ABOUT THOSE MIXED MESSAGES...

"The Olympic Games are competitions between athletes in individual or team events and not between countries." - IOC Charter

"For maximum public appeal, the Olympic Regatta should continue be represented as a competition between nations." - ISAF Events Strategy Working Party Report

LET'S WATCH THE RACE

The first interest of every sports audience is to watch competition... the round of golf, the downhill race, the Formula 1 race.

This has not always been easy to do; either live or on TV. But, successful sports have demanded improvements in coverage and sometimes significant technological advances in order to show competition.

Golf coverage gives the audience the freedom to follow a player on the 12th hole, and his nemesis who has just gained a stroke on the 10th hole.

Downhill coverage required a great technological effort, but now the entire course has camera coverage, and special effects superimpose skiers' performance on key sections of the course.

Formula 1 race courses are fully covered by camera installations, and now there are on-board cameras and on-screen telemetry.

None of these sports provide the live spectator the ability to watch the entire competition. It is impossible to watch every golfer at every hole; or run up and down the mountain fast enough to watch skiiers on the entire course; or do much more than watch the momentary blur of  F-1 cars.

But, none of these sports have changed their competition format.

Sailing could learn a great deal from these sports in regard to the balance between live and TV presentation of the sport.

SUNNY, WARM, & BREEZY VENUES - GREAT CAMERA WORK

The two biggest challenges for sailing are the quality of venues and the expertise of the video coverage.

From a media perspective, cold and rainy venues are a disaster in any summer sport. And for Sailing, light air venues are as interesting as downhill skiing in London.

No wind, no vertical drop = what are we doing here?

Great venues let the athletes show their speed, athletic skill, and endurance; they provide the conditions for excitement. And, they become symbolic of the sport at its most demanding and best - Wimbledon, Spa-Francorchamps, Kitzbuhel.

If a venue can also offer a live spectator experience within normal audience distances - less than 100 metres - it is a plus.

But the sailing conditions must come first.