"They" have given up indeed. In fact, "they" really never had their heart into it anyways. This is a fascinating story of what happens when young people with vision, enthusiasm and commitment start a project in a club that's run by an old guard that refuses to give up control to a new generation and new ideas.
I (Thomas DeGeest) was one of the key drivers behind Objective 100, together with - then race officer - Jacques Pierret. Almost immediately after the 2005 Statue Race, we sat together and dreamed up a vision of a US based cat race, with a similar stature of what Texel is in Europe. What better place to do it than NYC. We got several club members on board to plan and prepare for the initiative. We worked on it for more than 10 months: publicity, registration, race and event logistics. It took hundreds of hours of work. We were not sure to get to a 100 participants (still a very modest goal, compared to Texel) in the first year. Objective 100 would be a multi-year program that would grow the race into one of the most visible sailing events in the NY Metro area. The NY harbor offered several great spots for observers or press to follow the race, and we'd have the 4th of July weekend and the Statue of Liberty as top-ingredients for a great story. We had signed up more sponsors than ever - sponsors who were willing to go along for a multi-year ride.
Initially we ran into indifference from the old guard. "We'd never make it". Indifference became skepticism. Once it became apparent that we actually may get somewhere, we ran into opposition and even obstruction from some members.
The real story with the Sandy Hook Club board is that they wanted to keep the Statue Race small, they didn't want the hassle of more organization and planning. They didn't want to bother to do things differently than the way they'd done it for 30 years. And they definitely didn't want relatively new members (or Europeans - remember the post 9/11 anti-everything-European mindset?) to tell them how to grow the Statue Race. That's the mentality that killed Objective 100.
In the 2006 race, we made it to about 86 boats. Mistakes were made (allowing larger cats to participate, that would capsize in the harbor and cause trouble with the coast guard). Any mistake made provided ammunition for the old guard to make their argument to "keep it small".

I left Sandy Hook Bay Club the year after the first O-100 race. I left the O-100 debacle for what it was: a great idea killed by small mindedness. But when I saw this post, I figured people have a right to know what happened. Also, for all the young kids out there with energy and ideas...don't let the guys (and gals) with "experience" kill your spirit and your ideas.

I'm sure this post will raise a storm of comments from SHBCC. I can only say that I raised these concerns many times with their commodore and never saw a change from the leadership. I also may not be the best racer, I may not even be a good sailor, but I know for sure that only one ingredient was missing to grow Objective 100 to American greatness: It was a lack of ambition.