Here is a copy of a letter received based on the petition campaign that we had participated in recently to support catamaran sailing as a competitive sport with the RYA and ultimately the Olympics as well:
Dear Petitioner
Thank you for signing our initial e-petition to the RYA about including multibhulls in the 2012 Olympic Regatta to be held in Weymouth. This succeeded in getting the RYA on side. 5800+ people worldwide have contributed to the campaign by joining our new petition to the IOC. If you have not yet signed this please do so.
The chances are improving that the decision may be reconsidered by ISAFso that the large part of the sport from the Olympics is againincluded. The deadline for putting items on the agenda for ISAF’sMid-Year Conference was 15th March. Campaigners have persuaded morethan a dozen countries to follow the RYA example and put in multihullsubmissions. That may well be a record. ISAF must announce soon whetherit takes seriously the public concerns about its role as guardian ofour sport or continues its initial reaction that the matter is "closed".
The issue matters not just for cat fans, but all those who believe theOlympic Regatta in Weymouth should focus on modern high performanceboats as it affects not just the Open Multihull Events but also affectsthe Women’s Skiff.
Please pass the message on to anyone you know who may care that thee-petition to the IOC will soon be closed, but they can still join athttp://www.ipetitions.com/petition/multihullinolympics/index.html
The Report published by UKCRA explaining how such an unpopular decisioncame about can be found athttp://www.asnr29.dsl.pipex.com/ISAF_Events_Report.pdf.
Regards
Nick Dewhirst
Chairman
United Kingdom Catamaran Racing Association
