It's probably important to point out from the start that, for me, this letter poses more questions than answers. Its aim is to stimulate debate and hopefully change. However, it seems obvious that this change must happen if we are going to be able to enjoy sailing as a sport in South Africa in years to come.

Working on the SAS Executive is, for the most part, difficult and thankless. Most people either are not able to take on the role because of career pressures, or are simply unwilling to do so because they know they would inherit too many problems to sort out. The guys who do the job are generally successful in their other lives, and probably also have the best interests of the sport at heart. The reality though is that the sport is dying, has been doing so for several years, and there is very little tangible evidence to suggest that SAS is doing much to reverse its decline.

I don't believe that we are getting round to confront the issues that we really need to face head on.

· Fleets are getting smaller - one solution is to ensure that regattas don't clash so that we can get the existing pool of sailors to move from class to class. The catch is that this doesn't keep club sailing alive and a whole lot of classes are effectively only sailed for about 4 weekends a year. Surely the real answer is to get more people sailing.

· Constitutions are another example. A few years ago, there was a tremendous effort to get the current constitution in place. It actually took years of negotiation (individuals in SAYRA and CASA were trying to protect their turf) and promised to make the National body far better off. The reality is that it hasn't made much difference (in fact, financially, SAS is still strapped) and now there is another constitution on the way, which promises to return more power to the regions. Is the issue that we need another way of administering the sport, or is it that the sport needs more money to survive? I suspect it's the latter and another constitution is not really going to make a long-term, sustainable difference. Getting more people sailing will.

The reality is that committees, no matter how well meaning, don't tend to make organisations profitable - and right now, SAS really needs to make money. If you're in any doubt, look at how sailing has been run in South Africa up to now, judge where it is at the moment, and project what the likely outcome will be if it continues on its current path. It is irrational to expect that things will change for the better if we continue to repeat what we've done in the past.

Other sports, like cricket and rugby are an entirely different thing. They make money, there's funding to give out scholarships, send promising people overseas, pay coaches, etc. But, you say, they are professional sports, televised, and have big crowds watching them play. However, it hasn't always been that way and a trip back in time in KZN, for instance, before the Sharks were the Sharks, and before they had employed professional management and a marketing agency, would probably show you they were pretty much where sailing is today. The difference is they did something about it.

While committees don't make organisations profitable, professional management and boards of directors do. The sooner sailing in South Africa realises this, the sooner it has a chance of returning to good health.

The proposal is:

o SAS needs to put ownership (the exact term is open to debate) of sailing out to tender.

o This needs to happen ASAP, as soon as proper Terms of Reference have been created and a Request for Proposal has been drawn up.

o This means this year, and preferably in the next 6 months. If there are regions that support it, and regions that don't, simply start with the ones that do.

o A professional organisation needs to run the sport. This includes handling its growth and administration, with a big emphasis on growth.

o This will include, for example, owning media rights and generating sponsorships

o There is obviously the issue of getting people to sail in their events. Proper incentives should make that easier.

o A SAS Exec needs to be appointed to act as an ombudsman for the sailors and clubs.

o The Exec will not perform any marketing or admin function - this will vest in the new body. The Exec's sole role will be to ensure that the interests of sailors are taken care of.

I'm sure there would be lots of discussion about how the above could be done, but other sports in RSA that have moved from amateur to professional management could provide good models. We would also need to be clear what the goal of the change would be. SAS hasn't been strong on strategy in the past - for the short term, we would probably focus just on a turn-around, in the longer term, perhaps growing the sport to a level where people could make careers out of it, in RSA.

Comment would be great.

Yours sincerely,