Kevin,
I don't know if you will get your wish about people talking about it a lot on this thread and on this forum. Maybe it is because the people who frequent this forum are not really interested in races like the Worrell 1000. Or maybe it is because they don't want to respond on a forum where they are registered and somebody might know who they are. They would rather complain and criticize anonymously on the Old Forum than offer positive input on the New Forum.

So here is my humble opinion:
I think the race should be open to all boats 18-20 feet that want to do it, but they have to have spinnakers (because this is usually a downwind race, and the race committee doesn't want to be up all night waiting for boats to get in).

AND, it should be scored on actual-finish-basis, no handicap.

AND, development boats should be allowed.

AND, everyone should bring their own boat and take care of their own logistics.

(Teams, should, of course, be pre-qualified and approved by the organizer on the basis of experience.)

I think that would make for a very interesting race and attract a LOT of boats. It would also attract a lot of interest because of the diversity of boats and especially because of the development class. In the "old days" of the race, the development class was the big attraction. And it was also inspiring a lot of new and interesting ideas for multihulls. We have not seen any of that happening since the development class was eliminated from the Worrell.