Personally, I love Olympic Sailing. I follow the results, I read the regatta reports, I follow the blogs of various campaigns. Why do I like Olympic Sailing so much? It's because I know the players, I can relate to the boats, and I race against many of the sailors. It's much more personal to me than any of the pro circuits.

Looking at the recommendations, I don't see anything ground breaking, but a further move towards a highly structured development approach. I think that is a good thing. Part of the problem with the current system in the US is that you need a ton of money to even begin a campaign. I really hope that if a clear pathway is established, then a sailor who is talented, motivated, and FULLY buys into the program can benefit from the increase of sponsorship the US Sailing team has received.

As far as what I plan to do to help, I will support my friends and family who are planning to start Olympic campaigns. As the F18 Eastern Area Rep I hope to setup some youth or mixed clinics to encourage more new sailors to enter our fleet. I would also crew on a Nacra 17 if needed!

The youth pathway to an Olympic multihull is also a great question, and I think it will go something like:

Opti-420-F16-Nacra 17

I think optis and 420s are fine, as long as we encourage talented sailors to progress quickly, possibly by lowering the maximum age of the Opti and getting kids out of 420s and into i420s/29ers/F16s much sooner. I also think the Hobie 16 should be left out of that pathway- if a top youth sailor has a choice between a non-spinnaker and dated looking Hobie 16 vs. a 29er, they are going to take the 29er option. I think the youth development multi must have a spinnaker if it is going to attract top talent.