ACE11,

In regards to your last comment that is critical of US participation at A-Class WC's, note there will be three US sailors competing at this event:

Randy Smyth
Ben Hall
Ben Moon

Moonie will be sailing with an AUS nummber but we consider him one of our own. He is a member and district chairman of our class.

We will be submitting a proposal to host the WC in 2012 and the venue we are proposing is once again Islamorada, FL. We had 99 boats attend the last WC in Islamorada. 60% of the entrants were from North America and the rest were from around the world.

Before you criticize the US, I think I should remind you that Australia has the same problem when they host a WC in getting international sailors to come. The last WC in Australia had 69 boats and I blame more the current class qualification system for preventing you from getting 100 boats on the starting line.

I'll also remind you that it is a lot easier for a European sailor to travel to a WC on the continent than to come to either the US or Australia when either of us host the WC. I can see why European sailors would prefer to sit out a WC in the US/Aus and sail an equally competitive EC in the same year.

The US class has tripled in size in the last 10 years. If we continue to grow, I think you will see more sailors wanting to go to international WC venues.

Let's not throw darts at each other. We all want to grow this class. Good luck to your sailors at this event.

Bob Hodges
USACA Class President