New Olympic events.

Originally posted by Bootscooter Make the sailors matter, and the people will connect.

What, a bunch of perceived rich kids doing an elitist sport? I don’t see the human interest story there for today’s media

Even Nick Dempsey’s sex life had a two day media value before the Daily Mail got bored, and does anyone even remember whether it was Gabriella or Monica Ben was banging?

If it's the person and not the event that matters, why are so many of the celebrity sportspeople drawn from such a small minority of sports and why are the top people from so many extreme sports overlooked?  Surely the fascinating people should be found in all sports and not just a few? 

Edited by Chris 249 - 28 May 18 at 1:37am

Lots of people watch all those sports where people have become famous, both on the telly, but more importantly, in real life. Sailing not only doesn't take place in a stadium, court or on a fairway, where it is easy to see what is going on, it is also almost impossible to figure out in real life what is going on, when all you can see is a mess of white sails.

I think it is highly unlikely that sailing will ever be watched by millions, grow personalities which transcend the sport (except in France, maybe) or even suddenly grow due to the advent of foiling.

Which leaves the Franks and Shilas of this world, or maybe the Nessas and Ruperts, to attract people to the sport little by little, RYA logbooks or not. Bit silly to belittle people who do this, isn't it?

Bearing in mind the massive popularity of F1, and yesterday’s Grand Prix, maybe the answer is to have qualifying on a Sat, then the fastest sailor can start first, with the slowest last and the race would be held on the Sunday with everyone following each other round in single file.

Originally posted by E.J. I’m quite surprised that the Finn class are pushing the ‘sailors not the boat’ angle. Any of the Finn sailors could excel in different kit and become stars but without sentiment why would the Finn be the best choice to do this? Any answer I come up with focuses on the pro’s of the boat or class. I’d have though the class would better off promoting the benefits of the boat over cheaper/accessible alternatives.

Because this conference was about selecting the event, not the equipment. The Class has fought to ensure that there needs to be an event for the big guys (and there’s no way that - 6 ft 6in, 96 Kg, next-to-no-fat Finn athlete can compete at the top level with a correctly sized Laser sailor, in a Laser!).
Once this argument is won, the Finn can be confident that it is the best worldwide Class to fit the sailors.