Sydney harbour too small for Olympics

Sailing

STUART ALEXANDER

A shadow will be cast this week over what was meant to be the high point of Olympic yachting, the 2000 Games in Sydney. The famous harbour setting was expected to give the sport the sort of glittering backdrop that would attract major television coverage, something which sailing needs to provide if it is to continue to enjoy Olympic status and support.

A report to the sport's governing body, the International Yacht Racing Union, at its annual meeting in Hamburg this week will say that there is just not enough room to lay out the required number and size of courses to handle the 10 disciplines which have medal status. Sydney was meant to be a dream location for sailing, but unforeseen problems have emerged.

Back from further fact-finding in Sydney are Britain's Mike Jackson, one of the original delegates to assess Sydney's suitability, and the chairman of the IYRU's Olympic working group, Tomasz Holc. They have found that there is not enough space, so some of the classes will have to race outside the harbour.

"Courses inside the harbour cannot conform with current Olympic courses," Holc said. "It is essential that the overall format of the event is confirmed this November to enable venue preparations to commence."

To soften the blow, Holc will tell delegates that there is enough room for some of the events, including the more spectacular contests which may feature a new style of high-performance sports boat - the British Laser 5000 is a leading contender against Sydney's home grown 18-foot skiffs. But that could threaten the continued appearance of either the two-handed Star keelboat or the Finn men's singlehander.

And there will be a challenge when the individual classes of boat are chosen in London next year from the colourful 16-foot Hobie Cat to the present multihull, the Tornado catamaran. Supporters of the Hobie Cat, which holds its world championship at the end of February in Dubai - the likely choice of the IYRU in 1998 for the second World Championships - will argue that their boat meets more excitingly the requirements of good television.

As the IYRU receives about 45 per cent, and rising, of its funding from the dividend it receives from the Olympic Games, it is important to safeguard that. In 1996, it will receive about four times the amount that it did from Korea in 1988, a phenomenal growth rate.

Rod Carr, the British Olympic coach, says that the delegates, from more than 100 countries, will have to realise that if they want all the racing in Sydney Harbour, it could not follow the format as it now exists. But he is more relaxed about a presentation expected from the Atlanta Games organisers about the sailing venue in Savannah.

After much lobbying, assurances will be given that a huge day marina, at a cost of up to $1m (pounds 633,000), will be provided, instead of using Williamsons Island, which all but disappeared during hurricane-induced high tides earlier this year. A fleet of barges will allow competitors to pull their boats out of the water, as well as giving shelter and other facilities.

Behind the scenes, the major power struggle will be over moves by the IYRU to bring the London-based Offshore Racing Council under greater control, combining that with moves to introduce yet another handicapping rule to challenge the relatively new International Measurement System.