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Nordic and Baltic Countries Response to the Proposed Formula Class Rule Changes
The following is a copy of the letter just sent (11.25 CET 2002-09-09) to the members of the IFWCA Board:
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September 9, 2002Dear IFWCA members!
We, the boardsailing federations of the Nordic and Baltic region, want to take this opportunity to give our view on the proposed changes to the Formula Windsurfing Class. This letter will not only be sent to you. It will also be published on the following forums:Gaastra – http://forums.gaastra.com
Starboard – http://www.star-board.com/forum/forum.asp
AHD – http://www.a-h-d.comAs windsurfers, we all strive to increase the sport that we all love and care for. The Formula Windsurfing Class has been an enormous injection of energy into the world of windsurfing with decreased costs for top competitors and an easy, accessible sport to the average recreational surfer with much more potential time on water than before, especially in the low wind regions of the world.
The development of the class has been amazingly fast with sails and boards today that we never thought possible just 3-4 years ago.
Today we can sail in as low as 7 knots of wind. An enormous development for our countries up here in the Nordics and the Baltics where the wind speed often averages between 6-11 knots. This development has dramatically increased the number of sailors on the water. The interest for the sport is growing rapidly when you can sail almost every day of the week.
When setting the current rules we experienced more sailors on our regattas because they felt that they could finally go with the same equipment for several years and still be fairly competitive.
We therefore strongly suggest that the current rules should be intact for at least 2 years -starting from 2002.
First of all: There is less than a year ago since the current rules were set. To change them again and in such a way that a lot of people will loose money and loose a lot of potential sailing days is definitely not good for the sport. The trust for IFWCA and national federations such as ours will be seriously damaged if we change the rules every year. Consistency is of great importance if we want to build a trustworthy class with lot of competitors.
Also, we do not recognize the “massive request” from competitors and national associations to change the current set of rules. On the contrary, we have experienced an enormous increase in number of potential days on the water, with more competitions possible and a big increase in number of sailors on our regattas thanks to the 12,5 sails. These big sails are used in approx 70-90% of all training and regattas, increasing the number of sailing days with approx 20-40%, particularly in the low wind regions. Last year we had to have approx 11 knots of wind to be able to start national regattas. This year we only need approx 9 knots. This means a huge difference in the number of possible starts in our region. All of a sudden, the windsurfers in the Baltic sea and the Nordic region have the ability to go out and train several days of the week, thus increasing our competitiveness greatly, in all parts of our countries, not just the windy places. This has never been possible before. This is great for the sport. This is what attracts new people to the world of windsurfing, and this with the first generation of the 12,5:s.
To decrease the number of sails down to a maximum of two instead of three will probably not be as effective as it is intended. The sails of today, does not cover the complete wind range we compete in (ranging from 6-35 knots). We need to purchase at least three or four sails anyway to cover this range. Fewer sails will probably increase the problems for lightweight and/or new sailors to be competitive since they probably will need to wrestle with big sails more often than today when the wind is changing during an event. The development of the sails will for sure continue and the range of each sail will probably increase. However, the sails in the future will be more of a compromise if this rule will take effect, thus reducing the potential performance of the Formula Equipment even more. And as always, no one is forcing anyone to spend this much money on equipment. We have a lot of sailors just using one or two sails, and they can still participate in almost 80-90% of all the races.
To decrease the maximum number of fins would probably be OK, but this is of small importance of the total cost of the equipment, and thus not necessary to change, just creating confusion.
On the matter of back pains due to the big sails, we have experienced that it is not primarily the big sails that create the pain – it is the pumping. If we would reduce the sail area down to 11,0 the pumping would probably increase even more in marginal races, thus increasing the number of people with back pains, regardless of what sizes we use. Pumping is one of the things that killed off the Mistral One Design class in the Nordics. There is little or no interest at all in this kind of sailing.
On the matter of cost of the big sails – they do cost a little bit more, but not that much more that it will justify the removal of them. The cost per hour sailing is actually less than before in the low wind regions of our countries. Formula windsurfing is still one of the cheapest sailing classes around.
It is not relevant to compare the sail size needed in the Euro Cup and in international regattas. In those big regattas you often need a bit more wind to be able to get 70-90 sailors off the start line, thus sometimes making the 12,5 obsolete since its ideal range might already have been passed. On national regattas and smaller, the 12,5:s have increased the number of performed races with approx 30-40% in our region. This is a dramatic increase in the number of performed races during an event. Again, this is done with the 12,5:s of the first generation. Imagine where we would be in 2-3 years from now with 12.5:s of the second or third generation. There is no question that some sailors sail very well on smaller sizes in low winds, but to be able to meet the requirements of “suitable conditions” down to 8-9 knots of wind, we need the 12,5:s for the “masses”.
The fact that there has been a lot of breakage of masts this year is something that we most likely will not see to the same extent again. When we first started to use carbon in our equipments some 10-15 years ago, those parts failed very often. Good thing that we didn’t ban carbon from our sport because of that. Development and production methods are constantly moving forward. Give manufacturers some time to adapt to the sail sizes. We are already seeing great improvements from the main manufacturers.
It is the number of sailing days on the water that attracts people to the sport. Not the matter if we allow 11,0 or 12,5:s as the biggest sail. Same arguments go for the restriction of the women and the youth sail sizes.
As mentioned earlier, the windsurfers in the Baltic sea and the Nordic region have the ability to go out and train several days of the week, thus increasing our competitiveness greatly, in all of our countries, not just the windy parts. This has never been possible before. This is great for the sport. This is what attracts new people to the world of windsurfing.
Sincerely
Estonian Boardsailing Federation, Erno Kaasik, erno@extreme.ee
Finnish Boardsailing Association, Heikki Ruuhimäki, karkianne@hotmail.com
Norwegian Boardsailing Federation, Kjell Strand Jacobsen, Byggkjell@sensewave.com
Swedish Boardsailing Federation, Per Svanberg, per.svanberg@kpmgconsulting.com
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5 Svar
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U’r the man Per!!! Fattar IFWCA inte hur snett de tänker nu, från vårt perspektiv här uppe i norden, så gör de aldrig det. Mycket välskrivet och med bra argumentation.
Mvh,
Gustav SWE-108 -
Bra skrivet, men kan förbättras genom att byta ut loose mot lose…om ni nu inte redan publicerat det…
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Bra brev, Per.
/Peter -
Gött Per!
Det är du som är huve’t på spiken!!!
/S-45 Staffan…
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Bra skrivet Per, kul att du tar dig tid.
Hälsningar
Niklas (Assa seglaren)
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