Winds of change will blow through yachting's Olympic regatta next year, with the winner to be decided by a new, winner-take-all final race.
Past Olympic regattas have been decided on a round-robin format, where accumulation of points over a series of races decided the medals.
In some cases,
sailors did not even need to contest the final race, having gathered enough points in advance to be sure of gold.
But, in Beijing, that won't happen.
The final race will be a top 10 shootout, with double points on offer. It opens the prospect of a sailor qualifying, say, eighth yet pulling out a terrific race to win the gold.
Yachting New Zealand's Olympic operations manager Leslie Egnot says training is well under way to get prospective Olympians familiar with the new format.
Most grade one regattas this year and August's pre-Olympic regatta in Qingdao are being raced under the system. "It's not unfamiliar to the sailors. They're used to it now," Egnot said. "They are trying to make it more interesting for spectators and trying to put more of a focus on that final race.
"Now, you have to compete - and it's all on on that final day."
New Zealand's sailors have been undergoing training to work on fresh tactics to prepare for the one-race showdown. Egnot said there are several factors for sailors to consider and, broadly speaking, the younger sailors have adapted more easily to the change than their more seasoned rivals.
"Because it's much smaller fleets [in the final race], it will be more speed-orientated," Egnot said.
"You don't have the same numbers on the start line and sometimes you'll have to employ match-racing tactics. It might be that, to win the gold, you have to beat one or two other boats, so it brings in a lot more facets than in the fleet-racing scenario we used to have."
New Zealand will be sending a large squad to the world championships in Cascais, Portugal, in July, from which 75 per cent of Olympic places will be decided. Seven sailors will contest the pre-Olympic test regatta, starting on August 10.
