Local youth sailing development is in a state of “confusion”.That’s the view of veteran sailing coach Paul Doughty who feels that current practices are detrimental to the development of grassroots sailors.“I am of the opinion that Bermuda has a confused position on the development of sailing out of the youth ranks,” he said. “Too much importance is placed on attendance to junior international events without the necessary hours of training.“The American collegiate circuit is fine but the boats are for very short course sailing and are not high performance boats. USA has had an abysmal Olympics in sailing and the signs are they are slipping further.”In order to maintain a competitive edge, Doughty said Bermuda must “strengthen” its ties with countries such as Canada, Denmark, Germany and Spain to enable youth sailors the opportunity to go there and enhance their skills.He also feels that Bermuda needs to put more emphasis on Olympic class designs such as the Laser, 49er and the 470 and has called for funding to be put in place for double-handed classes to have at least two training hulls at their disposal.Doughty also believes that Bermuda is in dire need of a national sailing coach.“Bermuda needs a national coach to coordinate all of the development of sailing,” he said. “The last time this was done was from 1987 when Chuck Miligan held that position.”Past Olympians Peter Bromby and Paula Lewin are two sailors Doughty said benefited from a nationally coached system.The outspoken sailing coach also reckons that Bermuda needs to develop a skiff programme fast.“We need to develop a skiff programme and the sooner the better,” he said. “The International Olympic Committee is driving sailing away from slower tactical boats and towards the more athletically oriented skiff classes.“They want a spectacle for the public and with the thrills and spills of catamaran and 49er sailing you get that desired spectacle.”Earlier this month brothers Jesse and Zander Kirkland represented Bermuda in the 49er at the London Olympics where they managed an impressive four top-ten showings in the fleet racing regatta, including a second.Doughty said Bermuda had long been associated with skiff sailing.“Bermuda has a history of influence on and participation in skiff sailing,” he added. “This dates back to the late 1940s with the International 14 class which Bermuda and its fitted dinghy designs helped to develop.“That died out for 30 years and it was not until 2002 that Bermuda took the initiative and brought in the 29er skiff. Their representatives at the ISAF Youth Worlds were James Doughty and Gareth Williams who went on to be in the top three in the class from 2003 to 2005. They went on to sail in 49er for a year before school commitments broke the team up.”There are currently five 29ers in Bermuda administered under Bermuda Sailing Association and Bermuda Skiff Association along with the clubs.In 2008, Doughty coached 29er sailors Joshua Greenslade and Blake Burgess at the ISAF Youth World Championships.The veteran sailor believes that local sailing could benefit from Bermuda hosting international regattas involving high performance skiffs in the future.“Bermuda needs to host an international high performance dinghy event periodically in order to stimulate our own sailors,” he said. “Skiff sailing has a future in Bermuda and we should look at doing the 29er World Championships in the near future. It would help the class to grow here.”