Nice essay Bill your opinions certainly echo my own.

One point I would like to explore further, however, is the:

>>>'Is sailing a popular enough sport to deserve Olympic status....'

Should the popularity of a sport be a criterium which determines whether it be included in the Olympics? I say, 'Not necessarily.'.

Lets look at two sports to support my feeling on this. The Hammer throw and tennis. I don't think I've ever met anyone who spends his/her time throwing hammers around (except when they happen to hit their thumb with one) but I know plenty of people that play tennis. I feel the hammer throw is a very important part of the Olympics but the inclusion of tennis is ridiculous as with golf, soccer and field hockey, all of which are far more popular that hammer throwing.

The Olympics should be for more traditional individual sports - sports that could broadly be descrided as martial arts i.e. arts of war. Running, jumping, throwing, rowing, swimming, gymnastics are all in a sense martial arts as they are integral parts of combat. I'm not suggesting that we include the grenade toss or the trench dig as events but I'm sure you get my drift.

It may surprise you but sailing is a martial art in that transporting a fighting unit accross the water is a vital skill in fighting.

Get rid of tennis, hockey etc. but keep the hammer throw, javelin, discus and sailing. Keep the traditional martial arts as the olympics. The olympics were once a very interesting event because you got to see the sports that you never would get to see otherwise. Who wants to switch to the Olympic Games to watch yet another game of tennis, which you can see every day of the week, or yet another round of golf?.

BTW. I feel the new multihull class should be either a single handed multi-hull or a womens class.

I don't think a development class such as the A-class is suitable as a single hander. Perhaps the Taipan 4.9 cat rigged. It is very similar to the Tornado in the way its class rules are set up. The 4.9 Sloop would also be a very good womens multi-hull. Both boats are high tech enough that they test the skills of the sailors very well. Perhaps the inclusion of a kite on these boats would be suitable a'la F16.

I must declare here that I sail a 4.9 Cat.

Rob.