SAILING: NO SURPRISES who ruled the waves in Qingdao, but as Team GB's final medal tally rose to four gold, a silver and a bronze, Ireland without any results in the top half of any fleet - is looking for answers. Copying the British might be the best tactic.
Fushan Bay lived up to its reputation as a poor venue with unpredictable winds, but the top teams still came out on top. What happened in China matters hugely because it sets the foundations for the next quadrennial. In fact, the emphasis among the 400-boat fleet has already moved to Weymouth, the venue for 2012.
The arguable highlight of the 60-nation event was Ben Ainslie's master class in the Finn dinghy. It taught the world another lesson about his supremacy and how seriously Britain takes sailing - they spent £22 million (€27,740,000) to win six medals. They are now the world's premier sailing nation.
Ireland's Olympic regatta goal was a top-eight finish for at least one of the four boats. That no Irish crew finished in the top half in any of the four fleets meant it was Athens veteran Ger Owens who provided the Irish highlight - two race wins for himself and Phil Lawton in the 470 class. Unfortunately, that could not lift them above 16th overall, as in Athens.
Tim Goodbody was 21st in the Finn, Ciara Peelo 20th in the Laser Radial and Peter O'Leary and Steven Milne, 13th in the Star.
No Irish sailor has finished in the top eight at an Olympic regatta since 1980 so it's unclear how three Qingdao greenhorns were going to achieve it.
This and many other questions face a management debriefing that needs to revise targets to gain new momentum.
The immediate target is Weymouth and for that, the management must rely on their youth programme and existing Olympic panel, but what is lacking is sufficient participants. Initiatives are needed to broaden interest in the sport for 2016 and beyond.
Ainslie's third gold medal made him Britain's most decorated Olympic sailor, an outstanding achievement for the product of a Royal Yachting Association (RYA) campaign that identified talented British youngsters in the 80s and 90s. It's a model that must be replicated here.
The success of the RYA campaign that focused on broadening the sport's appeal and participation - is well documented. The RYA's pool of talent is now so deep an elite band of youth sailors waits for its chance to follow in the wake of the current squad. This talent has been nurtured from regional squads over two decades.
Aged just 31, Ainslie intends being at Weymouth in four years. He's a role model for school kids, not just in Britain. If targeting school kids for yachting medals sounds far-fetched, it should be seen in the context of nearly 30 years without Olympic success.
Ireland won silver in 1980, but that was when 62 nations boycotted the regatta.
The introspective world of Irish Olympic sailing needs to look outside the traditional circle of yacht clubs that have failed to deliver.
When the then Education Minister Mary Hanafin spoke about putting sailing on the school curriculum at the National Yacht Club a year ago, it wasn't a gimmick because the general election was over. She was launching the Laser 2007 4.7 European championships, just one of three major sailing events for her Dún Laoghaire constituency, an affluent Dublin suburb with four waterfront yacht clubs, a magnificent man-made harbour and an 800-berth stateof-the-art marina.
But the minister had to refer to Schull Community School in West Cork to give an example of a school that goes sailing as most other schools are content with PE.
In spite of many individual attempts to promote school sailing, it has never taken off.
What is required now is an initiative to get children afloat across the country, perhaps initially in Dun Laoghaire, which has the ideal infrastructure to promote the sport. By investing in schools, clubs are investing in the future.
Results on the Yellow Sea may not show it, but a lot has been achieved by James O'Callaghan's young team. And the structure for youth sailing has borne fruit this month alone at the European youths' championships, where Ireland took their second top five at a worlds or Europeans this year.
These are achievements that need to be built on. Sitting in a classroom in Schull or Dún Laoghaire may be the Irish Ben Ainslie and the challenge is to identify him or her and get them afloat.
