I was just reading JCs write up on the Canadian F18 regatta and started thinking about sailing in heavy air. The last GC and national were both in upper winds. I was wondering what the thought of the US group might be on setting some wind limits for our regattas. There are a lot of reasons for this in my mind. The price of replacing boats, parts, and such is on reason. I mean the Americas cup boats with what seems like unlimited funds have wind limits to try and conserve the boat and gear. Another reason is I truely believe having sailed a lot in both configurations that in the heavier air it is really an unfair advnatage to the double handed teams. I know the first 2 GCs had a lot of wind and were won by very skilled single handed sailors but as the 2 handed teams have learned the boats better I do not see this happening again. We want the setups to be as equal as possible. In this regard there should probably be a minimum wind so the lighter single handed boats do not have the distinct advnatage.
There are more reasons but these are 2 big ones. I would propose a class rule for large class events that wind limits of maybe 3 knots to 20 knots sustained anywhere on the course be set. That is a large range and will rarley interfer with the racing.
So what do the rest of you think?