Olympics

If the Hobie 16 becomes an Olympic Class Boat, good news or Bad news for the Class?
What are yuor thoughts?

Great news, look at what it did for the Laser class. More sailors, more boats, better racing... ...all good.

I agree with Hammond - this would be great for the visibility/exposure for Hobie and for our sailing community!

...not to mention picking up some great tips from people who sail more than me...

Really? Is that even under consideration? A new Olympic class for a forty year old boat? Wouldn't they go with an A-cat or Wildcat or something from the 21st Century at least. I'm trying to picture Bode Miller on my 1969 K-2s.

It seems like the Hobie 16 has been tossed out there as a potential Olympic class catamaran for decades. Last I heard it was still being considered.

That is the debate, should the olympic catamaran be a large, well established class (something akin to the Laser) or a more modern exotic design. I could see having the Hobie 16 as the olympic cat as potetentially both beneficial and detrimental to the class. You would likely see some class growth, but maybe not the type of racers the class has historically attracted...much more focused on competetion at the highest leves with less emphasis on the comraderie and social aspects that tend to attract the less competetive sailors. I would also expect to see the cost for new boats to go up.

sm

Maybe it would be cause for an update to the design for better performance? Call it the Hobie 16 Olympic Class with Carbon Fiber hulls and mast, higher tech sailcloth, spinaker, etc.

That way they would leave the price of our boats alone, and still be able to make a world class race boat that would perform up to 'those guys' expectations?

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Steve
1979 Hobie 16 "Orange Crusher"
2017 Hobie 16 "Cayman" sails 114795

For North America? Bad. I don't think you guys will be able to hold off putting a spinnaker on any longer if the Hobie 16 is selected.


My money is on either the Hobie 16, or the Viper being selected. Either of which isn't that great of a choice in my opinion. I'd much rather see something of the Marstrom variety chosen, mostly just because of costs.

Not likely, that would be counter to the whole purpose of selecting the H16 in the first place. There are any number of "high performance" cats out there already that could be chosen. The whole reason that the 16 would be selected is because it's "the common man's catamaran." Just like the Laser - simple, cheap, just about anyone can afford one and tens of thousands already do. If you make a special Olympic version of the 16, then you might as well just design a brand new boat or pick one that already exists.

I agree that if they turn the 16 into a spinnaker class, it will destroy the class in North America. I doubt many weekend warriors would be interested in making the change, and having a split fleet (spin vs. non-spin) would divide and ultimately destroy the class, just like it has done with the other split Hobie classes.

sm

Bingo.

The official position of the HCA North America is, "No to the spinnaker on the 16." Other areas (especially Europe) have been trying to make the spinnaker fully class legal on the 16 for almost a decade. They've managed to worm their way into making it a legal youth class (2004), inserted Appendix E (H16 Spinnaker Rules) into the IHCA rule book in 2008 (with no record of any notice on the IHCA web site) and flaunt an "open spi class" in some events in direct opposition to the "Hobie 16 Spinnaker Policy" published on the IHCA website. (http://www.hobieclass.com/site/hobie/ih ... policy.pdf).

For those of you not up to speed on this, ISAF will be conducting an evaluation trial in Santander, Spain March 17-25 to select the equipment for the 2016 Olympics. In order to be considered, manufacturers/classes had to pay an evaluation fee, supply the boats and a maintenance crew at the venue. The only boats that have been entered are :
Hobie 16 with spinnaker
Nacra 16
Spitfire
Viper 16
Nacra 17
Hobie Tiger F18
Tornado Marstrom + Exploder (two versions of the same boat)

ISAF also published a "wish list" of attributes they think the multihull equipment should satisfy. A couple of the more controversial ones are that it should fit into a 20' containter, have a two-piece mast, and that the total crew weight should be between 120-140 kg (265-309 lbs). You can read the whole ISAF request for proposal here: http://www.sailing.org/36974.php

Very interesting, and thanks for the clarification.

Being new to all this, I didn't realize all the implications. It sounds like an ongoing battle.

It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

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Steve
1979 Hobie 16 "Orange Crusher"
2017 Hobie 16 "Cayman" sails 114795

I still think the Spitfire is the right choice
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dAmm_1q7sw[/youtube]

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Sheet In...Max Out
www.fleet297.org
sailflatlands at gmail dot com

I disagree...
Bode Miller on 1969 K2 would look decent in comparison. This is more like asking Lance Armstrong to race on one speed cruiser!

My vote is on on N17.

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H17

Some people don't get it,the Olympics are not like the America's Cup where it is all about Technology.The Olympics (quoting Paul Henderson former ISAF Prez) should be about "Talent not Technology".

That's baloney. Basically every single sport is using the peak of technology in equipment.

I really don't care what boat they choose, the only downside I see to the H16 is massive costs of campaigning one.

A good example is cycling. A good racing bike goes for $10k+. It would be made from the lightest synthetic fiber available -- you can bet on it. This would be only a small fraction of total costs of athlete preparation and participation to the Olympics, which probably be within a several hundreds thousand of Dollars. This includes couches, sport Doctors, facility usage, etc. With this perspective, spending a $10-30k for a 2 athletes boat is not unreasonable. I would expect a boat of choice would be a common but relatively modern design cat, perhaps Nacra 16 or 17.

I personally would be very happy if they choose H16, but I find it extremely unlikely.

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H17