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Tornado Sport - New Olympic Catamaran | [Print] [Close] |
The Tornado Sport replaces the Tornado as the new Olympic catamaran following a vote by the Events Committee at the ISAF annual general meeting in Edinburgh. NOTE: The ISAF used in fact the wording: "Tornado with Spinnaker and Double Trapeze", however we recognize this as the "Tornado Sport", as promoted by Mitch Booth.
The Sport is a souped-up version of the conventional Tornado with the addition of a gennaker and an extra trapeze for the helm. Double Olympic medallist Mitch Booth has been the driving force behind the new class, although he has said he is keen to work with the Tornado class in helping existing owners convert their boats to the Sport version.
At the "Multihull Evaluation Event" in France in March, the directive was to find a replacement for the Tornado, after an Events Committee meeting later in the spring, and after a week of Multihull Committee, Events Committee, and ISAF Council meetings, the Tornado again emerged as the Olympic boat - but in a new form.
All of the talk focused only on the Tornado. The other classes present at the Evaluation Event were not even mentioned, and the other two boats that made formal submissions, the Hobie Fox and the Hobie Tiger, received a grand total of zero votes through all of the committee and Council meetings, with virtually all of the attention on the Tornado, and which version would be the 2004 Olympic boat.
Although the class voted against the Spinnaker and double trapeze earlier this year, the ISAF, after legal review, felt that it had the right to specify the Olympic equipment exactly, without actually changing the class rules. The exact wording of the resolution that passed was that the 2004 Olympic Multihull Equipment would be the "Tornado with Spinnaker and Double Trapeze". The original version of the ballot listed the "Tornado Sport", a version of the Tornado developed by Mitch Booth and five others, but without a formal submission and without a recognized international class association.
With the wording of the resolution, the class could keep the present boat and just add the extra equipment for the Games, but that is clearly not in anyone's interest. The plan at the moment is to sail some or all of 2001 events with the current equipment, while reviewing and testing various sail options. A final package will then be presented to the class members on a ballot sometime in 2001.
The new version of the boat will require a spinnaker and double trapeze, and a new jib that can be sheeted from the beam in order to use the spinnaker. A new jib is possible of the same size, but longer on the luff and shorter on the foot. Issues to be decided are the size of the spinnaker and length of the spinnaker pole, and whether a larger, flat-top main is also added. Tornado sailors should not make changes to their current boat until the class committees can review the options, get prices and input from members, and present a package for balloting.
