I am just crew on an N20 with both Tad and Trey at different times, but I can share re John William's concerns that people are definitely practicing on the N20s and are looking at coaching as well. I'm a big believer in coaching and used to be part of a team that got pro coaching each Tuesday at Treasure Island on 505s. I've been trying to do the same with the 20s and locally, several teams have worked together recently on items including rig tuning, boat handling, crew / helm / boat trading, etc. We've also worked on running dedicated clinics with coaches flown in. While it's not as intense as what I have done in the past and I'm sure not as intense as other classes, it's getting there. Hopefully the results will show in this year's Tybee though I think as whole more is needed.
Doing more coaching sessions is key to keeping any class alive, independent of sails. You could see the higher level of caliber in the F18s at Tradewinds where more boats kept racing in the big breeze. Sail design can help in this, but not as much as time on the water.
I'd like to see the N20 evolve as the owners recently discussed because it's a good cheap-speed class and can continue to serve multiple purposes. It also seems to bring new blood into high performance cat sailing. A great benefit to multihulls in general that I'm sure we all agree on.
In my mind the top two person competition is in the F18s now and that will remain the case no matter what. I don't think anyone will sell an F18 to get into a 20, but I do think some folks may move the other way as the New England Gangsta's did. I don't blame them at all. Some people probably will never switch and some people will buy 20s with no interest in F18s. That is fine too.
One of the reasons I like cat sailing compared to dinghies is the laid back, positive nature of the folks who sail them. I hope this discussion can fall back to that level rather than what I see above.
