If you were running the race, what would be the format?
[color:"green"]Both F18 and F20 foot classes. The F20's would just have to get their act together.[/color]
Is it good for it to be done on one-design boats as opposed to "run what you brung," and racing boat-for-boat?
[color:"green"]While I do like one design in concept, the "run what you brung" format seems like it would promote the broadest participation. [/color]
Or should it be raced on Portsmouth handicap?
[color:"green"]No[/color]
Do you think it should just require an entry fee and everybody be on their own to have a boat and arrange for their own rooms and logistics?
[color:"green"]Yes. [/color]
Should next year's race be for all Formula 18HT's?
Or should it be for all Formula 18's?
Or should it possibly include both of those Formula classes?
Or do you think the current plan to do the 2004 race on Nacra F-18's is the best?
[color:"green"]I'll have an eye on this year's inaugural running of the Tybee 500 to see how the multi-class format works. While I agree with others that the race would be best if run with one class, I think that multiple classes would open the race up to broader participation from those who don’t want to go out and purchase a new boat each year. [/color]
What would be the most fun and most accessible to the most number of people, boatwise and pricewise?
[color:"green"] “Run what ya brung”, and forget about the big purse if it comes out of the racers’ pockets. [/color]
What is the real purpose of this race (at least for the majority of the participants) -- to try to win it?
Or just to DO it and try to FINISH it?
[color:"green"]Having not participated, I can only speculate, but I would say that finishing is the goal for many. [/color]
Is it getting too complicated?
Is it getting too expensive?
[color:"green"]Don’t know if it’s getting too complicated, but it sure seemed like it was heading down the road of too expensive. [/color]
Do you like the idea of competitors all putting in $20,000 . . .
[color:"green"]
NO! [/color]
Or would you rather not have cash prizes (at least in that kind of format)?
[color:"green"]If someone out there is making tons of money that they don’t know what to do with, sure, have them donate it to the purse. But only if an equal amount gets distributed among all racers in the form of incentives/ spare parts/food/parties/etc. [/color]
Should it start going back to that basic premise of the barroom bet -- see if we can get from here to there?
[color:"green"]I think the race has evolved beyond that . . . [/color]
And what about the "development class" that was so popular back in the 1980's? Do you think it would be good to have that again?
[color:"green"]The race was unknown to me back then. I’ll be curious to hear from those involved. [/color]
Would anybody else want to undertake the organization and running of this race under a different name?
[color:"green"]Ah, now Mary, you’ve saved the biggest question for the end. Despite what’s happened to this year’s race, or the way that it’s been handled in the past, or the way that might be handled in the future, we have to give Mike Worrell credit for the time and money he’s put into the event over the years. Folks in this forum and elsewhere are never short of opinions, but I’m sure the line of individuals who’d want to step in to fill the void is pretty darned short.[/color]
