Hi David and Micheal -



You're right - Area D is BIG and there're a lot of great sailors here in the southeast. I have wanted to look at splitting up the area for a couple of years, but ran into some ethical roadblocks right away. Any proposal to make more US Sailing Multihull Areas will have to be considered VERY carefully to assure that it is something that PROMOTES cat sailing and doesn't make things worse in some unforseen manner. You'd have to be careful that any new divisions weren't based on what sailors are where, but on geographical features that influence regatta attendance. My feeling is that the ONLY good reason to split up existing areas is to increase the participation in the Area Qualifiers for the Alter Cup. Right now, I know there are sailors in the Carolinas who simply can't make a weekend regatta in the Keys, for example. Same thing goes for someone in Louisianna trying to drive to Wilmington, NC for an event there. We're REALLY spread out. Splitting up areas purely for the reason that there are concentrations of good sailors in specific regions, as Rick brings up in his retrospective below, isn't the way I think this should be approached.



A side effect of more areas might be beneficial, too - if there were enough area champs to fill the designated slots for the Alter Cup, if its 10 or 20 or 50, then the Cup meets the criteria for a US Sailing Championship again... I think that's worth looking at.



Thanks for the comments, fellas. I appreciate your time.



John