usawindsurfing.wordpress.com/2019/10/03/usa-now-qualified-for-a-spot-at-tokyo-2020-in-both-men-and-womens-windsurfing-2024-olympic-equipment-selection-preview/
A little insight (as much as permitted) by a participant in the trials. More to come shortly, I assume.
These prices will make it even more unpopular and unsuccessful in Australia than the RSX has been in Australia. It is very sad. I can't see yacht clubs/sailing clubs taking up these Olympic classes in significant numbers unless the members involved have deep pockets after paying membership fees. I might be wrong. Olympic yachting should be in reach of good yachtsmen and women. At present most Olympic classes are just way too expensive for a lot of people to aspire to.Yachting needs to be an inclusive sport not a financially exclusive one....for Olympic windsurfing, especially so !
Geez why so hung up on the price. A new laser costs about $12,500 AUD, I guess a new 49er would be approaching 30 grand and similar for the foiling Nacra. Windfoil looks pretty cheap when compared to these classes. It's not always dependant on clubs backing up the classes , how many clubs race the 470 dinghy ??. I think for the price of the windfoil many younger windsurfers would see it as quite attractive.
Well the laser sailors got upset when they tried to update the class and price.
They got so upset they voted the changes down LOL
Oh yes, and I think last time around the sailors voted for the RSX and people said it would make hybrids popular. If the process failed once, why will it work now?
The foil or the RSX are in my opinion the best contenders for the Olympic spot at this time, although the cost may be around that 10,000 euro mark. As stated before sailors like tommy slingsby are more than happy to blow a similar amount of money on a new laser.
People don't have to start windsurfing on a foil, everyone that windsurfs has learnt on a board that is bare bones and slowly move up to more complex and more expensive prices of kit
its the same with sailing, most junior sailors start on an opti, gain those basic skills needed then move to another boat like a flying 11 or a cheaper laser. Then once they feel their skill level is high enough they buy their 49ers or Nacra 17s
you start on your cheap board (usually your mum or dads LT) then you move onto a techno and then as your sailing skill increases and you start to possibly age out you switch to the likes of RSX, Raceboard and Foiling
Sure tommy slingsby May spend 12500 on a new laser and a normal sailor can't but that normal sailor isn't going to the olympics or sailing in a world title
not everyone is going to the olympics (suprise!) so not everyone needs to buy a foil, they may just be happy to plod around on their LT and that's there choice but the likes of Dorian who is most likely going to the olympics will be able to and willing to fork out that 10,000 Euros to compete on the worlds biggest stage
p.s. a new RSX and a 9.5 kit is around $10,000 what's stopping people from saving for another 6 months and buying a good foil kit????
Yeah Benassi, have you even looked at the IOC OPC criteria and what would you know about what kids want to sail, Get a LT under you and stop being a nube.
I was just trolling a bit, I thought the Glide submission made some really goods points re affordability however it involves everyone dumping there existing gear which is not really affordable. Not super keen on a 8.5mtr rig, I think thats to small for mens course racing. Looking forward to seeing some Glides at the RB Nationals in January.
The RSX submission seemed solid with a proven track record in delivering good competition over many years but I don't disagree that it's maybe time for a change and update.
Out of the foilers I thought the windfoil1 was the weakest of the three. So expensive, whats the point of a one design board only, and the claims about everyone is foiling now and other classes are stuck in the past and foiling is delivering a revival in windsurfing are just BS. I have seen existing windsurfers take up foiling, I have seen existing windsurf racers take up windfoil racing, I haven't seen a huge number of new people racing because of windfoils.
Formula foil seems like a great class to me, I was a formula fan as well but being Olympic and not One Design may be a recipe for disaster. Bruce Kendall's spoke some word's of wisdom that should be taken heed of I think.
The ifoil looks like the best foiling option as its One Design, I have serious doubts about Starboard as an Olympic supplier, thats based on my direct experience of there inability to even supply a spare gasket for a Phantom.
So really I have no idea what should happen
Don'y forget that Starboard did an excellent job supporting the Raceboard World Championships held at RQ in 2016.
From what I can see the iFoil, the best foiling one design, the cheapest foiling option with capacity for sailing on the fin, was chosen. Even so, it will not be cheap to buy, to get race ready class legal kit, relative to other non-class foiling and fin options, including secondhand. Sailors will have other options and in smaller countries like Australia I doubt take up will be significant, but I hope I am wrong. I hope it achieves greater popularity and bigger racing fleets , local and national, in Australia, than the RSX. How many people are putting in orders now ?
Paducah, in Oz I think the "casual" or "leisure" use of RBs stopped before they got into the Olympics; they were pretty much only a racing class. But the numbers were definitely smaller at the tail end of the IMCO era than they were before the IMCO was selected, and the numbers today are larger than they were when the IMCO was in the Games. The latter part of the era when the IMCO was in the Olympics was the low point for Raceboarding.
Even in Lasers, many people in the "Olympic age" group dropped out when the class became Olympic because they knew they would be uncompetitive against the full timers. The class is now overwhelmingly made up of juniors, youth and Masters.
The page in the WF1 proposal that shows the number of Starboard foiling boards out there is a bit of a worry, because while foiling is great, if that's the future and there's only 260 such boards in the entire world, then our sport really has become pretty tiny.
so is steve allen going to represent australia. he would have to be our most experienced with runs on the board.