"Sailing is a part of the culture of the Caribbean, it is how people got from island to island for centuries," World Sailing Regional Games Sub-committee member Fred Hagedorn said.

"In addition it is a great sport that many Caribbean nations participate in actively in the Pan Am Games and even in the Olympics."

World Sailing has suggested a programme of eight medal events.

Sailing is proposed in the ILCA 6 class for women and ILCA 7 for men.

All three are contested at the Pan American Games.

"Those boats are prevalent in most of the islands," Hagedorn said.

World Sailing is also pushing for windsurfing and kitefoiling events to be included on the programme.

The 2025 Caribbean Games host announcement had been scheduled for this CANOC session but delegates agreed to extend the deadline for bidding to March 31 after prospective hosts Curacao and the Bahamas both asked for more time to establish financial support.

The Dominican Republic has also indicated that it would be prepared to host the Caribbean Games in the event other hosts cannot be found.

"They need a little more time because they are working through with their Governments to obtain the guarantees that will allow the bids to proceed," Brian Lewis, now CANOC secretary general, had announced at the meeting.

"The Bahamas have a great tradition in sailing," Hagedorn admitted.

The only Caribbean Olympic sailing gold was won by Bahamian sailor Durward Knowles, partnered by Cecil Cooke, at the 1964 Games in the Star class.

No timeline has yet been established for CANOC to decide on new sports.

"We probably need to know definitively a year and half in advance so that we can go through a qualification process," Hagedorn added.