A missed opportunity
Inevitably, postbags have been full recently with opinion over the eviction from the Olympic arena of the Solings in favour of the Yngling class.

Once again a decision on Olympic classes seems to have come about through a rather muddled process. In particular, the fact that early in the voting, the 49er appeared to be lagging far behind was a grave cause for concern. The loss of the 49er would have been not so much the loss of a class, but the loss of the discipline that represents the future of sailing. The Open 60s, or 'monomarans', currently contesting the Vendée Globe are nothing more than artificially-ballasted skiffs, with sail design and sail-management techniques that now mirror those of the skiff classes.

Given how close we came to that particular crevass, that we missed an elegant opportunity to play the sport's longer game should come as no surprise.

In 1984, Cathy Foster, probably the best woman dinghy sailor of her generation.....

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Good prospects
Better news in Edinburgh was the consummation of the marriage between the Offshore Racing Council (ORC) and ISAF. Or more accurately the latter's absorption of the former....

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Well done Philippe (1)
Philippe Jeantot's decision to postpone the start of the Vendée Globe was courageous and correct. This, after all, is the organiser of the ultimate Ocean Race (capitals intended). If anyone could fairly say that, 'the fleet should be able to confront all conditions', it is Jeantot.

But Jeantot is experienced enough to know that for the sake of haste, he could have lost many entries just...

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Well done Philippe (2)
Web sites come and go. A very few are good, most are a waste of time. 

But the dual-language site assembled by Jeantot and Vizzavi for the Vendée Globe (www.vendeeglobe.com) is outstanding.

And at 'Vendée Globe Junior' there is..

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