"We are over the moon with this result," said a delighted Marcus Spillane on Monday. The President of the Olympic 49er, 49erFX and Nacra17 classes is delighted that all three of the Olympic sailing disciplines he represents have been confirmed for the 2024 Olympic regatta off Marseille. "The sporting certainty that this decision gives us will now allow us to focus entirely on serving our sailors and their sport by providing fair and enjoyable racing for all." With a narrow majority (21:17 votes), the Council of the World Sailing Federation followed the proposal of the Event Committee, confirming five disciplines and setting a further five for review.
The battle for the medals in the catamaran mixed discipline was so exciting in 2016. The Nacra17 is seeded for 2024
The surfing disciplines RS:X Men, RS:X Women, the double-handed disciplines 470 Men and 470 Women as well as the Finn Dinghy, which until now has been part of the Olympic sailing programme as a single-handed discipline with the addition "heavyweight", will be reviewed and possibly changed or replaced.
However, the Council's narrow decision also shows how divided the national member associations are about the future of their sport. Just a few months ago, the proposal in favour of "theatre-style" finals - very short races on very short courses - was narrowly rejected by 20:21 votes. However, with the current vote on the disciplines, the renewal process, which is intended to secure the Olympic survival of sailing for the future, has only just begun.
In light of the fact that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will no longer "only" review entire sports in future, but individual disciplines for their compliance with the Olympic requirements, each individual sailing discipline must also be able to fulfil these requirements. In addition, the World Sailing Federation has promised the IOC not only an equal balance of men and women in the field of participants for 2024, but also in the number of disciplines. This status will not yet be achieved in 2020 at the Olympic regatta in Enoshima, but should and must be achieved by 2024.
With the selection of the five disciplines to be reviewed, step one on the road to reorganisation has now been completed. In phase 2, the five open events will be defined with a precise description. For example, one could be called "Coastal keelboat relay mixed". This phase begins in mid-March and ends with the World Sailing Federation's mid-year meeting on 15 May in London. Only in phase 3 will it be decided which equipment, i.e. which boats or boards, will be used to compete in the newly defined disciplines. This final phase is due to be completed in November 2018 with the annual meeting of World Sailing, but can be extended by up to a maximum of one year if new boat designs or major modifications to existing designs are required.
The aim is to have 175 men and 175 women for the 2024 Olympic regatta with a maximum of 350 sailors, as well as the same number of men's and women's disciplines depending on the expected increase in the number of mixed disciplines. There will be no more than ten disciplines in total in the future. Athlete representative Yann Rocherieux put it well in a nutshell according to the 49er and Nacra17 Class Association: "We trust the Council to choose disciplines for 2024 in which all sailors will have the opportunity to chase their Olympic dreams. Even if that means that some sailors will have to change their current discipline."
Will Laser & Laser Radial remain as "equipment"?
The single-handed disciplines for men and women, which have been part of the Olympic sailing programme since 1974 and 2008 with Laser and Laser Radial, are not scheduled for review as an Olympic discipline in the process described above. However, their sports equipment and the contracts between their manufacturers and the World Sailing Federation are being scrutinised with regard to EU competition law and antitrust concerns. World Sailing wants to ensure "that sailors, national associations and Olympic teams can receive a high quality service and products from manufacturers at competitive prices". Aspects such as suitability as an Olympic discipline, prices, boat build quality, availability and global supply are to play a role in the review, which the Olympic RS:X boards must also undergo. The exact procedure for this separate process and its criteria will be published by the World Sailing Federation at its half-yearly meeting in May. A decision on the results of the review is to be made in November 2018. In a nutshell: it doesn't have to happen this way, but it is also not out of the question that the Laser and Laser Radial will be replaced by similar single-handed dinghies for 2024.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
