Sailing: Olympic venue in doubt

CONFUSION and uncertainty surround the organisation of the Olympic yachting regatta in Savannah in 1996 following the collapse of the deal to provide the competitors' village and a harbour for some of their boats, writes Stuart Alexander.

The Sheraton Hotel was to have been refurbished and extended, including the addition of a yacht harbour, for use as the Olympic Village and regatta administration centre. That deal collapsed at the end of last week.

Already a controversial choice because of the distance from the main Games venue and the extra one and a half hours of travel from the village to the race tracks, the Georgians have until 18 July to come up with new proposals.

'Right now we do not know where the Olympic regatta is going to be,' Mike Evans, the executive director of the International Yacht Racing Union, said. 'We are very concerned.' He flies in with the IYRU president, Peter Tallberg, and links up with the American vice-president, Ding Schoonmaker, in Atlanta on 17 July.