Originally Posted by rhodysail
I think the US Multihull Championship can be a fantastic, highly regarded and well attended event that encourages participation in the sport. This should be the goal. The championship does not have to be the premier US multihull event to be a great success.

I think that a North American or National championship in your chosen class is always going to be a greater focus for most racers at the higher level.

I believe that the key element for a successful US Multihull Championship, as I have defined it above, is differentiation (in the marketing sense of the word).

Product Differentiation: “A source of competitive advantage that depends on producing some item that is regarded to have unique and valuable characteristics.”

The Alter Cup needs to be something that other events are not. Be radical!

My suggestion is to make the Alter Cup an open Portsmouth handicap event. This is a radical idea the likes of which has never been tried in the US. Picture the Texel equivalent of course racing. Why not throw a distance race in there as well. Differentiate the Alter Cup from every other catamaran championship in the US. Do not bill it as the championship that will decide who is the best catamaran sailor in the US. You will be laughed at. Bill it as the event no one is going to miss because there is nothing else like it.
As much as I despise racing handicap, Bob's hit the nail on the head here.

Some other observations and comments:

Championship of Champions
I've competed in two, both in doublehanded monohulls (Y-Flyer and Flying Scots). Contrary to what Mike H. said, there's always a waiting list for entry. The one that I attended last year was extremely well organized, albeit a bit pricey ($400 for 3 days of racing, 1 day of practice). They fed us breakfast, lunch and dinner, gave us a bunch of swag and entertained us every night (Tom Ehman was the "surprise rock-star competitor"). Gary Jobson was there one night. Liz Walker was there the whole time. The Dallas Corinthian YC volunteers did the heavy lifting on the event and even hooked me up with a member family for a place to crash so I didn't have to pay for a hotel room. While I thought it was expensive at first, I think it was a good value for the money. I had a great time and met a lot of really nice people outside of the very narrow world of catamaran racing.

Some Perspective
This thread has only had input from 24 people (many of which only made 1 post). That's maybe 1% of the active catamaran racers in North America. Over half of the posters are from the southeast US (NC, SC, GA, FL). 25% are from the "east coast" - defined as VA on northward. Only three are from the west coast. Mike H. and I are the only ones from the Midwest.

Food for thought.