There is very little convergence. There was no submission I could much agree with. And key issues that are present in the sport are left unaddressed. So here is my take to develop a meaningful program for the 2014 Olympics. I will just use a few common-sense criteria. First, let’s make it simple . We all know that sailing is mostly practiced in a few boats, such as single-handed dinghies, and double handed dinghies. Yes there are relative newcomers, such as the windsurf, the skiffs, kiteboarding, foiling cats, etc. There are also disciplines that previously took place at the Olympics, such as match racing. No need to reinvent the wheel here. Second, Olympic sailing should be made accessible by most.  There shou...