The new Offshore Doubles organisation that aims to represent the growing interests of two-handed offshore sailing, the newest Olympic sailing discipline for Paris 2024, has announced that at the end of its first month of operation has 1,600 members from 66 countries with all six continents well-represented.
In a recent update. the new group say the Olympic Event of Mixed Offshore Doubles is a pinnacle event of the sailing discipline and it was proposed and ratified as the Olympic slate by World Sailing at the Annual Conference in Sarasota in 2018 and sent to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2019.
As Afloat previously reported, over the next month, the IOC is expected to make their final decisions on the slates proposed by all sports.
Four Irish Mixed Keelboat Campaigns?
As far as Ireland is concerned, there is significant interest with currently up to three (or maybe four) possible contenders for the single berth including top solo offshore skipper Tom Dolan (pictured above) who, quite significantly, finished fifth overall at this year's La Solitaire du Figaro, Ireland's best-ever result. Dolan claimed in March that he intends to recruit a female co-skipper for an Olympic bid but there is so far no word from the Dolan camp of a sailing partner.
The Dun Laoghaire and Greystones partnership of Kenny Rumball and Pamela Lee has also thrown their hat in the ring for Paris 2024 and last month Lee set a Round Ireland doubles speed record with Cat Hunt in the Figaro 3 boat.
Kenny Rumball and Pamela Lee
Howth's Conor Fogerty, a former Afloat Irish Sailor of the Year, has teamed up with Susan Glenny and this year the duo competed in the Eurosaf Mixed Keelboat European championships in Italy, a race that Fogerty described as challenging here.
Susan Glenny and Conor Fogerty
The cost of staging the Olympic Event of Mixed Offshore Doubles
There have been some reported questions about security and cost of the Paris 2024 Olympic event. The security question has been solved by the French Navy's assurance that they will provide security on the course. The operating costs of the event have been reviewed by the World Sailing and will be significantly lower than other sailing events because the Offshore Mixed Doubles Event is one race with a single start and finish. Other than the final short leg, all protests will be heard electronically using the 24/7 media and tracking during the event. Penalties will be assessed and taken before the last short leg to the finish and first boat across the finish line first wins.
In discussion with many of the teams, even from many smaller countries, the cost of the boat is not the big issue some claim. The boats in the event will be supplied without additional cost to competitors and the boats used for training can be any boat of appropriate size and configuration.
More on this from the offshore doubles organisation here.
