Yes this is Brent, I am a CRAW member, part of the 2010 planning committee. JJ is on the planning committee, Dave Reese is the Event Chairman, I am the F18 liason.

To answer some of your questions, F16 class was never officially invited, and consider this the official language saying they cannot be involved at Racine in 2010.

CRAW petitioned NACRA and NAF-18 to do the event in the combined format. Talk actually started over a year ago. Both organization have conditions and requirements that must be met.

When the official word was passed to CRAW members at the end of the regatta in Sept regarding Racine, the F16 idea was passed out as a discussion point only. Had I not left 15 minutes early, I would have been able to put an end to the idea of adding the F16 before it got spread all over this forum. Not because I am opposed to it, but I knew that we can not satisify the needs of the Nacra and NAF-18 Class if we added another class.

In the future it might make sense to combine some F18 and F16 events, we should be open to those ideas and communicate different ideas. It may not be a national championship, but for instance the NAF-18 Class requires and area championship, it makes sense to me that the F16 could do something at the same regatta.

Thanks,
Brent Carlson
NAF-18 Northern Rep
Past CRAW Commodore
F-18 878 (the gray boat)