IMHO, anything that makes it cost more $$ to go sailing/racing is a bad thing.

The prize money will either come from higher entry fees (more money) or from commercial sponsorship, which will be HUGE money and will make everyone just that much crazier about their gear which will drive up the cost of said gear which will sooner or later prohibit people from participating at all.

And if you think it will only make it more expensive to RACE, then you're nuts. You think Maufacturer X is only going to jack up the prices of his "racing" hardware when this craze takes hold, and leave the rest of his prices alone????