Actually, it has nothing to do with money, and nothing to do with Rolex.
Attendance and interest in the events has been reportedly declining. You can dig around on the US Sailing website and look for results of other events to back that up.
For our event, this is the stated goal for Shannon and Liz:
Transform the U.S. Multihull Championship into the most relevant multihull event in the United States, one that will attract new and upcoming sailors, who will form the nucleus of future US Olympic sailors.
The question of whether that can be done with a 10-boat platform is a large part of the equation.
Mike
OK...TIMEOUT!
This is what US Sailing wants the regatta to be??
"Transform the U.S. Multihull Championship into the most relevant multihull event in the United States, one that will attract new and upcoming sailors, who will form the nucleus of future US Olympic sailors."
Well...that is the complete opposite of what we as cat sailors know of the ALTER CUP, which has always been about the (20 or so) BEST cat racers in this country, not any "New and Upcoming" sailors! It cannot be a big regatta, when only the top 20 teams are racing.
What they are describing we already have, it is called the Tradewinds Regatta, just look at this past event to see all the "...new and upcoming sailors who will form the nucleus of future US Olympic sailors."
So...which one are we to pursue? The traditional Alter Cup, which, in my opinion, should only be raced by the class champions and area qualified entrants, or are we going to shift it to a Tradewinds type event?
Because you can't have it both ways, at the same time, and same event.
UNLESS...immediately after Tradewinds, you take the top finishers in each class (pick the top 2 teams per class, to make 10 teams total) and then put them all on what ever the "Hot New Boat from XXX" is at the time, supplied by XXX of course, and then let them slug it out as per the traditional Alter Cup event, ie. rotating boats, for a couple days, maybe 7-10 races total.
Presto-bingo, a big regatta attracting up and coming tallent, and a true Multihull Champion. One stop shopping.
As many have already mentioned, if most weekend sailors don't show for the Alter Cup Qualifier, it's because they have no intention of doing the Alter Cup even if they qualify, so it becomes a waste of time and money for them. I only sail the qualifier when it's convienient (days off wise) and close enough to home. I consider it a good 'local' regatta, but I don't go to qualify for the Alter Cup.
Now, if you want a huge turnout, from all fleets, with new tallent, for the Alter Cup...then hold it at Tradewinds, or Spring Fever, or some other popular, well attended, open to all classes type regatta, then take the top sailors from each class and let them have at it for a couple more days, on supplied boats.
