I have to chime in that I like the current 20 team format a lot. I speak from experience since I have qualified in 3 out of the last 4 years. I have talked to the other competitors and all that I've talked to like the current 20 team format. I believe that the championship would lose a lot of interest if we went back to just the 10 areas. I believe with just the 10 areas one or two of the areas would win it every year and it would lose interest.



I believe the petition problem that Rick is talking about that happened 5 years ago and they were still working out the bugs in the system. With the petitions online and a time limit on the petitions the problem seems to be handled.



This event has drawn better and better competition every year and it continues to get a lot of interest. I would hate to see us take a step in the wrong direction now. The best multihull sailors know that the best sailors will be there on equal boats and it causes a lot of enthusiasm for the event.



As far as splitting areas along different lines, I beleive that the lines for the areas come from US Sailing. I believe any line that you change will make some people happy and disappoint others. I think changing lines for reasons of talent in one area is wrong. My area (Area K) streches from North Dakota to Illinois (1400mi). So Area D is not the only large area. Area H stretches from Montana to Hawaii so I don't have any distance on them.



Keep One Hull Flying,

Mike Hill

H20 #791