There is not much incentive for a new person to go to an event that is totaly if not mostly race oriented when they have to compete against people with 20+ years of racing under their belt. And it does not matter if they are on Waves or the latest carbon 20, they are going to be way at the back. Not many people are willing to endure that kind of learning curve without some other reason the attend.
In the UK the Dart(Sprint)15 class association started running Pro-Am prizes. First boat paired with last boat, second boat paired with second last boat etc. This idea proved successful and was then adopted by other classes giving an incentive to the novice to improve, and an incentive to the more experienced sailors to coach the paired-up novice and to maintain or improve on their own position.
Cheshirecatman
