Bob summed it up well, now here's my take. This was my first A cat regatta and I had an absolute blast. The race committee did an unsurpassable job , so a huge THANKS to Steve and his youth sailors from the Edison (I hope I got that right) sailing center. They were top notch.
The clinic beforehand was very beneficial, since I was basically starting with a blank sheet, but the help from the fellow racers was the biggest help for me. Any question that I asked of anyone was answered in detail, especially Ben Moon, he always had time for my elementary questions. I'm still not sure why he finds the need to talk like Crocodile Dundee all the time, but he sails super fast and will tell you anything you want to know.
There was a post awhile back about A-catters being snobby. If they'll take a Hillbilly like me into their fold how snobby could they be. This is a fun crowd alot like the distance crowd I race with.
As an A-cat doubter for the last few years, I didn't see anyway those little boats with NO spinnaker could posibly go as fast as a spin boat. I proved myself wrong in spades this weekend. Downwind when the breeze piped up I felt like I was on my Nacra 20. Same surfing, same carving bear aways, it is awesome.
If anybody is on the fence about an A-cat ,I'd say do it. There's alot of affordable used ones on the market now.
I still love my N-20, but now there is another tool in the toolbox and the A is the right tool for me for marks racing.
Todd Hart
USA 42