Controversial Code O
The Dutch Sailing Team announced today (Sunday) that Mitch Booth has registered his highly controversial Code O Tornado gennaker with the measurers at the Olympic regatta at Qingdao and that they have accepted it, subject to measurement, as a legitimate sail for use in the regatta. At time of press, the sail had not been measured but Booth believes this should present no problem.
This sail, which he has spent several months developing, is considered by many to define where the medals will go, depending on the weather conditions.
Booth believes that the sail has a considerable advantage around the course over a normally rigged Tornado with a standard asymmetric spinnaker in winds of up to 11 knots. Only then, in stronger breezes, does the normal rig prove faster – the greater area of the standard gennaker produces more horsepower downwind and the jib is sufficiently powerful upwind.
While the arguments for and against this sail rage around the Tornado docks, Booth explained the reasons behind his developing this sail: ‘The advantage upwind makes up for the disadvantage downwind. For every Olympic Games the designing process of the best possible equipment starts all over again.
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