Surely what we have to avoid is the dumbing down of sailing in the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games is the showcase for the elite performers of the sport – the creme de la creme.

The boats used should aim to require total athletic ability to achieve the best result. It is often said that sailing is a sport where you can compete competitively into a ripe old age – and that is true if you choose a suitable class, a lead-mine with enough crew to do the work.

But we are dealing here with the Olympics, not the Saga Games.

So, let’s go for it – Out with the dross, concentrate on the best: Cut it to eight classes – 49er (men), Finn (men), Star (open), Tornado (open), 2x Boards (men/women), Moth (open) and New Skiff (women).

We can now open the Olympics to two crews per class and at a stroke you get a more representative series and bring sailing into line with most other individual sports. The start lines would be better populated and the competition level would rocket, as more top sailors get to compete.

Read it on Sail-World.com/uk for the full story . . . .

Ges