Sailing is on the verge of being officially designated as a national sport.

Glenn Blakeney, the Minister of Youth, Families, Sports and Community Development, told delighted members of the Bermuda Optimist Dinghy Association he was committed to 'designating sailing a national sport', during a gathering on Sunday evening.

The Minister made the surprise announcement while he was attending the prize-giving for the PWC Bermuda Open and National Championships, and also said that sailing was 'very much to be promoted and encouraged'.

And although the practicalities of such a move, such as an increase in funding that might be expected to go with it, are as yet undecided, Bermuda Sailing Association president Tim Patton welcomed the announcement.

"We're delighted, we're very grateful," said Patton. "After his (Blakeney's) comment I had a chat with him privately and we're arranging to spend some more time together to discuss it."

As a sport sailing has suffered more than most financially in recent years, with Government funding falling by some 60 percent, and the BSA received just $60,000 in the last Budget. And while giving sailing his support isn't a problem to Minister Blakeney, in the current economic climate money might be another matter entirely.

"The value of sailing and the tradition of our mariners history reflects the Minister's deep appreciation and commitment to the sport," said Randy Rochester, Minister Blakeney's Permanent Secretary. "To this end the Minister hopes that appropriate resources can be allocated.

"However, it would be remiss of the Minister to commit prematurely until such time as he has had the chance to review the Ministry's entire fiscal standing. With that said, it does not prevent the Minister's commitment to designating sailing as a national sport which is something he has been considering since assuming the substantive Ministry responsible for sports."

Not that Patton is asking for a lot more than his sport is already getting, the president doesn't believe they need 'crazy funding' and said that whatever they get will provide better value for money than other national sports.

"We are probably the sport that brings the greatest amount of income into the Island through the ocean yacht races and things like the Gold Cup, they are tremendously beneficial to Bermuda's tourism," said Patton. "We also run the WaterWise programme, as well as our 'normal' sailing functions.

"Clearly there is something we want from it, and we're hoping that with the designation will come some greater funding, we don't need anywhere the level the other national sports got, and I think we've proved we can be successful with far less.

"I can complete understand that it is very difficult for them to know where they are going to find the money to help us with this, but we can certainly promise to give them better value for money than they've been getting from some other sports.

"And, as I said, we're not after millions of dollars, we can run the sport, we can move forward for a very reasonable amount."

Mainly Patton wants extra financial backing to be able to run a full-time office, rather than relying on the volunteers who up until now have squeezed every cent out of the paltry sum that they have received.

"We're no longer able to continue to do that," said Patton, "but we're pretty sure we can, with, not crazy funding, but with the right amount we can make them, them being the Cabinet and the people of Bermuda who end up paying the bill, very, very pleased with the investment they've made.

'We need an administrator and a water side manager/coach, and we can do the rest of it in the same manner as we have in the past, but it's vitally important that we have those people in place to make the programmes continue to work."

It might be that the money doesn't just come from Youth, Families, Sports and Community Development, Patton said that sailing bridged the gap between several ministries including education and tourism.

"It is important that our national sport designation is more of an overall concept than just a bunch of people going sailing," said Patton.

"The WaterWise programme is a very important part of our sport we think, it's enormously beneficial because it not only teaches kids to sail, but also teaches them things which are being integrated into the regular school curriculum. It's not just sailing, it's maths, it's linquistics and that sort of stuff.

"We have a remarkable number of people involved who aren't '40 Thieves , Yacht Club types'. There's a lot of people who have come from working class families who have excelled, and it's important that we can demonstrate that.

"In terms of youth development we've got young Owen Siese, he was an absolute star to qualify for the Youth Olympics, in its own right that was difficult, but then to manage a sixth, and almost get a medal is astonishing for this little, tiny, country.

"So we're bringing home the bacon just as a sporting body, but it's enormously important that the message is clear that we don't just take, the sport gives as well."