While I too see the 5 and 5 proposal as the best path for the future, it sounds like the MNAs (and therefore ISAF) aren't going to support this.
So, the potential is there for a mixed event to be a real contender. I don't see mixed as being a step backwards, a poor compromise, or anything else like that. It is a REAL part of REAL sailing, not just in cats. For example, the junior 420 programs are full of mixed teams (it's one of the carrots that gets teen boys off of Optis and away from Lasers).
I could be wrong, but I just don't see MNAs looking at the AC as justification to add more multihull events to the Olympics. In their minds, they're probably still thinking (or at least hoping) that this will be a temporary hiccup in the AC history (just a little longer than one DoG cycle), and that eventually, BMWO will lose, or the match racing will not be spectacular enough, and the next cycle will return to monohulls.
