james wrote: ↑Fri May 18, 2018 10:56 am
Old info and not related in the slightest to the windsurfing in the Olympics..
It is not related to the current Olympic windsurf Class.
Those are the current 'no rules' used in 2018 for PWA Slalom.
Nothing is decided yet for the 2024 Olympics regarding the windsurfing equipment.
The main new proposal for windsurfing in the 2024 Olympics is a convertible slalom board that can also be used for windfoiling.
Currently there are Events (started in 2017) for a Neil Pryde One Design convertible board that is used for Slalom in stronger wind and for windfoiling when the wind is not suitable for Slalom.
The PWA is also running a windfoil World Championship in 2018 alongside the Slalom World Championship, but they use windfoil specific boards for the foil races (which are run when the wind is not strong enough for Slalom Racing). The first 2018 PWA Slalom/Foil event had 62 Slalom male entrants and 44 windfoil male entrants. Several women can and have raced windfoils, but the numbers are lower than the male participants, so the PWA is not running a Women's Foil competition as yet.
I'm not sure what the rules are for the windfoiling, other than starting on Starboard tack being mandatory. They so far seem to think that some kind of Course Race / downwind slalom combination course works for the windfoils.
There is also a French AFF Tour, which has Slalom / foil racing, where the foiling is run when the wind is too light for Slalom.
It's hard to imagine the Olympic overseers liking the idea of no rules Slalom, but it has been running successfully for years.