The International Sailing Federation has pledged to make sailing at the 2012 Olympics as accessible as possible to spectators.
Questions remain over specator experience in Weymouth
The International Sailing Federation has pledged to make sailing at the 2012 Olympics as accessible as possible to spectators.
Few issues are expected to crop up during the test event Weymouth and Portland, as the venue has already hosted a number of high-profile competitions, but questions still remain over the spectator experience.
Paying spectators will be able to view the medal races, which will cover over 50 square kilometres of water, from Nothe Gardens in Weymouth although London 2012 organisers have admitted they may have to move the events depending on the weather conditions.
However, ISAF events manager Alistair Fox has moved to quell concerns and insists there is an increased commitment to improve accessibility to the sport, which has been inspired by the 2008 Olympic Games sailing event in Qingdao.
"The ISAF has never had one official Olympics spectator area but 500 people were on the harbour wall at Qingdao watching the Women's RS:X race," he said.
"We looked at this and thought, 'How can we take this to Weymouth?' We will focus on better sports presentation [for next year].
"We have started to look at options to showcase medal races to spectators. In August we will get everything the weather can throw at us so it will be good for the Test event.
"Olympic tickets are now sold out for spectators, so now we have put on a good show yet make for absolutely fair racing for the sailors."
Stay tuned
Large screens will be erected in Weymouth to display the sport during the Games, while race commentary, GPS tracking and cameras onboard yachts are all planned.
Fox, who is part of the ISAF technical delegate, is excited about the opportunities the new technology brings and believes it will improve the experience for those that cannot make the event itself.
"We have really engaged with Swiss Timing on a tracking system," he said. "We want to make it real in London 2012 and we are getting there.
"Every single boat will be tracked so people will have instant access to the results.
"This will be a real-time website display system and it is working right now, a year out from the Games. It's a huge challenge.
"We do have some technology problems but they are covering a huge area of racing, about 50 square kilometres of water.
"We will be using the same system [at the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships] in Perth and it's a huge challenge there with 850 entries compared with just 280 at the Olympic Games.
"It will be a great tool for commentators and also just for people working in the office who want to watch the racing real-time.
"It's pretty good and they still have a year to fine-tune it but they are on it. We can make out sport 100% more accessible to people around the world."
