Mixed Offshore Event added to Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition

5th November 2018

A mixed foiling keelboat, of a type still to be confirmed, has been added to the Olympic Sailing Competition for Paris 2024. Above a French made Beneteau Figaro 3 foiler that may yet fit the bill for the 2024 regatta

A Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore Event will feature at the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition, providing a new dynamic to the Olympic movement, following ratification at World Sailing's Annual General Meeting.

After a week of meetings, the AGM brought the 2018 Annual Conference to a close as they ratified the decisions made throughout the week.

At the 2018 Mid-Year Meeting in London, Great Britain, World Sailing's Council approved the following slate of Events:

Men's Windsurfer
Women's Windsurfer
New Event, Mixed One-Person Dinghy
New Event, Mixed Two Person Dinghy
New Event, Mixed Kite

They joined the following Events and their Equipment on the Paris 2024 slate:

Men's One Person Dinghy - Laser*
Women's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial*
Women's Skiff - 49erFX
Men's Skiff - 49er
Mixed Two Person Multihull - Nacra 17
*subject to separate equipment re-evaluation

Although the decision was made, World Sailing's Regulations allowed both the Events and Equipment to be amended if 75% of Council members voted in favour of making the change.

A lengthy debate on replacing the Mixed One-Person Dinghy Event with the Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore Event was held before 31 Council members voted in favour of voting on change with eight against and two abstaining. As the 75% minimum was exceeded, Council then voted with 29 members in favour of the Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore with nine against and two abstentions.

World Sailing's Member National Authorities have the power to overturn the regulations approved by the Council.

After ratifying numerous regulation amendments over the last 12-months, a debate on reinstating the Mixed One-Person Dinghy event in place of the Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore event was held.

Members at the AGM voted with 43 voting in favour of retaining the Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore event, 17 were against and four abstained.

This confirmed the slate of Events for Paris 2024 as:

Men's Windsurfer - RS:X*
Women's Windsurfer - RS:X*
Men's One Person Dinghy - Laser*
Women's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial*
Mixed Kite - TBC
Mixed Two Person Dinghy - TBC
Women's Skiff - 49erFX
Men's Skiff - 49er
Mixed Two Person Multihull - Nacra 17
Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore - TBC

*subject to separate equipment re-evaluation

Further decisions related to the Equipment criteria for the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Events were also made on the Men's and Women's Windsurfer, the Mixed Two Person Dinghy and the Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore.

The RS: X will be the equipment for the Men's and Women's Windsurfer events.The Mixed Kiteboarding event will be on a foiling board with a RAM-Air (foil-kite) and the Mixed Two Person Dinghy event will be a non-foiling displacement boat with a headsail, mainsail and spinnaker.

A displacement monohull (non-foiling) with a shorthanded deck layout will be used for the Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore boat. The boat will be between 6-10 metres in hull length, able to perform in 4 to 40 knots with a proper sail inventory for all conditions and be a sloop rig with a spinnaker.

Equipment trials for the Mixed Kiteboarding and Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore Events will follow with the decision on the Equipment to be made at the 2019 Annual Conference.

With regards to the Mixed Two Person Dinghy event, selection of the equipment should be based on evaluation against the specified criteria without equipment trials being required. If the evaluation is concluded by the Equipment Committee well ahead of the 2019 Mid-Year Meeting, then Council will be asked to make a decision by electronic vote.

Published in Mixed Offshore Keelboat, Olympic, Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing

Published in Mixed Offshore Keelboat

Tagged under

olympic sailing

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven't put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full-time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

You might also want to read...

Mixed Two Person Offshore Keelboat

For the first time in sailing's Olympic history, a Mixed Two Person Offshore Keelboat event will be on the slate at the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition.

The Mixed Two Person Offshore Keelboat will join kiteboarding, windsurfing, multihulls, singlehanded and doublehanded dinghies and skiffs, promoting the diversity of the sport. This, in turn, will support World Sailing's desire to promote and grow universality in all disciplines and increase female participation with gender-equal medals and athletes.

Offshore sailing is the ultimate test of endurance, skill, discipline, navigation and critical decision making.

Embracing a major part of sailing in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will enable new stars of the sport to come to the forefront.

Qualification

Offshore sailing is a universal discipline that every World Sailing Member National Authority (MNA) can participate in.

Up to 20 nations will be on the start line at Paris 2024 and sailors from every continent will be represented. To qualify for the Olympic Games, continental qualification events will be held and competition for a spot will be hotly contested.

Equipment

For qualification events, World Sailing will approve a list of one-design boats that are already regionally available and can be accessed as a charter boat. Boats will be equalised to ensure fair competition.

For Paris 2024, World Sailing's Council will select a list of different Equipment it considers to meet the key criteria by 31 December 2020 and then make a decision on the Equipment, selecting from the list, no later than 31 December 2023.

MNAs, Class Associations and Manufacturers have all been invited to propose Equipment for the list and a World Sailing Working Party will evaluate each proposal. A recommended list will be presented to Council for approval in November 2020.

This recommended Equipment list will ensure that event organisers, MNAs and the sailors have opportunities to train and compete in Equipment that is readily available and affordable within their continent and country. It will also ensure each MNA has a fair opportunity to prepare for qualification events and eventually, Paris 2024.

Format

Starting and finishing in Marseille, the Mixed Offshore event is expected to last for either three days and two nights or four days and three nights off the French coastline and whoever crosses the finish line first will be declared Olympic champion.

The race course and length will be announced in the lead up to the start so the competition can take advantage of the latest weather forecast. Current options proposed include long and short courses heading towards the West and East of France.

Safety and Security

The French Navy and Mediterranean forces have extensive experience of supporting major oceanic sailing races. They will provide safety and security at Paris 2024.