yes, I withdrew my post. It wasn't very level headed...but the thought that you can never have a true championship because of who might or might not show up is ridiculous and it does a dis-service to anyone that has won a championship or anyone that strives to.

This event was designed to be the pinnacle of multihull sailing within the US. You win, and you get your name engraved on a perpetual trophy that has a long list of great champions engraved on that trophy. It does not take away from the achievement if Charlie Ogletree, Pete Melvin, or anybody else doesn't attend. You have won the event. You have beat all comers. Your name goes on that trophy along with the best of the best sailing multihulls in the US. Not all "championships" are equal or the same over time. Certainly winning a 2 boat Nacra 5.2 championship doesn't carry the same weight as winning a 50 boat F18 championship....but it doesn't change the fact that it is a "championship".

With regards to how this event is run, it's been tricky but we have had some very good and hotly contested events. The boats have been great. I want to keep having shots to compete myself. I'm not opposed to trying different things - but I do believe that this regatta needs to remain unique and special for it to be what it was intended to be. There also seems to be some conversation here about making the event more accessible to the casual sailor to make it more successful or more relevant. I think it's important to understand that it really has been quite accessible. We've run out of petitions for the event at times int he past and have had to resort to calling in "invites". Petitions have always come first. This does say something about the event - and it also says something about US sailing/multihull relationship.

I would rather hear from the competitive sailors in the areas that have very poor qualifier attendance as to why they don't care to make it to the "big show"?