Hi John



We conducted the Alter qualifier at the annual Cambridge regatta several years ago. This is a monohull dinghy and cat regatta with about 120 boats on the water that year. We had over 30 boats racing and at least 20 of them were US SAiling members and qualified for the Alter cup. John Matzner scored the single start as, Portsmouth 16's. Portsmouth Open, and Alter Cup. I believe Chris Brown won that year. Your plan should work well.



The feedback that I recieved was the following.

1) Not enough wind... The Chesapeak in the summer was too dicy , wind wise to award a major championship.



2) Not enough flexability with setting up the race course. The yacht club was committed to ABC courses at the time and so the tactical decisions were limited.



Both were valid critiques.



Two schools of thought emerged:

Participation is great and should be emphasized!..Lots of sailors competed who would not have bothered to travel to a small Alter qualifier. Some joined US Sailing who through apathy had not gotten around to it.



The other school is that elite racing should be emphasized. What was the point of a big turnout?... The handful of serious teams were at the top of the standings and would have competed anyway at a smaller Alter qualifier even!. Small competive fleets let you get lots of racing in without having to wait for the slow guys. After all, Its not about the party.



My take home is that unless you can make the Alter event a stand alone fun event...(Sounds like your plans at Clearwater Sailing) most sailors don't care about competing for the slot and will not travel for it.. The top flight sailors who do care will go racing and so be it that its a small regatta. Mark Santorelli is running Area C at Trixie's Landing on the Barnegat Bay in NJ the following weekend. I expect several F18HT sailors, Several H17 sailors, 2 to 4 H16 racers and one to three I20 teams to compete. Mark does a spectacular job of PRO and his team of volunteers are fantastic.



Take Care

Mark