KEY POINTS:
When experienced sailors in Auckland were discussing the New Zealand Olympic yachting team's chances before the Qingdao regatta, there was a clear theme it was a good team, well-prepared, and could win five or six medals _ or none.
That uncertainty and variability was down to the tricky, light and fickle breezes of the venue _ conditions traditionally not suited to Kiwi sailors.
In the end, the Kiwis garnered just Tom Ashley's gold in the boardsailing. For many, that might seem a lean return, given the amount of money poured into yachting during the last four years; and that the team was peppered with near-misses to Andrew Murdoch (fifth), Barbara Kendall (sixth) and Jo Aleh (seventh).
But Ashley's gold, built on precise planning and dogged execution, points the way to the future for New Zealand Olympic yachting.
Olympic campaigns, in Athens and Qingdao, for a total of one medal is not compelling reading.
The variables didn't affect the British, who added four gold, a silver and a bronze to the five medals each from Athens and Sydney.
The 2012 regatta will be in windy Weymouth where it will be much harder to win medals particularly gold than it was in Qingdao.
So what is needed is likely to be more funds, not less, although Ashley's gold caught the public imagination and might spur continued funding for the sport.
"It's not just money," said New Zealand Olympic yachting team manager Russell Green who stressed he had no ongoing role for 2012 and did not speak for Yachting New Zealand and so was expressing his own opinion.
Yachting needed to plan and prepare as carefully as Ashley had for his event, he said.
"It's also about allocation of resources. We tend to operate as a group of individuals who run their own campaigns and who come together as an Olympic team just before the Olympic regatta.
"The Brits and now the Aussies are together all the time as a team. They spent a lot of time here [Qingdao] before the Olympics, for example They are together for a lot of other regattas.
"The challenge at a venue like this was huge under those circumstances. Weymouth will suit New Zealand yachties a lot more," said Green.
"So it comes down to how we prepare. I don't want to get into the money thing but plainly that will be important. I have been involved in the Admiral's Cup at Cowes and I know how the Brits can gouge you re costs.
"But we clearly have to establish a European base whether it be in Europe or in England and see what we can do about the team aspect.
"Yes, it will be expensive but I believe that's the way forward.
"We have to have a presence there so we don't have to cart boats all round the world. That can either be a container in a paddock or combined with a full-on sailing facility."
Sailors like Murdoch and Aleh will have benefited from their experience at the regatta and could be among the medal chances for London, as could the 470 kids Carl Evans and Peter Burling who could be on their game in 2012.
