How much technology is too much technology in offshore racing? World Sailing wants to hear from the people who actually compete, own and organise the boats before it ventures an answer.
The federation's Oceanic and Offshore Committee (OOC) is planning a global survey of the offshore racing community on exactly that question. It is not a snap decision. The committee has been weighing the issue since November 2021, and it came up again at an Offshore Organisers Forum in November 2025, which drew both virtual and in-person attendance from organisers and other stakeholders.
World Sailing has also received a number of proposals on the subject, including one listed as CO-2026-19. Rather than ruling on them immediately, the federation has decided to go wider first and ask the people who race, own, crew and run offshore events what they think.
That group is broad. Offshore sailors, yacht owners, crews, Classes, Rating Systems and Organising Authorities will all be invited to have their say.
Sailing is hardly alone in wrestling with this. Motor racing, golf and cycling have all had their own arguments about where technology's role should stop.
Matt Allen, Chair of the Oceanic and Offshore Committee, framed it as a long-running tension rather than a new crisis.
"Technology has always been part of sailing and innovation is an important part of our sport," he said. "We have received a wide range of views from the offshore community. What has been particularly clear is that people recognise the importance of the issue, but many are asking for more time and wider consultation before decisions are taken."
No date has been set for the survey yet. The committee says it would rather take the time to design it properly than rush something out and get thin or skewed results.
"This survey is an opportunity for sailors, owners, crews, Classes, Rating Systems and Organising Authorities to have their voices heard," Allen said. "We want to understand the views of the people who participate in, invest in and organise offshore racing before determining the best way forward."
The committee hopes a genuinely global response will give World Sailing a solid evidence base to work from, one that protects participation, investment, competition and human endeavour while recognising that technology in the sport keeps evolving regardless.
Details on how to take part will be announced once the survey itself is finalised. World Sailing will publish a report on the results afterwards, giving the offshore community its clearest signal yet of where the sport might be headed.
