I dont like it either, but then I know how to count points and am comfortable with letting the victor be decided on the results from a standard series.
The change was forced upon sailing becouse the sport was not TV friendly enough. If it is to be "TV friendly", you need to be able to be able to explain who wins easily, and in 15 seconds
I bet what the IOC and their broadcast managers really want, is one race and first to finish is the winner. Or eventually a series of qualifications like for the 100meters sprint, where the finals decides everything. On water judges (instant justice [tm]), electronic checking of OCS and everything. Perhaps that would have been a better model to get more TV coverage? I doubt it. If we want to make it a TV sport, the whole sport should be re-worked in my opinion. I dont want that to happen..

The model I described has been tested at our nationals for the last years, and it's what our national assoc. worked for at the ISAF meeting where the current format was decided. Letting the top three teams from the series start on zero, and race for first, second and third isn't that bad. At least you have more than one chance, and it's easy to explain and add up the points. But as Mary says, it will be interesting to hear what the participants at Miami have to say.