1) You will never get the I20 out of the hands of the mysterious Nacra Class. Many have tried including myself (I had many long phone conversations with Jack about this). So, the fact is I20 owners have little to no control over their class.
2) The F18 is the future of this type of catamaran sailing. Its is. Stop saying its not. I feel for Trey, Foggy, Jake, Jay, and all others that have significant funds invested in I20s, however current short term investments does not change the fact that the I20 class simply does not have the long term potential for growth that the F18 class does.
3) If the race were to switch to F18s today, people would sail them. Just like when the open racing went away people sailed Nacra 6.0s, and when Nacra 6.0s went away people sailed I20s. At each corner there was the normal resistance to what ended up being the natural progression of the sport.
From a media coverage point of view, I think the race is much better off head to head. Catamaran sailing is hard enough to explain to non-sailing viewers. To explain that a boat that (as an example) finished third to the beach won the race because of a rating. Yeah.
I dont care what boat is sailed, I personally prefer the I20 over the F18. I simply believe right now that F18 has more long term potential, and again I think this race should be head to head, and that the playing field should be somewhat controlled as either one-design or formula.
My motivation is to see the race in a format where I might, might, be able to convince a sponsor to cover our costs to film the entire week. This in turn would pull in more coverage, which makes it easier for 1) Chuck to get sponsors and 2) the sailors to get sponsors. Putting on a marketing hat, Id like to see 30 F18s, racing head to head, with top sailors not just from the US, but from around the world, all on boats that have mandatory tricked out graphics covering the entire boat and sails.
Pretty pictures and close racing is what is needed, not handicapped racing!!!
