The one thing I don't like about having worlds be NA's is that you need to qualify to participate. Because NA's will most certainly be worth the most points for deciding who goes to 2013 worlds, it makes it difficult for a new team to qualify for 2013. They would have to qualify in 2011 to go to 2012 worlds to qualify for 2013 worlds. It discourages participation.

On the other hand, as long as I have a job, I will not attend two week long regattas in the same year. I would also suspect that East Coast teams would not come to Long Beach for a two day NA championship unless they also qualified for worlds.

Perhaps the solution is to not have a NA championship in 2012 and make the regional championships a bigger deal by making them longer than 2 days, making them worth more points, or at least promoting them more would be a good compromise.