The following questions were asked by the IYA to Sofia BEKATOROU (GRE). Sofia is a very succesful sailor and has since an Olympic Gold Medal in the 470 class at the 2004 Olympics sailed the Yngling. Sofia qualified Greece as a nation in the 2008 Yngling World Championship and she is also a member of the ISAF Equipment Committee.

How do you consider the Yngling as Match Race Equipment?
I think it is a good solution for the forthcoming Olympics if you take into consideration that is has already been tested as equipment for 2 Olympics and also its performance depends more on the crew work and not so much on the speed. It is a very tactical boat and the existing equipment can help the countries start developing match race events faster.

Do you think the equipment chosen for Match Racing should be a three person boat or larger?
Yes . Taking into consideration the IOC requirements that are forcing sailing to keep a low number of athletes I think it is more important to keep a big number of participants in the Games which makes the class strong and keep 3 persons in the boat instead of four.

How important is the number of nations participating in the Olympics in a future Match Race event?
It is very important since this meets the IOC criteria. A 4 persons boat  would only decrease the nations to 10 or 8 nations.

Would the Yngling be interesting to follow and commentate via live media in Match Racing compared with faster boats?
For sure any match race event should have live media covertures. Faster boats would give some suspense due to boat handling versus Yngling that could give more tactical situations. I am not convinced yet about spectators understanding tactics. We need to make the Game easy to understand.

The Yngling is an established class also outside the Olympic arena with several thousand boats in the open fleet worldwide and annual World and Continental Championships. Does that fact have any importance when deciding Match Racing equipment?
I believe it does if we think that if this equipment is selected then we can have immediately many events around the world.

If you were to set up an Olympic Match Racing campaign, what would you focus on? Sailing regattas in all types of boats or only on the same equipment that has been selected for the Olympics?
Match race in all boats.

You have worked with the class and ISAF in different matters since it became Olympic, how do you think the class has developed over the past two Olympic cycles?
The Yngling has improved a lot as a class and also the level of the athletes is getting better every time. We can definitely say that this is a feminine star class! I think there should be some development in the way that some big events are held in order to make them more media attractive and also more official.

What do you think would be the most expensive in an Olympic Campaign in Match Racing? Coaches, equipment, travels, etc?
Coaches and logistics for the crew. In any case if the boats are offered to the crew then the cost that we are having already will be reduced.

If Yngling were to be the Match Racing equipment what do you think about suggestions to ban droop hiking?
Not very good idea to drop hiking since the boat will be even slower. Hiking is not dangerous and also media Attractive!

The Yngling currently has a weight limit of 205 kg for the crew in fleet racing. Do you think this weight limit would be suitable also for Match Racing?
Yes maybe also dropped 5 kilos. Weight will be an issue for countries that have light weight crews and small sailors.

Many Match Racing events today have price money. If you were doing an Olympic Campaign is price money important? Would you prefer to participate in a regatta with a lot of price money or would you go for the regatta with the toughest opposition?
Both. By having a big prize money you can also have tough opposition, not to mention that usually the sailors spend always money that never get back! Prize money is also a trick to make spectators understand that our matches worth! like tennis , golf and other prestigious events.

The economics on both short and long term basis is important when deciding on Match Race Equipment - How do you consider the Yngling position on this?
Yngling has become an expensive boat. I believe that in some way all these boats that already exist should be used for the introduction of Match race for the next Olympics. If we find a way to make boats with a std layout then it will be fair competition. We should be very careful about setting some limits on the costs. Olympic Campaigns turn to be very expensive and the competition between big and smaller countries is very unbalanced.

There are 6 independent licensed Yngling builders around the world - how will that affect the market and the general economics if the Yngling is chosen as equipment for women Olympic Match Race?
It is good that there are many builders. Probably there will be competition between them. I strongly believe that the equipment has to be supplied in the Games in order to reduce the development cost of the campaign.

The International Yngling Association is currently setting up a non-profit organisation together with builders and the boating industry to supply regatta organisers with Ynglings for Match Racing events. Is this organisation necessary?
It is very good movement since many countries do not have the knowhow of Match Racing. In this way Match race events will be organised easier and faster.

The Yngling Class is well known as a Class that focus on Youth Sailing. Does this fact have any importance when deciding Olympic Match Racing equipment?
Yes because it is an extra motive for the young sailors. The competition will have all different ages.

The Yngling is a solid and durable construction. Do you think it would endure the stress and unavoidable contacts of Match Racing?
YES