New Olympic events.

keelboat 4 person mixed 50:50 (sb20) match race

offshore tri 4 person mixed 50:50 (diam 24) 

However there are more legitimate governing bodys that will contest it, nobody has forgotten how they were picked up sold a load of bollox including RYA taking over in this country with about as much know how as a lettuce, then dropping them a few months later.. nobody trusts yotties in fact it could fairly be said we (with my kite hat on hate them and all they stand for, come to think of it I can pretty much wear my dinghy hat as well).

As to numbers it's been pretty static for some while, you don't see us (windsurfers) because we don't hold events at sailing clubs much if at all. I'm not sure what happened but the UK governing body fell out with the RYA (not difficult) some time after the windsurfing management committee was dropped (we used to try and iron out difficulties in the name of keeping windsurfing in the sailing club fold but there was never a lot of reciprocity and it was always the b**tard child ) Racing does still occurr and there are some pretty big events that numbers wise will dwarf most dinghy classes other than oppis and lasers, you just don't see them because they are not on the radar.

Had I been younger I too would have put some effort behind kite racing as I did for most of my windsurfing life, it wasn't an accident that windsurf racing carried on longer than it might naturally have done. Kiting has never had that unified effort from everyone, business, training, race enthusiasts coupled to a sponsor with equal enthusiasm, it also suffers with low level corruption and hence no trust exists between those that might help and those that are doing the job but with an eye only on lining their pockets. There was also a feeling of better a slightly anarchic set up than have the RYA involved who would corporatise the teaching/training as they did in windsurfing which would remove the enthusiast shop/school approach that we are so desperate to try and rebuild after the financial crash, something I'm quietely still working on using the strength of my new brand to try and ward off the internet.

So that's my knowledge and as for your post I totally agree, what a great opportunity being missed, think how many labels they could get on new boats if they did it right and those sailing leg ends, they could do just as well in new craft as old in fact if it was done professionally it could transform the entire scene.