With a 4-year-old of my own, Mike, I feel your pain. It gets better.

Eliminations scheduling and participation numbers for this year are listed at http://ussailing.org/championships/adult/USMHC/alter08/elims0708.asp - I will look up some past attendance numbers. We are markedly down across the board so far this year.

I know what has worked in making Area D a successful, stand-alone event - some of this is cut-and-paste from a note I sent to the Area L guys recently.

Pick a date and stick with it; we put Area D South in very early November (still very moderate weather for us) so it would not conflict with anyone’s Nationals. It slightly extended our season, and everyone was sharpened by months of sailing leading up to the event. November is not likely an option for everyone, I know, but you you get the idea. Everyone knows we sail the qualifier the first weekend in November – the venue changes each year, but people know when it will happen. We picked the date in close cooperation with the various fleets and clubs in the region.

Selecting the venue is important, too – you have to choose someplace that is fair to everyone. For example, some venues in the South would love to host a Qualifier, but just don’t have the water depth in November for boats with deep daggers. The Area Rep has the pleasure of selecting the venue, but they have to cater to the fleet without bias in this regard. Reps may have to actively pursue venues at first, but now Area D South has clubs lined up several years out, with two clubs asking to host the event permanently.

One of the most important factors was getting a yacht club involved with quality race management. Once people saw that the event was managed well, they had a lot more faith in it.

Good race management, rotating venue, a fixed date – these are the things that helped grow the Area D South Eliminations from a disorganized, last minute, same-five-boat, off-the-beach event to a 20-30 boat, anticipated, respected, stand-alone regatta with clubs asking for the chance to host the next one. It took three years to get it on track, and 10 years to make it what it is today. You can talk about this stuff endlessly when trying to get people to attend, but making it happen with consistency, year to year, is the ONLY way people will buy in.

I certainly don't have all the answers and I don't claim to be clued in to a higher truth. The things that have been done in Area D were put in place with utmost respect for the Championship and making it an event people would WANT to attend, and it has worked. People want to go to the Championship. That part is done. Now we have to apply some consistency in the national ladder to give it some credibility.