Haunting memory from 1984 Olympics

The Long Beach venue for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics (above) has a reputation for providing reliable summer winds, but New Zealander Sean Reeves has a haunting memory on a day it didn’t:

Peter Evans and I were sailing in the 470 event at the 1984 Olympics and were disqualified by the International Jury from the fourth race for kinetics during the competition in Long Beach, CA.

The wind was less than 4 knots and it was normal for all competitors to roll tack and rapidly flatten the boat out at the later stage of the tack. We were sailing exactly the same as everyone else, but our Olympic medal chances were destroyed by the arbitrary, and quite wrong, decision of the Olympic jury.

Only months prior to the Olympics, we had finished third at the 1984 470 Worlds in New Zealand, and had competed in every major international regatta in Europe leading up to the Games. At no stage during any of those events, even in very light conditions, had any umpire questioned our roll tacking, nor had any other competitor questioned us.

Without this DSQ in the Olympics, we would have not have had to carry it as our discard and a medal would have been highly likely. And now, 40 years on, I’m still extremely upset with this arbitrary decision and it was a major factor in me retiring from Olympic sailing.

I believe the umpires should have nothing to do with Rule 42, and in fact, I believe the rule should be completely repealed. Let the sailors determine how to extract the maximum speed within the class rule and technique.

Editor’s note: The current 470 Class Rules have a provision that if the average wind speed is clearly over 10 knots across the course, the race committee may signal that pumping, rocking and ooching are permitted.

Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Program:
Men’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 7
Women’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 6
Mixed Two Person Dinghy – 470
Men’s Skiff – 49er
Women’s Skiff – 49erFX
Men’s Kiteboard – Formula Kite Class
Women’s Kiteboard – Formula Kite Class
Men’s Windsurfing – iQFOiL
Women’s Windsurfing – iQFOiL
Mixed Multihull – Nacra 17

Venue: Marseille, France
Dates: July 28-August 9

Details: https://paris2024.sailing.org/