Under the move, the chair of the Athletes Committee, currently Britain’s Sarah Gosling, a two-time Olympic champion, will now be a permanent voting member of the Board of Directors.

The Secretariat has also undergone a rebrand and will now be called the Executive Office.

Future venues of the World Sailing Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting will now be selected via a bidding process, where the organisation’s members will elect their chosen venue.

The alterations were announced as part of a two-year roadmap unveiled by sailing’s world governing body in a bid to align itself with good governance measures, introduced by the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).

A "new and comprehensive" set of governance principles and indicators ranking criteria including transparency, integrity and democracy could soon be applied by all summer sporting bodies after they were approved at an ASOIF Council meeting in February.

The good governance measures were deemed necessary following a tumultuous year for sport, where athletics and football were embroiled in deep-rooted corruption scandals.

World Sailing’s roadmap “will focus on meeting ASOIF's standards and will be broken down into three stages”, according to the governing body.

More straightforward changes will be proposed at the 2016 Annual Conference in Barcelona, Spain.

Further discussions with their members will then take place, which will result in a detailed study.

Any changes as a result of the study will then be taken to next year’s Annual Conference, with a full implementation of the more complex issues expected to come in 2018.

“I can't remember a time when the international media and public spotlight has been so concentrated on world sport and the way it is run and governed,” World Sailing President Carlo Croce, who recently announced he would stand for re-election, said.

“At the same time, the IOC and the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations are both clear that change and progress are needed in this area.

“And they are right.

“Our goal is to become a benchmark for International Federations.

“These measures will enable World Sailing to become more professional, efficient, effective and better able to drive the global growth of Sailing in all its forms.

“As I look ahead I am encouraged and optimistic as we aim to protect and grow our sport and enter a new era with confidence and a willingness to be creative and develop."