Sailing IS exciting to watch IF there are camera's on the boats and the race is being filmed from other sources such as chase boats (rubber duckies), and from a helicopter etc. There was a videoed racing series here in Australia of the 18' skiffs filmed in just such a way and it had a very large following of sailers and also with the majority of the audience being "non sailers" who watched it because
1 when it could be seen "up close and in your face" it was exciting.
2 The comentory made the rules and the boat positions understandable by every one.
3 when it is seen close up it is very spectacular.
Watch sailing from another boat in a close race and it is fast, exciting and "spectacular", watch it from a few miles away and it is just plain slow with not much apparently happening. If car racing was filmed from three miles away from the action with no zoom, and the spectators couldn't get any closer than that distance to it, and with a commentary that left a lot to be desired, how big a following do you think it would attract? Treat sailing in the same visual way on TV, as car racing and it would soon gather a large spectator following.