Just out of curiosity, was another class removed to get windsurfing in back in the 80's or was windsurfing just an added class?
This is the farce that is ISAF - bunch of old fools.
I took offence to Windsurfing being turfed, and I'm going to take offence to kiting being turfed.
I've been on windpowered craft since I could crap in my own hand and I only wish I had the physical ability to fling it at them.
It's a simple list
1 Single hand - male/female
2 Double handed skiff - male/female
3 Multihull - Mixed Crew
4 Windsurfing - male/female
5 Kitesurfing - male/female course racing has only been mainstream for 4 years look at the entrylist for the last worlds in Europe
6 Keelboat - mixed - not really viable but it should be there,3m/1f but there isn't anything good enough cheep enough like a Melges 20, a viper, the new version of the J80 what ever they called it something fast and interesting.
And above all else - good coverage that makes people want to watch it. That is the main reason is getting the squeze by the IOC people dont' watch it, advertisers want something "main stream" so it doesn't make money and they'd rather show something that did.
Why dont more windsurfers get their kids into Techno. Its the perfect free pass to go sailing yourself and a great way to spend more time with your kids.
My son started windsurfing at Christmas sold his motorbike to buy a techno and entered his very first race the day it was annouced windsurfing was dumped from the Olympics. We raced together on saturday then went sailing in 30knts on Sunday on short boards. My smallest sail is a 4.7 np alpha and he pinched that and my 110 ltr slalom. In 10 months he has got to that level and both of us put it down to racing techno weekly. Kids learn fast and quickly get dragged up to the level of the other kids there sailing with. The youngest techno sailor in Qld is 11.
its a fantastic class 8000 kids cant be wrong so why dont more windsurfers in Australia get there kids into techno
Watching some of "Wind Legends: The history of windsurfing" reminded me of the early days of windsurfing being a family pastime. That was the peak, when mum, dad and the kids could all have a bit of fun. It seems that since that time the sport has continued to market itself as an "extreme" sport and paid a heavy price by doing so. I can't remember seeing a family shot in a magazine for years, it's always JP does Jaws, or Gollito doing a move that maybe five guys in the world can do.
Market to women, market to kids, market to families. Make it cheaper. Make the gear have a wider range. Don't change the gear every season. Good for the windsurfing as a whole and good for windsurfing competition. The Bic Techno class is a great example.
Look at Lasers. If I wanted to race that is the class I would pick. Simple, sail in any conditions, compete on equal terms with a huge fleet of talented sailors for a few grand. And you know they are going to stay the same for many years to come.
Yet most people seem TOTALLY FIXATED (look into my avatar, not around my avatar, into my avatar 
) with proposing a class that is cooler, faster, more exciting than the last idea. It seems to me that this is what got us where we are today, a niche sport struggling to stay relevant.
Why all the RSX bagging?
So what if it's not quite as fast as formula, its a lot faster than the original windsurfer. It is one design, useable in non planing conditions, you can teach beginners and is a natural progression from the techno293. If we aussie windsurfers had any interest in promoting our sport we'd join our European friends and race the rsx to ensure windsurfing stays in the olympics.
That said whoever decided to call the event 'rsx' should be shot. What is 'rsx' to a person in the street? It's like calling tennis 'spaulding' or the 100m sprint 'nike'. It's called WINDSURFING!
Windsurfing has died because we all want the fastest gear and don't support class racing or encourage beginners enough. The Olympic movement want to keep their event current and appealing to the younger generations. Like bmx I'd suggest they want kiting and will include it soon. If it's at windsurfings expense we've only got ourself to blame.
Mat
I'm glad RSX is back in - now its time for windsurfers to support the class and show that it's worthy of being in the olympics - there was so much windsurf whining when it was kicked out, now its back in, so now its time to show the support and true colours - go get your RSX's...[}:)]
There were 220 registered kiters at the last Worlds in and 114 RSX's so pretty much outnumbered 2 to 1.....despite above claims of 10-1 in the opposite direction...
Between the lines it seems to me that windsurfers weren't particularly sad to lose the RSX olympics - but they were particularly sad to lose to kites....
Whats up with this inter-sport rivalry? It would be nice if they could both be in, but windsurfing should have a box rule, like the kites, and the brands and stars of the sport might take an interest as well...
Disclaimer - old windsurfer (loved it) turned kiter who is now SUP'ing.....
I don't believe there was or is any animosity between kites and windsurfers, until we were pitted against each other for an Olympic slot.
It was a kill or be killed situation that was always going to end in tears for someone.
Kites have a huge future and this decision could be the best thing that every happened to them?
Windsurfing has been given a huge wake up call. How we as a windsurfing community decide to react going forward is critical to the future of the sport.
Windsurfing in Yacht Clubs.....
The thing is windsurfing for most windsurfers has never been about racing. Never has, never will. Same for kiters too, most of them never have, never will and will never want to race. Only a small minority will race.
While for dingies and sailing boats racing is usually a big thing.
So for the vast majority of windsurfers and kiters these numbers mean nothing and the Olympics along with all the other championships around are irrelevant. Most windsurfers have nothing to do with Yachting Australia. We want nothing to do with them. Its not why we windsurf.
But Hardie, the "yachties" don't HAVE to make it attractive to us, do they? They are the one with the numbers. They are the ones with the spot in the Games. They are the ones with the big youth programmes. They are the ones who WE have to attract if we want boards in the Games. They are the ones who WE have to attract if we want more kids on boards.
There are many sports that want to get into the Games, including ones like rugby and softball that are miles more popular than windsurfing or kiting. The only way boards can get into the Games is under the umbrella of sailing.
We've found that if we can get a couple of keen people into a club with gear, we can get a dozen or so kids into the sport pretty quickly. The problem is that as in any sport, kids move on to other things (study, boat sailing, parties, etc) and to keep critical mass, you have to get volunteers to get more kids coming in. People in other sports do it but windsurfers tend to think that volunteering is too much hassle. Being a part of sailing clubs can make the logistics much easier because they have things like clubhouses and rescue boats. Sure, clubs don't fit the style of sailing that most current sailors like, but the sport is currently only appealing to a small minority.
If we want to keep the sport alive, we may have to get used to putting more back in and opening up our conception of the sport. It's like any sport, if people want to keep it alive they may have to turn up to and organise events. It could be as simple as publicising the GPS Teams Challenge and creating a simple club so that windsurfers who do GPS speedsailing can be recognised by Yachting Australia.
Moby, the point about the numbers is not just that there are many more boat racers, it is that we - whether racing or not - are a very small part of the sport of sailing in general and we have to realise that. We just look silly when we abuse ISAF for being unrepresentative or ignoring growing areas of the sport (as many have) when the reality is that boards are NOT a very big part of the sport.
We could also look at the numbers and realise that we have a lot to learn from the boat sailors (and I am one of them as well as a windsurfer) when it comes to attracting big numbers. At the moment many board types just diss the boat sailors rather than trying to learn from them.
To be honest, I'm far from sure that the proportion of yachties who race is necessarily larger than the proportion of windsurfers who currently race. The bay where I keep my boat is probably typical, in that about 1/10 of the yachts moored there are ever used for racing.
How Embarrassment!!! Caught out for the shallow self-interested fools we are
After years of slalom and wave I now sail a mistral prodigy more than my freestyle board.
Have taught friends to sail on it, take the kids on it, race it against that arms race formula stuff, explore the qld islands, use as a paddle board and tow it behind our trailer yacht as a tender.
In a very saturated sporting market and with a top end that is completely alien to the average windsurfer our sport is losing relevance.
Getting new people into the sport via the rsx/techno at yacht clubs is probably one of the only ways prevent our sport slipping further into obscurity. That said sailing clubs are having their own problems attracting juniors.
Years back I hoped the Olympic rsx would help our sport and be embraced by the formula bunch. Sadly that hasn't occured and windsurfing is now foreign to younger generations. I think it's too late and it will remain very much a fringe activity.
