Monday, August 13, 2012

No medals for US Sailing Team at 2012 Games

Here is a lively series of posts on the recent lack of success of the current Olympic team.

http://forum.sailingscuttlebutt.com/DISCUSSION_C6/Dock_Talk_F5/No_medals_for_US_Sailing_Team_at_2012_Games_P14264/

My take is that we finally got to see the results of Dean Brenner's policy of only funding the winners. It is no mystery that he has barely funded the windsurfer representatives and that US Sailing has put little effort into developing the youth windsurfing or Olympic windsurfing programs. Even if you could argue there was some de-minimus support it does not nearly come up to the support of windsurfing given by China, Israel or Holland.

If I had to propose a policy it would be to evenly spread around 50% of the funding amongst all of the athletes on a per capita basis and then award the balance of the funding on results. If you wanted something more complicated you could use this for example.

1st year after the Olympiad 70% of funding spread per capita 30% to top performers.
2nd year after the Olympiad 60% of funding spread per capita 40% to top performers.
3rd year after the Olympiad 50% of funding spread per capita 50% to top performers.
The year of the Olympiad 40% of funding spread per capita 60% to top performers.

I am sure you could tweak this a but and make it more complicated but clearly the idea of only supporting the winners has been a failure. Why not try something with more of a long term focus - something more long term.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Appeal to US Sailing website now live!

Here you go everyone - a lot of hard work and hopefully a convincing argument.
http://saveolympicwindsurfing.wordpress.com/

Appeal to US Sailing Website

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Asia wants windsurfing reinstated

by Tan Yo-Hinn

04:45 AM Jul 03, 2012

Source Todayonline.com

http://www.todayonline.com/Sports/EDC120703-0000022/Asia-wants-windsurfing-reinstated

SINGAPORE - Windsurfing's shock omission from the 2016 Olympic Games may not be cast in stone yet.

At an Asian Sailing Federation (ASAF) meeting here last Saturday, member nations reached a unanimous decision to call for a re-vote by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) at its next meeting in Ireland this November to re-instate windsurfing as a medal event for the Rio Games.

"We're now finding out the process to present a strong case for windsurfing to ISAF," said SingaporeSailing CEO Tan Wearn Haw.

"There has been talk the International Olympic Committee may drop sailing from the Olympics because it is not the most spectator-friendly sport, so for ISAF to drop one of sailing's more popular disciplines is surprising."

Thirty-four delegates representing 17 member nations attended Saturday's meeting at ONE15 Marina.

In a shock decision at the ISAF mid-year meeting in Italy, windsurfing was axed from the 2016 Olympics and replaced with kiteboarding.

However, Israel sailing chief Yehuda Maayan claimed the shock result came after a Spanish delegate made a wrong vote during the meeting, possibly due to confusion and the language barrier.

Singaporean Audrey Yong's bronze at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games helped promote interest in the sport here.

Timothy Khoo, president of Windsurfing Association Singapore - an affiliate of SingaporeSailing - said: "The decision to drop windsurfing was a devastating blow and there are concerns interest could dwindle as it is no longer an Olympic sport.

"It is a wake-up call for windsurfing to keep re-inventing ourselves to stay relevant." TAN YO-HINN

Sunday, July 1, 2012

A kiteboarder talks about ISAF report

A Kiteboarder’s Look at the Technical Report

We picked this up while preparing a report for US Sailing.It is a brilliant disection of the many problems in the ISAF report regarding the safety of kiting.The fact that it is from an experienced kiter is important.

By Ian Collenette
Founder, DVNT Kiteboarding, Orewa Beach, New Zealand
(source: Kiteforum)

Experience has taught me and my kiteboarding friends not to underplay the safety side of kiteboarding when representing it to kiteboarders, non-kiting public and potential new kiteboarders. We have found that honesty and transparency in learning from our experiences (close calls/accidents etc.) has kept us safer. These are quotes from the reports given to non-kiting voters, and for those thinking of getting into kiteboarding to read and learn from.

Kiteboarding Evaluation report – IKA/ISAF

“Safety issues are slightly different for kiteboarding”

They are not slightly different, they are vastly different because you are dealing with a kitesport. Kites are unique in that they can generate relative huge apparent wind power compared to sailing (this means kite movement through air/wind window that translates to FAR higher apparent wind speed) to jump 100kg 60ft in the air! An accidental 15cm movement of a kitebar due to rider or equipment error (deathloop, bridle tangle, wing tip tangle/pulley jam/line half hitch on bar) can result in rider being thrown 40ft+. Kite lines have nearly drowned me and my friends (for sure less likely in racing than waves) and have caught up a kiter under a rescue boat that drowned recently (not wave riding). There are many more examples of why kitesport safety is so vastly different from sailing safety but I realize that long posts put people off reading whatsoever…

Kiteboarding Technical report – IKA/ISAF

“There have been safety issues in the past which have been overcome since approx eight years.”	This statement generalizes about all safety issues and therefore simply is not true. eg Deathloops (uncontrolled spinning kites pulling you due to bridle tangle, wing tip tangle, 1/2 inside out kite, line half hitch on bar, depower system tangle) which may result in collisions with buildings / other riders/spectators / objects at sea or at the launch area. Nothing can overcome the danger of 2 tangled kites in some situations – this area is not known well (I am aware of the kite racing clubs that do have some experience) – kiting will bring kiteboard racers closer together than they ever have been in history (traditionally that have learned to stay as far apart from each other as possible). Fortunately in racing in higher winds the riders tend to get spread out more – but to say there is no safety factor in limiting entrants of kiterace compared to a sailing race is ridiculous!
“There is no difference to standard sailing regattas in respect of numbers of boats, marks etc, no additional resources or facilities are needed.”	Yes there is – Launching and landing safety buffer zone from all things that are not flat beach – people, buildings, objects – anything you could have a collision with if pulled forward for example 60ft in 1 second due to possible user, equipment malfunction, or change in weather conditions. Most kiteracers around the world do not have access to boats and quite frankly couldn’t be bothered to go to the trouble of boat launching. Sure Olympic rsx sailors have their support boats but how is that making kiteboarding accessible. Sailing boats can launch in unsteady (gusty wind launch areas are dangerous for kiteboard launching), offshore (usually too much wind shadow) and very light winds (kite falls out of sky – approx 10 knots required for water relaunch) – Kiteboarders cannot safely or reliably do this. Can you imagine sailing clubs needing one boat per kiter! Traditional sailing clubs and kiteboarding usually do not mix well from a safety point of view simply due to safe launching and landing buffer zone, due to having inexperienced kiters (sailors) around kites (eg trying to help a kiteboarder and instead getting them hurt grabbing wrong side of kite / kite lines / wrong safety line / trying to grab kite detached from rider).
“kiteboards are always planing.”	No they are not – I have been in lulls on raceboard not planing! Instead of pumping – we sine wave the kite to generate apparent wind and get planing again – for sure they plane more than windsurfers though – difference is that most kites cannot relaunch from the water in under approx 10 knots if wind lulls and kite falls from sky. This point was not mentioned in report, an ambiguous statement that said kites can be lauched in 4 knots I think it was, little did anyone know this referred to launching from a boat or land with human assistance, and not an unassisted water relaunch. Report makes no mention of rider having face split in 2 during freestyle competition (Vincent Tiger) as it was not considered serious (3 months recovery) – The report does not refer specifically to kiteboard racing safety records, of which incidentally there has been very little relative activity in racing worldwide to be able to analyze it properly – simply because kiteboard racing has been very niche with very few participants worldwide.
Report says kites flag out when releasing safety system (“kite will have no more power whatsoever”)	That is simply not the case for many riders riding various kite brands in current IKA/ISAF kiteboard racing. They are not safely flagged out onto one line, some use a suicide leash and rely on the high depower of the kite design! This makes the statement “kite will have no more power whatsoever” untrue.
“Although kiteboarding accidents still happen, they are rare.”	No they are not, they are far more common than sailing accidents and far more likely to result in severe injuries or death. Sure people get hit hard by gybing masts in sailing but nothing of the scale of kite accidents. Analogies to other sports are ridiculous (cars motorcross skiing..?!?!), kiteboarding is unique in that it deals with both the erratic nature of the weather AND the fact that a kite can throw a 100kg human 60ft through the air from an accidental or deliberate mechanical movement of just 15cm on the bar/due to tip wrap/bridle tangle/bar line half hitch/ kites tangled together. Saw someone launch kite recently and due to bridle tip wrap tangle flew 30ft onto their head as kite deathlooped at launch – a bit late for a safety system. They were out cold for 10 mins and injured.
“It is no more dangerous than any other sport.”	That is just the most utterly stupid statement and totally untrue. Kiteboarding while safer than is used to be due to advancement in equipment design will always have the inherent additional risks of the huge relative power kites can generate both at ground level and more importantly upwards! Particularly at launch and landing. These dangers are increased by the erratic nature of the weather.

I love kiteboarding including racing and high winds (25 knots+ even lol), but when I read reports representing my sport to others, that may bring it into disrepute, clearly written by inexperienced kiteboarders, I have to put my time into getting the facts straight. (I don’t consider myself anything special but have been kiting 12 years, was in my country’s Olympic youth sailing squad, NZ national kiteboarding title holder and various other achievements in kiteboarding). Reports like these do not benefit kiteboarders (exception maybe kiteboarders in the business of course – Olympics = sell more kit), potential kiteboarders or voters by painting a fairytale picture of kiteboarding that is designed to spin, not tell the real truth. The truth educates and therefore benefits kiteboarders, voters and potential new kiteboarders. It also enables people to make informed decisions.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Kiteboarding is wrong choice for Olympics says expert

Sailing-Kiteboarding wrong choice for Olympics, says expert

From Reuters
See also this video

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Further retributions follow 2016 Olympic Events vote - Gladwell

From SailWorld
Gladwell's Line: Further retributions follow 2016 Olympic Events vote

'Two of the great Womens Windsurfers Blanca Manchon (ESP) to windward of ITA’s Alessandra Sensini in the 2008 RS:X Worlds, Womens Medal Race' Richard Gladwell Click Here to view large photo

Protests and revelations continue to roll on the back of the controversial decision by a 19-17 vote by the ISAF Council at the Mid-Year Meeting in early May, to select Kiteboarding as a 2016 Olympic event

At its November Meeting the ISAF bracketed the Kiteboard with the Windsurfer, for selection as an Event for the 2016 Olympic Games. A final decision was to be made in May 2012, pending evaluation trials conducted in March. The Mid-Year meeting was staged at Stresa a resort on picturesque Lake Maggiore, near Milan, Italy.

Despite a recommendation of 17-2 for the retention of Windsurfing by its expert committee, the ISAF Events Committee, who considered a report from an Evaluation Team it established to trial Kiteboarding in March 2012, and advise on its suitability, the Council of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), the world governing body for the sport, swung the other way and in a close vote decided to promote Kiteboarding ahead of Windsurfing for the 2016 Olympics.

Immediately after the Stresa meeting the Spanish Sailing Federation President, and Council member Gerardo Pombo took responsibility and apologised for the actions of their substitute Council representative for Area E comprising Andorra, Portugal and Spain.

It was claimed that the Spanish Federation RFEV only decided, after publication of the voting lists, to issue an apology for the actions of the very experienced and highly intelligent, Gerardo Seeliger, who it was claimed by RFEV was confused by the voting system.

Gerardo Pombo (right) one of the foundation members of the Club Náutico Español de Vela - Event Media

Prior to the publication of the voting lists, the Spanish had maintained they had supported the Windsurfer according to a letter sent by five times Womens World Windsurfing Champion, Blanca Manchón to the Spanish Olympic Committee:

I have personally requested an explanation from the President of the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation, Gerardo Pombo, who hours before the publication of the list of countries of the aforementioned voting was defending tooth and nail that Spain had voted in favour of windsurf. Once the list was made public he rectified and issued a statement on RFEV’s website, recognizing the mistake: 'It was just a mistake, a simple voting mistake.' As if to tick a box was so difficult so that one would err in something so transcendental, in this case for the Olympic discipline of windsurfing and all the infrastructure that was put in place throughout all those years.

Seeliger is believed to have given a lengthy and passionate address in favour of the Kiteboard, so clearly alarms should have been sounding amongst the Spanish and Portuguese support team, if indeed he was genuinely confused.

Further Spain is a world force in the Olympic windsurfing discipline, so a vote against the current Olympic event would probably have had a very significant impact on his country's Olympic medal chances in 2016.

Additionally, like many other established and developing sailing countries, the Spanish Federation had invested heavily in windsurfer development. For the RFEV with the the financial support of their Olympic Committee, this investment, had resulted in several world championship wins.

That confusion was again attacked in a tirade on Spanish TV news , by Blanca Manchón, who is also a former ISAF Sailor of the Year, when she verbally launched at the Spanish Federation. The same RFEV who was last in the international headlines for their endorsement of the Club Nautico de Vela – a paper yacht club they helped establish, and whose doubtful challenge for the America’s Cup triggered a three year in the New York Supreme Court.

The statement issued by RFEV read in part:

Blanca Manchon (ESP) RS:X Women - Semaine Olympique Francais 2011 - Jean Marie Liot © Click Here to view large photo

'In fact, during the recent years RFEV has heavily invested in the development of future windsurfing promises, through the National Plan for Modernization. Moreover, the current Spanish Olympic sailing team has some of the best windsurfers in the world that have been and are all serious contenders at a medal both at the previous Olympics and the next ones this summer.

'Furthermore, in other committees of the ISAF, where Spain is represented, such as the Event Committee, the Spanish representatives had voted in favour of windsurfing. These committees had almost unanimously supported the maintenance of the RS: X, although they were only advisory to the Council.

'Despite this, at the last moment the Spanish representative in the ISAF Council gave his vote for the kite, an error caused by the confusion of the voting system. The Federation President, Gerardo Pombo, takes responsibility for this error and wants to apologize to all Spanish windsurfers.'

The other two countries in Area E, Portugal and Andorra have not come out with official comment on the vote of their representative; however it is believed that Portugal supported the status quo – the retention of Windsurfing.

Venezuela outs its Vice-President

Next up was the letter from the Venezuelan Federation of Sail, disassociating itself from the vote of one of its nationals, ISAF Vice President Teresa Lara. She was one of seven ISAF Vice-Presidents allowed a vote. Five of these voted in favour of the Kiteboard and only two in favour of the retention of the Windsurfer. While Vice-Presidents, and indeed all Councillors are allowed a free vote, in terms of doing what is best for the sport, this notion must be sheeted to reality in terms of the impact on the sport, in the region they represent.

Venezuela is bundled into Area O in the ISAF Council and has two representatives, one from the Cayman Islands and the other from the Dominican Republic. Of the 22 countries in the Group, only two, Cuba (1948) and Bahamas (1956) have won Olympic sailing medals.

It is not known if Venezuela thought their interests were covered by Lara, their Vice President. However their reaction was fairly clear when Venezuelan Federation of Sail issued a statement advising their 'total and absolute disagreement with the decision made by the representative of Venezuela within ISAF (V.P Teresa Lara Anzola).'

Neighbouring Brazil an Olympic powerhouse, in Group N along with Paraguay, voted for the Windsurfer. As did Group M comprising Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay.

Asian and Indian reaction
Since May, the flurried reaction has not diminished.

ISAF Council Vote Sheet - Windsurfer vs Kiteboard 2016 Olympics -

An email from the Windsurfing Association of Singapore says that a meeting will be held on June 30, 2012 of the Asian Sailing Federation to consider their situation. The ASF has 26 member countries and spans three of the 17 ISAF Council Regions. Some are minnows in terms of their international sailing footprint, but others such as China and Japan have hosted Olympic Games.

The Councillor for Area K, which contains India and Singapore and six other nations, voted for the Kiteboard. The Board Sailing Association of India claims that the Yachting Association of India instructed the Councillor, Ajay Balram, that they wished to maintain the status quo, in other words – Vote for the Windsurfer.

The letter dated June 14, 2012 claims that 'Mr Balram by his own admission did not bother to consult us or any of the Group K Countries and voted for Kitesurfing (sic), in spite of knowing full well that Kitesurfing (sic) does not exist in India.'

'His vote was crucial in Windsurfing being removed from the 2016 Olympic Games' the letter adds – a reference to the 19-17 vote on the ISAF Council. One vote the other way would have tied the ballot, and forced the ISAF President to exercise casting votes which by tradition and rules of meeting conduct, is for the retention of the status quo.

Then came the turn of Singapore’s TP Low, another ISAF Vice President. Low has been attacked by the President of the Windsurfing Association Singapore (WAS), claiming in an email in mid-June that Low did not consult the Singapore Sailing Federation and WAS before making his decision.

Tim Khoo, President of WAS writes ‘it is necessary that I clear up that Singapore does NOT (sic) support Kitesurfing (sic). It is actually banned on our beaches because of the close proximity to the airport.

WAS and SSF stand firmly behind Windsurfing as we have put a lot of time, effort and money into training our windsurfers, in the hope that they will peak for the 2016 Olympics. Audrey Young is a product of this program and she won a Bronze medal in the Inaugural Youth Olympics in 2010.

Kiting on the other hand has no program in place, nor will there be plans to train 'sailors' (sic) for this event. There is not even a Kitesurfing (sic) Association in Singapore.'

Khoo’s email cites the meeting to be held on June 30, 2012 as an Extraordinary General Meeting to 'question the voting Asian representative who comes from India' along with TP Low.

ISAF Council under the spotlight

If proven to be correct, the allegations made, call into serious question the process of the ISAF decision making process at Council level. One error is perhaps understandable but the extent of this level of disconnection at the top echelon of the ISAF decision making process is not.

That concern is mirrored by the decision of the ISAF Events Committee who recommended by a vote of 17-2 in favour of the retention of the Windsurfer for the 2016 Olympics, but supported bringing kiteboarding into the ISAF World Cup circuit from 2013.

While it is all very fine to say that Councillors have a free vote and act in the best interests of the sport, in a democracy, those decisions must be held accountable to the sailors and regions they represent. The ISAF Constitution requires that Council members 'shall have regard to the interest of the sport of yachting throughout the world as a whole.'

That requirement notwithstanding, surely it is not acceptable for Councillors to vote without being in touch with their member regions and national federations, given the significant investment that is made in training programs and equipment for an event such as windsurfing. Where is their compass?

The reactions of the affected Associations is expected to made known in a number of ways – by direct repudiation of their representatives as RFEV has done. There may be some sanction imposed on what some might consider rogue Councillors by their regions and/or national bodies as Venezuela have done. Or there may be some names missing, when the ISAF Council and Vice Presidents are nominated in November, for the coming four years.

Of the three notional ISAF Presidential candidates only one Carlo Croce (ITA), a substitute for Councillor Sergio Gaibisso (ITA) Group D, voted the Windsurfer.

Of the other two, Puerto Rican, Eric Tulla, one of seven ISAF Vice Presidents voted for the Kiteboard. David Kellett (AUS) is ISAF Treasurer and does not have a vote.

In a further twist, two weeks after the Mid-year Meeting, Surfing New Zealand claimed jurisdiction over Kiteboarding from Yachting New Zealand, highlighting the fact that the ISAF Council had promoted an event into the Olympics for which very few of its members had affiliated associations within their ranks.

The next meeting of the ISAF will be in Ireland in November.

But this is an issue that will not go away.
by Richard Gladwell

Click on the FB Like link to post this story to your FB wall

http://www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?nid=98743

This is a fantastic letter from a Mom regarding the ISAF decision.

ISAF vote to axe windsurfing from 2016 Olympics - A parent's view

'Noelle Finch - RS:X Youth World Championships in Cagliari, Sardinia' Rory Ramsden Click Here to view large photo

I am writing this as the parent of a young windsurfer who, in the debate about the decision by ISAF to axe windsurfing from the 2016 Olympics, seems largely unrepresented.

Our daughter, Noelle, is 17 and the current female U17 RS:X European and World Champion. She was the youngest in the fleet and fifth U21 in the recent RSX Senior Europeans in Madeira in March of this year. She was first selected for a national windsurfing squad within the RYA in the UK in 2006 and was U15 European Champion (on the Bic Techno) in 2009. She has been part of a fantastic RYA youth training programme which has given her the support and guidance to develop. She absolutely loves windsurfing and now, six years on, doing her sport has become a way of life, a commitment which has meant juggling school and exams while training and competing.

This decision has taken this from her.

Noelle Finch. Photo: Ricardo Pinto RSX European Windsurfing Championships 2012, Madeira - Rory Ramsden

She has many young friends in the UK and globally in the same situation. Who is representing them here? They are surely the foundation and future of most sports – young people with talent and passion and the drive and determination to work hard towards a goal. The journey is just as important and it is wrong for all sport for this to be destroyed in this case so needlessly for so many.

We feel that the RS:X class has met all the requirements placed on it by ISAF and ticks all the criteria for being an Olympic discipline. Noelle has just competed at 'Sail for Gold' in Weymouth where many people were saying: 'We never thought windsurfing would be voted out'.

Why? As I understand it, because the expectation was that the system would not allow for the Council to disregard the recommendation of their own experts who voted 17-2 in favour of windsurfing.

Kind regards,

Fran Finch
by Fran Finch

Click on the FB Like link to post this story to your FB wall

http://www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?nid=98759

7:47 PM Wed 20 Jun 2012

Windsurfing