I have to agree with Mary on this. OD or Formula racing, where whoever crosses the line first is the WINNER, is way better than PN racing. Problem is that where can I race OD spin cats on the USA eastcoast?

Take for instance a race held this weekend, a couple of hours north of here . There were about 5 Hobie 14s, 5 Hobie 16s, 2 Hobie 20s, and a single A-Cat. They all started together and were scored on PN handicaps. The A-Cat apparently ruled every race, but I bet that the Hobie 14 and 16 OD racers had a lot better time than the two Hobie 20s or even the A-Cat sailor.

The A-Cat had to race the clock and probably had zero tactical or boat for boat interaction. Why not just go sailing by yourself? Now the 16 and 14 sailors had each other to race and probably enjoyed the regatta more than the victorious A-Cat sailor.

Now the racing is better, if the boats are more alike. Take I-20s, Nacra 6.0NE, anf F-18HTs, racing around the cans, and the boat for boat interaction becomes more interesting. Still, the best racing occurs between the ODs within such a handicap fleet.

Next, how many OD spin cats have sufficient numbers to hold decent OD or Formula racing? The F-18 guys have some decent races in Michigan and New York, but in the Mid-Atlantic the Tiger fleets have had less than 5 boats per regatta, except at Spring Fever. In fact, they are averaging less than 2 boats per regatta. What about the HTs? Well, they have had several races with 10 or more HTs, BUT this occurs only at their classes' chosen regattas. When individual HT owners race in non-class events, they find themselves racing alone or against 1-3 other HTs. The I-20s? No bouy racing in the mid-Atlantic-PERIOD! Tornados have their own deal, so they don't do races outside their group, much like the A-Cats and HTs.

What is the answer? I don't know.