Dave M and Pete, I'll say this as politely as possible, the attitude that you have expressed, just in these last two posts, is exactly the cancer that's eating away at this whole thing. If you put a negative spin (or truly have a negative attitude) towards this, and don't put it aside and step up to make something happen (not just send in a check and have someone else do it, or worse, refuse to pay and expect someone else to do it), you're going to see more of the same, well, less of the same if you know what I mean.

Mark, we've had some successful Area A qualifiers in the past. Most times, this was at the Lipton Cup in Quincy and wasn't part of a points regatta (which may be what hurt Roton Point the year they tried it). I can't speak to Area B. But, if enough people want an event, I don't see why we couldn't make it happen. These tend to cost more because usually, there isn't a host fleet willing to do the work, it falls to partnering with a YC, which always costs more than fleet-driven events (YCs have more overhead, staff, etc.). And, you don't typically see the average sailors attending these events, so fewer boats means higher cost per boat (plus both crew members need to be USSA members).

Mike