Well Said. This has been my philosophy in past years....

IMO, It is a HUGE MISTAKE for US Sailing to USE the qualifiers as a tool.... (read hammer) to get people to join US Sailing.

Gary Jobson said the following when he officially took over at US Sailing

... Jobson asks sailors to join US Sailing if

1) any aspect of US sailing helped your sailing... OR

2) US Sailing inspired someone.

if one of the following applies to you.. Join!


IMO... this invitation and reminder is the most powerful reason ever given for why you should Join US Sailing.

Why the qualifier... Well...

I ask everyone to consider what are the ways to keep all of the cat sailors in the same boat... paddling in the same direction to the beach.... (oh yeah... the boats on fire and your OD class today could have 3 members tomorrow... So... what's good for your regional sailing scene?

Fact of life is that Time and Money are limited for cat racing for most people. Most of the racers left belong to a one design class and so they prefer to race One Design but more importantly... they are duty bound to show up at their class one design race. Bottom line.... an A class sailor really doesn't have much contact with a Hobie 16 sailor. I have a very strong point of view that a regional open class championship is critical to keeping the OD fleets on point and working on a shared purpose of growing catamaran racing. Simply having OD fleets share the venue does not accomplish the same goal. Respect is earned when you race each other.

A single regional/ Area Open Class Championship that allows the sailors in the regions' one design classes to mix it up with the prize being that the winner can move on to the national championship is a spectacular way to maintain a community of catamaran racers in the region. Every one design class in the region is needed to feature the event in their schedule EQUIVALENT to their High point regattas or the championship looses integrity.

The qualifier's will never work if the motivation is the slot at the championships... Why?, It's the same reason that we don't give you money for winning a regatta. Our ego's have no problem competing for a symbol... We can deal with the pecking order that results. Competing for money... well that's a job. If you lose and don't make any money at the job... you quit and move on.