For the 2019 World Sailing annual conference in Bermuda the Finn Class has made eight submissions to try to ‘rebalance the slate’ and reinstate the Finn as Olympic equipment for 2024 and beyond.
Will we still see Finns racing in Marseille in 2024?
In July the class announced its ’rebalancing’ strategy, which met with a lot of support from around the world. One thing the class is confident about is that a significant number of MNAs and sailors worldwide would like to see the Finn reintroduced to the Olympic programme.
To be clear from the outset, it is not the intention of the class to attack any other event or class – these submissions just give Council various options to make some small changes to bring back the Finn, while keeping innovation and gender equity, but in doing so to rebalance the existing slate so it is more representative of sailing and sail sports globally.
To change any event, firstly that line in the current Events slate for 2024 needs 75% of a World Sailing Council vote to be re-opened. Once that line is open and the event changed a separate submission is then needed to propose a class for that event, but that only needs a simple majority vote. Each submission can be taken in isolation but all together they could result in the reinstatement of the Finn while retaining absolute gender equity across all ten events.
By providing these submissions now, there is a small chance that a 75% majority vote can be achieved. Feedback from some of the MNAs that have reviewed these new submissions is broadly positive, and the Class is hopeful that many other MNAs and Council Members will support these proposals.
It would be easy to dismiss them out of hand and maintain the status quo, however the arguments behind their purpose will not go away. So everyone is encouraged to read, digest, ask questions and see whether there is common ground on which enough can agree to achieve a 75% vote in favour.
The key points of the proposals are: Read on.
