Thoughts on 2016 Olympics- windsurfing & kiting

Lots of mixed opinions flying around these past few days regarding the decision to include kite boarding in the 2016 Olympics at the expense of windsurfing
Obviously - a very happy crowd here in San Francisco with the kite racers ready to take the Olympic spotlight.

I for one couldn't be more happy for them (and Ive been racing windsurfers competitively since the early 90's- getting on the bus late but nonetheless enjoying the ride.)
It's their time to shine so why not embrace it vs fighting it.

28 years of Windsurfing as an Olympic sport 1984-2012 is not a bad run.

Other classes have come and gone from the Olympics with the sailors having made large investments in their skill sets for that class. They had to move on.

The skills in windsurfing will translate to other classes (including kiteboarding) when it comes to course racing.

Windsurfing's been dying a slow death since it's peak in mid 90's.
Sure some racing classes have succeeded- t293, rsx, pwa, raceboard, formula but you see whats happening. The sports become diluted with so many choices, including kiting which has taken a big piece of the pie from windsurfing in the past 5-10 years. While not entirely agreeing that the RS-X is the best format for the Olympics- I have tremendous respect for the guys sailing that class- they are the most fit athletes in the sailing discipline and probably the entire Olympics.

The fact remain- the Olympics can only be so big- while it would be great to see both classes in 2016- there remains room for only 1.

The kiteboard, on the other hand has had a tremendous evolution with windsurfing paving the way for it's success. The 1st  World Championships in kite boarding course racing were held in San Francisco in 2007 and since then the sport has blossomed. It has evolved and continues to change more than any other form of sailing. I just hope that what's make it so successful isnt ruined by the forces at ISAF. Learn from the RS-X's mistakes and success's and blaze on!

The way I look at the decision is that its actually good for windsurfing- at least in the US.
The Olympics has been a hard call for us in the US- getting funding to support an international campaign from an organization that does not believe in us (rightly so as they're job is to win medals and we have a very bleak chance at that.) At the last trials we had 2 men and 1 women vying for the US Olympic windsurfing spot. At the 96 trials we had 40+. 

We've got several of the top 10 in the world in kite boarding and even the top 2 so for the US the decision was right. We'll get more funding with more medals. A win/win for US Sailing Team.



Now with RSX out, the windsurfing world of racing wont be as compromised as before with so many classes for sailors to choose from.
I see it as a win win for the formula class as the rsx'ers have a choice to either continue racing in a high performance windsurfing class or join the kiting fleet.
The formula class is bound to absorb some of those sailors.

The kiting class will benefit from the all the top racers coming in from the RS-X class.

As I understand, the exact discipline for kiting has not yet been selected. That decision will potentially be made in November or after next years Olympics. Most likely it will be racing as that's the format they loved so much at last months kite evaluation trials in Spain.
There's also a chance ISAF could reverse their decision in November with a 2/3 majority voting for windsurfing if that decision gets to the table. There's a petition by the rsx sailors to do this already.

The technical report from the evaluation trials can be found here.

In fact kite racing takes the same format as formula windsurfing in terms of an open one design class. They have a box rule for their boards (registered by isaf 50 board min production) and kites are limited to 3 per event.
We debated and tried having a formula windsurfing one design in the 2012 Games and came to the conclusion that once you're there- they're are many other interest controlling your fate, politics included and the class takes on a world of its own not necessarily in the sailors best interest. A double edged sword that's tempting but often better left alone.

Im still stoked on windsurfing and we had one of the most competitive regattas this past weekend on the San Francisco city front with 8 formula boards racing and overlaps at every mark and finish. But then I look over at the kiters with 20 kites (and averaging at least that in their weekly series where we can get 8-10 formula boards on our weekly series) and I ask myself what am I doing still racing windsurfers when the kiters have a bigger local fleet, more talent, more potential and now the Olympics. I'm excited to learn the sport and hopefully race with them if it all works out.

If you can't beat em- join em!

Steve USA-4


5-11-12 update
Seems the drama unfolding around the decision is just beginning to come to light.

The Spanish delegate apologized after realizing they voted wrong- link

"The delegates were probably confused or didn't understand the motion fully because of language difficulties, or some may have been napping at the presentations and then cast their votes without realising the implications," Yehuda Maayan told Reuters."

Boards magazine did a detailed interview with Rory Ramsden explaining the decision process and the resulting confusion- link

“The Australians and Americans were consistently voting against windsurfing. They were joined by the Irish, who are not known to have a strong windsurf racing team."

2006 Olympic Pre-trials

Pretrials day 1"2 races in light to marginal conditions 7-10k, then dropping below 7. I was struggling upwind with my angle. Lighter guys are able to point a bit higher and maintain speed. Both races I was far back in 5th and it didn't merit even worth pumping.Up in front Ben in sailing away with Mark and Bob further back. Seth, in front of me in 4th. 4 women are competing to make the US RSX fleet at 9 boards total.
Pretrials day 2: Is there success through failure?
Sub marginal to marginal conditions today on the racecourse.3 races in diminishing conditions: choppy 7-11, then 7-8 the finally in race 3- under 6 knots. 5 men in the course in 2 lap windward leeward races. In first 2 races today Ben, Seth and I got off the line on port tack with track back planning conditions then the wind died and back to track forward displacement mode. In the last race, it was light- light and I was in there within striking distance for 4th. My back was in a lot of pain – upwind no pumping but downwind I was doing the butterfly pump at a good rate and caught Bob for 4th- otherwise 2other races today I was too far behind in 5th to even merit trying to pump to catch up. In the front of the fleet, Ben got 3 more bullets, Seth moved up to 2nd.Pretrials day 3:Somebody please put the wind back in Olympic windsurfing!
2 races in very light conditions in 3-5 knots of breeze. It was critical to maintain an upwind pump to get any angle at all- without it, I found my angle was way off and not in the game. For me this just isn't windsurfing – more like airs rowing with a giant paddle but these are the conditions similar to the next Olympics in China. This is one of the first times I'm ready to walk away from a challenge. My heart does not seem to be in the game nor am I interested in pumping the course and calling it windsurfing but my respect goes out Ben who is going for it all the way and walking away with 7 bullets so far. I think I've got a chance for 2nd or 3rd but at this point it's not worth it seeing the amount of time and effort required and the diminishing returns I am seeing. The other 3 guys have stepped it up a level but aren't yet close to Ben in first. I'm finding it hard to let go of this Olympic dream but sometimes better to do what your good at than what your not!
Pretrials day 4: The End is near
The light wind streak continues. I got out the racecourse for a 1 pm start only to find 3-5 knots on the course. Now instead of racing to the south of the harbor entrance like the previous 3 days, our course was position a ¼ mile in front of the entrance causing a lot of confused chop around the course. I got off to a decent start near the pin with Mark just on my hip to windward. I was able to hold him off by pumping just with my upper body but the whole motion just wasn't there, as I couldn't get by back to do what I wanted. Mark tacked off but soon it was apparent the right side was favored. So much for protecting the right side! I was in for a bit but soon enough got shot out the back door into 5th where it was apparent I wasn't going anywhere fast. Back up wind, Ben was leading the race for his 8th victory with out much challenge. The real battle was Seth trying to hold off Mark and Bob for 2nd place. Despite being a good 25 lbs heavier he's really working his ass off for 2nd place. Hopefully it will pay off for him the long run. As for me, all I needed was one race to know I was finished. I told the RC I was retiring and heading in.

2006 Miami OCR

Greetings from the Miami Olympic class regatta. While its not exactly our San Francisco mikes lab one design fleet, it is one design windsurifng racing. Alot of you already got the taste of the rs-x board in san francisco last september, this time, the fleet is a bit biger and a bit stronger and a bit more expereienced. The only thing we dont seem to have is a decent supply of breeze. With one day of racing so far, we have 2 races in and 10 more planned for the next 4 days. The first race got off with 15-17k and planning conditions. It was rather shify up the first beat but
still able to stay on a plane the whole time. We did a double windward leeward course, finishing downwinf. I managed to get oof to a horrible start but clawed my way back through the middle of the fleet for a 16th while Seth maintined his place up top with a 6th
place. By the next race, the wind had died to 6-10k. Getting off the line, proved to be rather difficult for most of the fleet and the majority of the fleet was track forward and centerboards down. Pumping doesnt seem to make a big difference in these conditions so it seems like eternity to get through the course. Most of the fleet was spread out and there was a time limit o 10 minute after the first finisher. With that said, only 16 sailors managed to get scored. I missed the cut off by a few minutes but didnt realize it, pumping my way to the downwind finsih, exhauting myself! Seth managed another decent finsih with in seconds of the cut off
to finish 15th.

Day 2 Miami OCR-
With John Craig at the helm of the RC on the RS-X course, I thought there would be some compassion but unfortunately not as we made our way through 2 more races in 4-9k of breeze. It is painfully obvious who has spent time on the board and who has not!
Today was another "learning day" trying to get up to speed or at least maintain it in the fickle breeze. We were on postponement till 1pm and then started a race in 5-6k, maybe gusting up to 7- defiantly not planning but moving around the course like small displacement dinghies! Pumping doesn't seem to make a lot of difference up wind, maybe a 10% increase and most of the fleet is pumping off the line and the top guys around the entire course. If you aren't pumping in the correct technique, it's actually worse and you foot off-something I found after 2 unsuccessful races. Downwind, its the rowing pump that works the best- pumping theclew in , then throwing the mast forward and scooping the mast back- creating your own wind.
Seth and I were battling it out in the back, trying to figure out how this new thing works. Meanwhile, the other US hopeful, Ben Barger, who has spent a lot of time training in light wind Florida, was up in the front of the fleet with 2 top 10 finishes.
Wednesday's forecast looks better with some more breeze filling in the afternoon.

Day 3: Miami Olympic Class Regatta: 3 more races today in a dying breeze. The wind was directly off shore, which made it shifty and gusty with the course set just to leeward of the skyscrapers of downtown Miami.I was expecting the breeze to go right all day as itdecreased as forecast suggested. All but 1 of the upwind legs, it either stayed steady or shifted leftwhich made banging the right corner a disastrous strategy. The fleet really got spread out in the lightstuff as the lightweight sailors had a big advantage. I even managed to finish 20 minutes beyond to top guys in the 2nd race and get DSQ'ed for not finishing in time. It defiantly took a skilled eye to stay in the wind, especially downwind where you had to gybe 8- 10x to stay in the puffs down to the leeward mark. Once planning in 10-12k, the different sailor weights even out and in 14k+ the heavier sailors had an advantage. Of course, it's never always steady and the wind was very shifty so it made today's racing very tactical. The best sailors are still coming out on top.
Final day: The new Olympic class racing format was tried today with the top 10 sailors advancing to the metal round for a race that would count double and could not be discarded. The idea behind the change is to make the sport more media friendly and understandable to the public. The new metal round does have it's pros and cons and will probably be worked out as the format is used more before the next Olympics. The rest of the fleet raced in a consolationrace counting just like every other race. It was the best breeze of the regatta and Seth and I lined up and both felt pretty good in our normal SF conditions. I planned to go left so I started at thepin with clear air but immediately got chucked as I crossed the pin end committee board and got caught up their way too long anchor line. It just goes to show you that you should probably run a few dry runs of your planned start on the line where you want to start just to make sure you know what's there! Bad luck struck again on the downwind as my outhaul became unthreaded from the back of my boom on the first downwind. I managed to tie it off and completed the next legs with a very baggy sail. Seth went on to finish first in the consolation round and took 14thoverall while I got 24th overall.
On the bright side, both Seth and I qualified for the US Sailing Team in 2nd and 3rd place. With a limited amount of funding from the US Olympic Committee ($3000 for entire 5 person US team), we will probably both be running scaled back campaigns. The good news is, the formula class is a decent cross trainer for the new Olympic class and with another strong west coast formula season in front of us, I will continue to race in the strongest fleet in the country!