How about we stick to TT's and give up on racing upwind? Plenty of exciting course formats that don't require an expensive (and fragile) race board! And we'll save a bunch on fins too

Pity about all these rules really.
I remember the days when I used to do podiums windsurfing on my home made board, competing against all the expensive high tech riders.
Olympics are a good thing, but this is getting really ridiculous.
Good way to kill all the fun.
I propose a new subsection to the forum where all the wanna be medalists can discuss themselves to oblivion.
Nico

I'm happy that Rio is at a light wind venue. It means we are going to see how far we can go with light wind racing.

If it ends up with them doing downwind slalom races because there isn't enough wind for course racing I'd be happy with that as I think that type of equipment is more relevant to more recreational kiters.
It would probably mean that lots of boats would be required to run extremely light wind races (sub - 8 knots), but slalom boards are going to be like high performance versions of a Sector type board.

Most recreational sailors dont need extreme upwind angles and it would be easy to run figure 8 slalom races,which would accommodate boards which are easier to sail and possibly faster and more enjoyable.

The windsurfing downwind slalom races get a lot more interest from the windsurfers than the Formula course racing events do. It could end up being the same with kitesurfing.

A tight figure 8 slalom in super light wind would be mayhem at each mark and at each crossing! Include eight racers per heat, and you have a recipe for demolition derby entertainment... Like in BMX or boardercross!

I was thinking fun races like this, with long legs. Easy to set up and enough time for racers to get space.

As I understand it the Olympics will be 1 best sailor from each country so it is possible that a large portion of the best sailors in the world will not be attending the event.
Or would it go like Athletics where you have qualifying times!

EG: USA has the top five sailors, France has the next 4 and England has the next three.
This means that of the top 12 sailors in the world that could all win a race on any given day only three will be at the regatta and competing against other competitors that would not normally feature at the point end of the fleet and in real terms give the best riders from a couple of the top nations an even better chance for a gold medal!

But I guess providing the same gear is commonly used by the wider racing community this will most likely ensure other regattas will be well supported and held in high regard by the general sailing community as they all know there is limited opportunity to compete at the Olympics if their country has a large population of the best in their class.