Rick, couple of things. How can inviting a class national champion be considered a "buddy" or "good old boy" thing? It isn't even subjective. The year you were invited, IIRC, you'd won Waves and not participated in the qualifier, so how do you know you weren't good enough?

Are you talking about petitions? Good luck, there, too - it is damn hard to get picked for one of the top two spots. Petitions in the last few years have been in the low teens of submissions, and you have to convince several people on a committee who all have equal votes that you have a chance of winning the regatta. By implying the committee "picks their buddies," your characterization is insulting to the people (including Gordie) who volunteer to run the event.

As far as 20 teams versus 10, during my tenure, we considered seriously going back to that among many other options for updating the manner in which teams are invited. Previous hosts asked us not to go to 10 - they said they can't make budget. That was one consideration in not reversing the decision.