2012 Olympic board – RSX or FWOD
June 5, 2008The AWA Annual General Meeting is coming up in late June, 2008.
AWA delegates to vote on their State/s preferred option of Olympic Board choice for London 2012 : RS-X vs FWOD (Formula Windsurfing One Design)
Background : AWA has the option to submit an opinion to Yachting Australia (YA) voting delegates on the Australian windsurfing community’s (ie : AWA membership) opinion on their preferred option of London 2012 Olympic equipment to be voted on at ISAF meetings November, 2008
Please add your comments to this article so that we can make an informed decision.
AWA may then submit the AWA consensus to the YA members who carry votes at the Olympic equipment selection ballot/s for their consideration.
Why is this important ? Because the IWA fully support and endorse the FWOD concept. Because YA delegates have a significant number of the votes in this process, yet operate fundamentally with yacht background experience, with little or no first hand or current understanding of the real sport of windsurfing. (exception here is YA’s Phil Jones, who has a previous history in BiC Techno in UK – and is Vice President of the ISAF Windsurfing Community).
Without the clear input from the Australian Windsurfing community (ie : AWA membership), the YA delegates will vote with their best intentions, but they may NOT reflect the Australian Windsurfing community. Even WITH our submission, they may still choose their own vote, but cannot do so ignorant of the concensus of the AWA.
In Australia it is even more important, as most other member nations have a more direct input and representation to their ISAF office/rep than we do in AUS (being somewhat isolated from YA affairs.)
Please note, although a lot of debate over finer equipment details can ensue (and with some merit !), the vote (and thus AWA discussion and decision making) is very simple : the RS-X solution or the FWOD solution.
For more information on the FWOD concept and proposal, please see the full background info at
http://www.star-board.com/2008/pages/news/news.php?readmore=351
PowerPoint file
www.star-board.com/2008/pages/downloads/star-board-presentation.pps
Formula One Design video clip
http://2008p.star-board.com/2008/video/p_olympic.php
Formula One Design (Allison’video clip)
http://2008p.star-board.com/2008/video/p_new_olympic_v2.php
I think that this concept looks promising, although a little thin on the ground just now. I have some reservations How much do they think it will cost? A concept is good but when it actually goes into production every thing is more. More cost, more weight, more waiting for supply. I remember that NP’s RSX cost more than it was promoted to cost and is heavier than they promoted to get the reliability. I would like to know the specifics of Formula One-Design concept. How can it be one-design with a custom fin. They say the sail feels lighter, but is it lighter. Fore sure the board is lighter with no adjustable mast track or centreboard. They say you do not have to pump, but it is proven that strategic pumping is always faster and so it will happen in some form. It is also proven that pumping is better for the body with fewer injuries then to sail in a static position. A change of the equipment will not bring more people to the Olympic class. Olympic class sailors are fundamentally different from your average Joe. The change of the board this time made minimal change in the top100 ranked sailors
Previously, formula was promoted as true one-design because you could customise the design to suit the sailor. This concept steps well away from the statements made in the last round of decisions for 2008. I hope the equipment is lighter and faster and can hold an event in the same conditions as other Olympic classes. The London Olympics has a very good chance to be windier than Beijing and this board may be the best solution. I hope that all parties cut all the spin and tell it like it is.
Brendan
Hi Brendan,
Just to clarify some points.
The Formula Windsurfing One Design is already in production, so nothing to compare to the RSX change.
You have all the details in the proposal concerning the price and the weight.
Allison Shreeve and Reutemann Mariano who going the the game in one month try already the full production equipment and seems to be verry happy.
For sure FWOD will not stop completely the pumping but reduce by far this action, you get no benefit to pump when you get planing already. So the pumping will be limited to get planing, after tacks and jibe only.
The FWOD is deliver with a Deboichet Custom fin to have the better quality, nothing to compare to a fin built in Cobra.
Yes you fully right the FWOD will be perfect for 2012.
All the best and much more
Rémi
There’s no chance of cutting pumping in windsurfing, but Remi is right, once you are planing, it is actually counterproductive to pump upwind as FW boards sail completely on the fin and loading/unloading the fin (as you do when you pump) decreases the lift generated. But you will still see everyone pump out of starts and tacks/gybes and most likely all the way downwind, it will just mean you don’t have to pump continuously for the entire upwind leg (which is about 70% of the total race time in FW).
I’m not sure if the rig “weight” will be lighter as the size is bigger than a 9.5m, but you will find it ‘lighter’ in terms of being more responsive and easier because if there is no sub-planing mode you will always sail the sail with high downhauls and lots of twist, which makes the FW sails very light in the hands. I always found the RSX sails very tiring because we would always sail with minimal downhaul even in planing conditions to get the most power out of the sail with such a small RSX fin.
London will great on FW, but I wonder what Spa or Kiel would be like. You ain’t gonna make it out to the startline in Kiel if you can’t move in <6 knots! (you know it Brendan!) Are they going to make the wind minimum applicable at ALL Grade 1 regattas or just in London?!
I think that in a perfect world FWOD would appear to be a logical choice as the Olympic windsurfing board. However we don’t live in a perfect world. Wind and tide conditions for China and possible future Olympic sailing venues may cause problems for FWOD. According to one of our Olympic sailing coaches Arthur Brett, Qingdao has an average wind of only 6 knots(racing minimum) with a 4 knot current coming form the opposite direction! If racing is forced to start in these conditions or at future Olympic venues the board must have a centreboard surely?.. Can windsurfing afford to take this type of risk? Doesn’t the RSX plane downwind in 7 knots if you pump and plane downwind in 8 knots without pumping? Overall,there’s now a lot more planing racing which is definately a good thing from a spectator point of view and for the sports image.
We need continuity with our Olympic windsurfer not a change every 4 years.
Thanks,
Luke Meyers
Personally, I’d rather see the FOD go ahead because that way I may be able to pick up a cheap FOD in a few year’s time……
However, IMHO Luke’s right, we need continuity for the sport. Looking at other decisions by ISAF confirms that they feel the same way. The last time there was a class in for only one Games was 1956, so it’s obvious they don’t like quick changes even when it’s obvious the craft is a flop.
The submissions from national authorities arguing for the second-last class to be dropped (the Europe) showed strongly that smaller nations do not want to be involved in extra expense. If we force them to dump their existing (albeit small) RSX fleets and build new fleets of FOD the overall expense would probably be greater.
The IOC Olympic Programme Commission reports seems to indicate that the global spread of a sport (ie being in more countries on more continents) is currently a major priority. The existing gear, for all its faults (IMHO) is more widespread than FW in terms of class associations and countries at worlds. Sure, that’s because it’s already Olympic but still it is a fact. If we don’t look out for smaller countries who want to preserve their existing fleets, then why would they look out for us?
The “Formula is better TV” argument is similar to the one that some of the cat sailors relied on. The cat is now out of the Games, so that’s not a good selling point!
The cities bidding for 2016 all seem windy but as others have pointed out, other Olympic regatta venues aren’t like that and that’s a potential problem for FOD (when do you get a reliable 6 knots at SIRS????)
Formula is a great class. Going Olympic kills a class’ local fleets (with only two exceptions). In the past, the Tornado and Mistral were both created out of open development classes. One of those classes (B Class cats) died long ago and the other (Raceboard) is not as big as it was. So the “Olympic selection death syndrome” seems to affect even related classes, and the great FW class may be hurt if FOD goes ahead.
I have major concerns about the fact that the IWA made this decision with apparently almost no consultation among our sport. Secondly, considering what happened to the cats where (according to private correspondence with one of the leaders of the new official cat movement) poorly-researched submissions were a major factor in the dumping of the Tornado, I hope that the FOD submission is trustworthy.
I am concerned about a submission that makes claims such as ‘racers want to see FOD in the Olympics’ since there’s no proof; in many major countries other classes form the majority of national fleets. No one I know (i.e. the leader of the German windsurfing association etc) was asked what racers wanted.
Saying “The current windsurfing Olympic class is considered irrelevant by all but the racers who have dedicated themselves to Olympic windsurfing” is arguably false since several Olympic windsurfers are significant stars. If Olympic windsurfing was considered irrelevant would Nikos have seen been given the honour of lighting the Olympic flame, or would Babs Kendall have been ranked in the top 10 most trusted Kiwis in a national poll????
Secondly, ISAF created the RSX so is it really good politics to say that it is considered “irrelevant”??? Few committees like their own creations being criticised.
Isn’t saying that Olympic windsurfing is (for whatever reason) irrelevant pretty much asking for ISAF to dump our sport from the Games to allow a spot to let the catamarans back in?
Last time the FW class was put up for Olympic selection, it used its inclusion in the PWA as support and its submission spoke of 57,000 boards being sold in 2 years…..now its official report to ISAF speaks of 1,000 boards being sold per year. On the face of it there seems to be something inconsistent there and any ISAF member savvy enough to look at the last submission (and I think there are plenty of them) may wonder about the IWA’s credibility.
Sorry to rave on, but watching the huge fight over the cats has made me very aware of the political implications of this sort of stuff, and I am very deeply concerned that the IWA may (note the “may”) be acting in an un-representative fashion without consulting us, the sailors (and also the office-holders).
So for 2012, keep the RSX and start looking for something new in a few years.
PS – and no, it WASN’T me who suggested on the Starboard forum tha thte Olympic board should be the Windsurfer One Design…….. that would be terrible for EVERYONE! :-)
What a surprise. Yet another new OD concept!!! I’m staying well away from the Olympic comedy. It’s just like when a new fashion comes out and everyone has to have it. It’s a complete joke. This is the core reason that windsurfer course racing is dying out, not because of the sport’s raw appeal which will always be there, but because it is becoming prohibitively expensive and manufacturers and organisations are not supporting one design racing properly. If the Olympic Committee had any real balls they would realise that they made a mistake with are RSX and go back to IMCO and stay with it indefinately. That will never happen though because it just isn’t fashionable anymore even though it is one of the best designs for this kind of racing.
I have no plans to get an RSX myself but feel that as they have already gone there they should at least support it for the next 2 olympiads. I DO NOT support Formula Windsurfing as the Olympic board at all.
If windsurfing was an olympic sport then we would no doubt have events for wave, speed, fw, slalom etc. There might even be a spot for the wally. Great theatre for all.
But windsurfing is only present as an event (or class) in the sport of sailing. This distinction is not just pedantry. The olympic equipment needs to highlight the board, and most importantly, the sailing skills of the competitors. Not sure what the answer is, but I doubt pure fw fits the bill – though it does have the advantage, as others have pointed out, of ending full course pumping. But I’d add that sailing a board (relatively) fast in non-planing conditions is also a worthwhile skill, so maybe the fugly RSX is a decent compromise that should be peserved for at least one more olympiad.
In the ten years of having an interest in windsurfing the only constant has been the continuous debate over the vexed question of olympic equipment. It seems to me to be an inevitable grind to FW. I just hope the concerns, highlighted by Chris, don’t also grind us towards inevitable exclusion.
At the AWA Annual General Meeting on June 25th (2008), most states voted for the FWOD and the remainder voted to keep RSX for 2012.
It will be interesting to see how the world votes!!
Hello,
I personnaly bought a RSX in juni 2008 and plans to compete with my Neil Pryde.
Why changing every 4 years?
I think Starboard has not understood what Windsurfing in Olympic Games means. Windsurfing is not only Formula but also very lightwind windsurf 5-6 knots as it was in China and also Strong wind conditions. A polyvalent board with a 9,5 m² Sail (totally impressive in lightwind) suits more than a 10,5 m² only fitted for planning.
Moreover the former Mistral One Design stressed on the windsurfer´s athletic performances to make olympic windsurfing an elite discipline, the Neil Pryde stays in this way.
Olymipic windsurfing is not only fun and planning but also the sharpest competition between the world best competitors.
The Neil Pryde is not a transition Board from windsurf to funboard but a very polyvalent windsurf suiting Olympic requests. For example the RSX Sail is certainly one of the best sail that we can display for Formula today.
How did Australia get it so wrong. ?