I really think you guys are giving the modern AC Championship an unfair shake and I don't think those that are speaking negatively about the 20 team rotation have actually experienced it...so let me say this. I have both sailed in it and run it. I love it. I think it's an incredibly exciting way to race and sail on brand new boats with the best sailors in the country. The rotation system does not take away from the experience...in fact, for me anyway, it adds to it.

The cold hard truth of the matter is that having brand new factory boats, a host club, and a professional race committee aint' cheap. You won't pull it off with 10 teams without the entry fee being a huge influence on who actually attends or potentially killing the whole thing (it already is a factor even with 20 teams). Participation is down everywhere compared to 10 or 20 years ago. People are losing interest. While I agree philosophically with the one design ladder, I don't know how in the world you could ever enough racing support for it unless you just handed the whole deal permanently over to the H16 or F18 class.

Although I have seen some manufacturer selections that perplexed me, I have not experienced any seriously questionable selection for the AC. Manufacturers are encouraged (and usually do) select the winners from their largest National Championship. The Olympic class has had a slot, a rotating class gets to send their champion (selected from their nationals), and the rest are voted on by a committee based on the petitions, that include sailor accomplishments, submitted. Recent changes have been made to add more slots for the area qualifiers to give the best attended qualifier two slots instead of one. It's a clean process. Several years have seen just enough petitions to fill the slots that are needed. There's not any impropriety here. There is a need for more participation and energy investment.