I don't know about the Uni racers on your side of the pond Wayne, but here in the States, I've never heard a single Uni sailor complain about it, or think it's 'unfair' or such.

We know we have to work harder than the two up crews, but we also like to race side by side with them, and when we beat them (and we do, once in a while) it's not because we were "light".

There is -no- advantage to racing Uni, even in light air, the jib on the sloop helps much more than the extra crew weight hurts, unless your crew is a 200lb. dude, in which case you should both be on an Inter 20.

We started this class to be able to race two up vs. uni, as equals. I don't hear any Uni guys (over here) crying for a change. What we did at our Nationals a few years ago was, we Uni guys pitched in for a bottle of Rum, for the top placing Uni. Fair enough for us.

Now, that said, I also wouldn't mind seeing a "Uni Only" regatta or training camp, if we could get enough boats to show up (10 or so) to make it worth while, for no other reason than to discus techniques and see what works best when racing Uni.

Do you think we have enough interest to split the fleets at a major regatta, like Nationals or Euro's? You said you had 42 boats at the Euro's, That's a great turnout. But if it had been advertised as a two fleet regatta, ie. Sloops get one start, Uni's another, with separate trophys, etc. would there have been more people inclined to race Uni?

What I think is, the Uni guys know they are at a disadvantage, so for a major regatta, they are going to find good, light crew and race two up.

BUT...if they had the option of racing in a separate Uni fleet, more guys might be inclined to race Uni, as it would be more 'fair' for them to compete equally.