Jake,

Very well said. If the players truly have the goal of growing the sport, then this effort might succeed. If they pursue their individual interests, however, it will not. I would like to hope for the first, but have seen too much of the second to believe it.

Here's a case in point. I regularly race with two clubs. At one, there has been a small fleet of Isotopes, along with one or two H-16's, one H-14, and occasionally one other cat. The Isotopes requested that the club race all the catamarans together in one "multihull handicap" class, just to give the other boats someone to race against. We've been doing that for 3 or 4 years now.

At the other club, the Isotope fleet is much bigger. We race one-design, but still ask the club to start the lone Prindle 18-2 with us so he has someone to sail with. He gets scored separately (and wins all his races). Now, the commodore of this club just sent out an email saying that the local Hobie fleet (formerly defunct) is trying to reorganize. They have perhaps 10 mixed H-16s and H-18s that want to race. The club is planning to create a "Hobie" fleet for them. They will race against each other on portsmouth handicap separate from the multihull handicap fleet. In other words, the Hobie 16s and 18s are willing to race each other on handicap, but not the Prindle. I think that's precisely the attitude that will kill any effort to grow catamaran racing on the whole. It's the "Hobie Edict" all over again.

There are good reasons to race one-design, and good reasons to race handicap. Each has it's place. They are different ways to play the game and I enjoy both. Proponents of each, however, need to recognize and support the other's wants. We can't afford to leave anybody out. Unless we are all prepared to attend an occasional event to help other classes, we have no right to expect support for our own.

Regards,
Eric