Ravi,

Not arguing that $5K is steep for an event, but there are 9 North American boats registered for Catacup and after airfare and food that event is easily $5K per team.

I'll also add the issue with charters is the manufacturers still have to get their boats to Ireland, and I think that is why registration has turned somewhat poor. I looked in detail at getting a boat from Texel Island to Ireland and it was 16+ hours and 3 ferry trips later. Round Texel is a huge European event and I'm sure people are weighing the $1k+ cost of getting their boats to Ireland carefully.