I was discouraged about this until I realized that the way things are set up right now, there are no consequences for someone who wants to go the the Championship, but does not participate in the national ladder. How can you fault sailors for deciding to sail in whatever class they choose?

It should be noted that the A/B event was tagged onto an existing event at Roton Point - I have found that by NOT piggy-backing an Eliminations onto an existing event, participation grew.

What I would like to see is the "petition" slots at Alter Cup go away. Many sailors don't make the effort to qualify because they believe they can submit a petition at the last minute and get in - and they're largely right. I would rather see a Championship that only hosts current class champions and winners of Area events. The petition slots were intended to help out people with legitimate scheduling conflicts - it is a process that is much abused in my opinion. I only have one vote when reviewing petitions, but I will not be looking favorably on any petition that comes in from someone who couldn't be troubled with either attending the event to sail somewhere else, or who elected to not participate in the qualifying fleet.

Want to offer up excuses? Before you reply, make sure that you understand that it is up to you to make things in your Area run the way you want them to. If you don't like the venues getting selected or the dates that are chosen, you need to be discussing that with your Area Rep. What, you don't have one? There you go. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />