Something great has happened for the sport…the NEW Olympic Class!
The story from our man in Denmark:
Jesper Vesterstrom
“Vote for the hybrid or windsurfing will be removed from the 2012 Olympic programme” - Paul Henderson, President of the ISAF Windsurfing Committee to the final Council Meeting in Denmark. |
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That is the comment that really put the nail in the IMCO board. The Windsurfing Committee said yes to the hybrid. The Event Committee said yes to the hybrid. Then it was down to the Council meeting where every country gets a vote.
Suddenly the whole discussion turned into pure politics with discussions about prize money and measurements (!) instead of what windsurfing as a sport needs.
After two hours of intense discussion Paul Henderson, President of the ISFA Windsurfing Committee, made his point very clear: “Vote for the hybrid or windsurfing will be removed from the 2012 Olympic programme”. That kind of did it as he is a really powerful man and I am happy he was on our side. In the end we won with 26 to 12 Mistral votes, so quite convincing numbers going for the hybrid.
Information about the NEW kit
Many of the details of the class are still to be finalised, but this is what we know:
- Neil Pryde are to be the only manufacturer allowed to produce the board.
- The first 'production' boards are likely to be available around May 2005.
- The board apparently sails very much like a Formula board but it is noticeably heavier.
- The sail sizes haven’t been confirmed yet, but it looks likely that you will only be allowed to use one sail size and that will be 9.5 for men and 8 or 8.5 for women.
- Apparently the sail is much more powerful than a standard formula rig and is OK for pumping in non-planing conditions.
- The fin size is yet to be finalised but is likely to be two types; one for slalom and one for course racing.
- The board will be sold complete with adjustable downhaul and outhaul for around 2900 Euro + VAT. That’s approximately £2150 + vat.
I really hope every country will push hard and get the youngsters on these new boards so the sport can grow again.
I can tell you that windsurfing in Denmark has never had so much coverage on national TV as they had this week. I was sailing in the harbour in front of the hotel where the decisions were being made and a TV crew were there showing the action later in the evening. No doubt lots of people in Denmark know about windsurfing now but most important of all was that the ISAF members also noticed the attention the new board got and maybe that swayed their opinion? Who knows, maybe all the attention was planned from the beginning???
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But the most important issue is that something great has happened for the sport…
To see more photos of gorgeous Jesper go his website. |
 Neil Pryde Specification [PDF 1.5MB]
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