I also disagree that the event is dying. In my (limited) experience with the finals (I've done the last five) I think that this year's event was by far the most competitive as far as level of competition. It was a great competition.

I view the qualifier as another local event that I like to do (in spite of not being a fan of Portsmouth racing) and I don't really even think about the finals when I schedule it in. For us in D south it is at a great time of the year and without conflicts so it is kind of a no brainer.

I plan on attending our qualifiers, but not the finals. I am not a fan of the new four day format. I think a major championship should be over five days, especially when traveling across the country to attend. I understand that there might be cost issues involved for the hosts, but there are great costs involved for the sailors as well and another day of lodging is a small percentage of the overall costs.

Didn't mean to derail the topic. Which is really about drumming up more interest to the regional events. So are there ways to get people to think about it more as just another great regatta on the schedule instead of an 'added' event?