Pat mentions the high profile personalities which drive some sports (skateboards and fishing)

Perhaps the way to look at the elite catamaran racing after the Olymics will be to look at the pro and semi pro series (think pro beach volleyball) I am thinking of Herbie Derkson's ISHARES cup on the extreme 40 cats coupled to the extreme 20 foot cat series.

Consider an event that comes around once every two years in your neck of the world on normal boats that allow you to race these pro's . Would you show up to race against the big names.... Sure! Take a look at the A class worlds.... a huge factor in getting a hundred boats on the line was US A class sailors coming out of the woodwork to compete against the big names (well actually just to start on the same line... BUT these are exactly like the guys who take a shot at the beach volleyball pro's when the circuit comes to town.)

If you are able to market the personalities along with the sport, and throw in the local hook...aka Click and Clack of the Chesapeakes trying to take on Goliath...Mitch Booth and XXX. It would be an event. Certainly, much more likely to appeal to kids in sailing programs then America's cup racing.

A privately owned circuit could be very succesful with the right model... Corinthian sailing is out... In would be Nascar married to reality TV ... (some underhanded BS, physical pushing and shoving, sex, infidelity, all sorts of BS)... all aspects serving to create the morality play we watch in almost every sport AND we have reasons to wear bathing suits.

Who knows... a good dictator might be be a lot better for the sport then the Corinthian quasi democracy we observed screwing up at ISAF. The sport needs role models and they need a stage on which to perform... The olympics could be gone by this fall... We need a plan B to get us to 2016 and another possible Olympic stage.

My notion is compeltely disgusting ...but might have a nugget worth using.