Glenn Ashby on AC and Multihulls

From Tornado Class Newsletter – Photo Gilles Martin Raget:
———-
GLENN ASHBY (AUS) CHATS TO US ABOUT AMERICA’S CUP ON MULTIHULLS, FUTURE FOR OLYMPIC MULITHILLS, SAILING PLANS AND TORNADOS Glenn Ashby (AUS) had a chat to us about America’s Cup on Multihulls, future for Olympic Multihulls, sailing plans and Tornados. Glenn, the 2008 Olympic Tornado silver medalist with Darren Bundock, was the head coach of the BMW Oracle team, winner of the 33rd America’s Cup. A great and must read! “I really think the last AC on Multihulls was great for our sport. How cool was it to see 2 of the worlds largest and most technically advanced Multihulls go head to head? Awesome! I however would like to see the next AC as a multi challenger event with, 10 or 12 teams competing on say box rule 65 to 70ft multihulls. Big boats fully wicked up and on the edge all the time is what we, the sailors and the world, want to see. The sailing would need to be held somewhere with medium to strong breeze. This would be great for the public, spectators and media and would really show how cool sailing at the top end of our sport can be compared with others. Big boats, powered up going fast and on the edge. The Big Cat and Big Tri really made the old version 5 Cup boats look like dinosaurs. No question there. We had one of the old version 5 boats on the hard in a cradle near the toilet block in the Oracle base and it was hard to believe that is what was sailed in the 32nd Americas Cup. Sailing needs to be a sport of the future and not of the past if we want to be able to be in the international sporting spotlight. At the moment there are very few events that put our sport there. I am not for having 100ft plus Multihulls in the Cup in the near future as they are just too big to man handle and sailing time is limited. However a smaller 60 to 70ft more one design formula (like A class C Class, F18 etc) would be awesome. I really hope the Cup does not go back to the stone age and need to be dragging a lump of lead around that weighed a few ton more than the whole 115ft trimaran. Speaking of the future of sailing, I think it is imperative that multihull sailing be re introduced to the Olympic program. Looking at other sports that are making waves in Olympic selection are all ones that are exciting to do and exciting to watch. The recent winter Olympics were a classic example of disciplines such as the half pipe and ski cross that were relatively new events that everyone talks about. In my personal opinion, Olympic sailing needs a full overhaul and has to pretty much start with a clean sheet of paper for 2016. We are caught in the stone age big time here and are in dire need of a big change to move with the times and get sailing back to a level where young and old alike are interested in what goes on in our sport. Put a Finn dinghy next to a foiling Moth for example. No brainer. The Tornado fits the bill for speed excitement and public interest as do other high performance boats. Isn’t that what the Olympics is about? High performance? My sailing goals for the future are a little uncertain at the moment as I feel I have had a pretty good run over the past few years with numerous World Championships, the Olympics and recently the Americas Cup. I have sort of had and I guess achieved many of my life and sailing goals in one way or another in the past 2 years. I have thoroughly enjoyed my sailing and the challenges and experiences that have been provided on this epic journey. Maybe it’s time to have a little break for a year or so. I am not sure. I think after a couple of months break I will have the desire to take on the next challenge what ever that may be. This year I will concentrate again on my main business as a sailmaker and sailing the A class which I love. I will also compete in some F18 events as well as other regattas. However I really do miss sailing the Tornado in Olympic class regattas and events and hope dearly that ISAF can see the light and include the Multihull for 2016 even if many of us will be too old to sail it! It’s just not right not having multihull (Tornado) represented at the Olympics. My words are echoed by many of the Sports greats including BMW Oracles CEO and Olympic Gold medalist Russell Coutts who said it’s outrageous not to have a multihull in Olympic sailing”