John
Steve Clark responded to a question about the fairness of corporate funding for C class programs. His point of view as both an ex boat builder/ businessman and now leading his own C program.. Was straight forward... Sponsors want a lot for the money they hand over to you and so you wind up running a sailing business for the sponsor dollars. He had no interest in running a business and choose to just design and build his boats on his own dime and time.
Seems to me... the same philosophy holds for the US Multihull championships. Pay your own dime for your personal satisfaction. I don't expect a promoter to be out raising money to subsidize my sailing and to do this for nothing. Its a business.
The volunteers (me for a year) representing sailors in my region and others from around the country have NO interest in running a sailing business for an elite regatta.
(I am still on board with the Corinthian ideals and so I am more interested in giving my time to more charitable causes or events that grow the sport beyond what we have.)
I don't get the expectation that sponsors/promoters/ are part of the US Sailing call to service for growing the sport.
So just for grins, Assuming you have this promoter who will do all of this work gratis... You make this blanket claim....
The boats are not too expensive to charter if the manufacturer is recognized as the title sponsor.
Do you have a spreadsheet for your proof of concept?
How about a spreadsheet from any other builder in a monohull fleet or any sailing promoter?
Even if you could find sponsors for one year the event must repeat the following year and promoters tend to bail when their spreadsheets turn red.
Volunteers suck at finding and getting yearly donations and running this kind of business (most burn out running their clubs annual regatta much less a business of this magnitude).
Moreover, boat sponsors have strings attached to make the deal work for them which force choices on venues, time of the year, etc etc.
The major issue is one of financial and legal control with promoters... eg Could you have imagined US Sailing supervising Mike Worrel?... The lawsuits aimed at US Sailing would have been epic!
Even More business issues.... If you are US Sailing.... why would you want a group asking the same sponsors for a US championship in catamarans and then having to ask again for your Olympic catamaran program? (That is why they control the sponsor deals)
Final point is simply one of philosophy.... interest by the rank and file in the old format of area winners and 10 petitions in many areas of the country had gone to zero as evidenced by the turnout at qualifiers.
What is the argument for taking any more then the required draw of the endowment money and running anything other then an open event? The open and rotating discipline format serves more sailors in the country. At best, I could see merit in limiting an event to 20 teams by resume (which would still be a huge one design turnout in the USA in 2013).
Perhaps great answers to these issues could persuade the MHC to submit a proposal to the independent and separate championship committee to make changes...again.
I would vote to finish the cycle... spin, sloop, single hander (2014) before changing the game.
