Pete, although the tuning discussion is a moot point unless we can get back to provided boats in some way or another, I do agree with you in principle. However, NASCAR guys keep their cars through the whole race (no rotation), and own their own cars; so the time sink to the event and risks to third-party owners mentioned by Jake don't exist for them. Sort of apples to oranges.
So tuning of provided boats is out, unless we wanted to have an event where the boats are only swapped daily (so as to avoid the speed of change issue), or not at all (lottery pick, keep the boat for the whole event). And before anyone spouts about how unfair the latter option would be, know that this is the norm for many high-profile (and $$$$$$) events, some even run by IROs, and is considered acceptably fair. NYYC Invitational on (privately-owned) Swan 42s comes to mind.
As for donating sails, again, no option is off the table. Just to be clear, Matt didn't say "free sails," you basically pay cost (or something along those lines). This really only works where you have a large enough existing fleet, and takes effort by the OA and manufacturers (and any other sponsor they can line up to offset the cost), but is a great option.
As to comments about MEGA, it has been one of the most successful things the HCA has done. Class members love it. The reason it isn't done every year is that some folks like to race in more than one Hobie NAs (having them all at once forces you to pick just one), and it is a TON of work for the organizers, especially when being done at a remote location.
I love the outside-the-box thinking. The festival of regattas certainly has potential, and would be a great thing to get everyone together as a unified force of multihull sailors for US Sailing to see. I don't see doing this every year, but every 5 or 10 years would be cool. Cooler than any other reunion, at least...
