A New Olympic Discipline with an AYC Twist

The newest event on the club’s racing calendar has quite a bit of buzz behind it, which was clear to the organizers when over 75 sailors from around town attended a seminar hosted by the Events Committee on June 25 at the Sailing Center.

The seminar was designed to bring sailors and supporters up to speed on the new mixed double handed offshore event scheduled for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Wanting to be involved with the lead up to events on the world stage, AYC invited Gary Jobson along with Tom Weaver to talk about the new discipline at the Olympic level, and give an overview of short-handed sailing and how AYC is getting involved at the ground level.

Gary Jobson, who has served on the boards of World Sailing, US Sailing, and the Olympic Sailing Committee, talked about the new event which would restore keelboats as one of the Olympic disciplines. More than 50% of all sailors participate in offshore keelboat racing worldwide, and double handed racing is a fast-growing segment of our sport. Each boat will have one man and one woman on the team. The expectation is that the class will be more about the sailors than the boats, which will be evenly matched keelboats in the 25-35 foot range. Jobson foresees a continuous 2-3 day race providing a unique platform for media and broadcast partners. Viewers and race fans will be able to follow the race boats 24 hours a day in all time zones online, and racers can be interviewed while racing. This will certainly add a new dimension to Olympic sailing!

Local expert Tom Weaver talked about his experience as a two-time Worrell 1000 (beach cat) competitor in the double handed 1000-mile Miami to Virginia Beach race. His lively talk emphasized the fun, challenges, and excitement of short-handed racing, as well as highlighting the success of women sailors in these events. Weaver also talked about distance racing, including his race around the world on a maxi catamaran.

Attendees were interested in the type of boats that may be selected and the championships and trials leading up to the 2024 Olympics. The Offshore & Oceanic Committee is working to develop the format, safety requirements, qualification series, and training events. While the event is 6 years away, we expect early racing to begin within 2 years. At least three clubs have already scheduled events including AYC, who jumped on the bandwagon earlier in the year.

To support this concept, AYC has added a Double Handed Distance Race to our 2019 schedule, and registration is open for the race slated for September 28-29. Competitors can race in a one-design fleet of J/105s (male & female crew) or under the ORC handicapping system (open crew). The race will take place over a 24-hour period with courses between the Bay Bridge and the Potomac River, with the finish line in front of the yacht club. Racers are asked to provide camera footage as well as social media content so that friends around the world can enjoy “watching” the race. There are already 7 entries on the Scratch Sheet including recent Annapolis to Newport Race winner in the Double Handed class, Laurent Givry, and two-time Olympic Medalist, Randy Smyth. Check out the Official Event Page for more information.