Hard wings will NOT be the cheapest option. The cost of the wing vs. sails may be similar given the typical Olympic sail replacement schedule, but transportation of the wing is very expensive compared to a typical rig, storage is a problem, and if you damage it (likely) repair costs are likely higher than soft sails.

I would love to see wings in the Olympics but until it becomes feasible for the boat (A-Cat and Moth for example) its just going to drive the cost higher than that of campaigning a Star.

One of the biggest things the Tornado had going for it were the relatively low campaign costs. The quality of the boat (thanks Marstrom) was high enough that the same boat could be used for a solid 4 years of campaigning. Sails were on a 3-6 month replacement schedule versus an every regatta replacement schedule for the other Olympic classes. These two things kept the Tornado one of, if not the cheapest boat to campaign (yes, it was cheaper than the Laser).