Hi Jake:

Here's the rest of my post from which Pete pulled the quote--

I am among the relatively few teams that have the ability to race both platforms. That being said, however, I would NOT be in favor of moving the F16 event to allow for more convenient attendance at both. I’m encouraged to see something proposed in the spirit of cooperation between the two classes, but I believe such efforts would be better for NA catamaran racing if the outcome truly brings the two classes closer together, rather than maintaining separation. In my opinion, at this point in time, the best thing for the NA cat racing scene would be for the F16’s and F18’s to stage a single Formula Race Week with the two fleets racing on the same course. (Yup, I said it. Go ahead and start the flame throwers). We simply don’t have the critical mass that exists in Europe. Maybe someday we will. Bigger events provide undeniable scale advantages that translate into much greater value for regatta participants and much less financial risk for regatta organizers. If people have that much vacation time to burn on cat sailing, I suspect they’d be far more likely spend it on a Formula and an A, than on two Formulas.

Daniel Hearn
F16 #157
F18 #601
A-Cat #180


I'd also suggest that the discussion should be refraimed around the question: how is this good for catamaran racing? Now, more than ever, our sport is competing for people's limited recreational time (and dollars) and the statistics regarding the decline in participation in any type of sailing are frightening. We need to pull together and make it more fun to attract new people. That will require compromise and inclusiveness, and the absence of exclusivity and class wars. That's the only way we'll prevent becoming a fringe sport. (If we're not one already).

One example of compromise would be two classes racing on the same course. Everyone knows it's much less of a drain on race committees. And yes, there would be boats on the course that you're not racing against that could have minor impact on racing outcomes. But I would argue that if you're good enough to win, you'll win anyway. Small sacrifice for the greater good, in my opinion.