Hi Tony,
Mate you are just finding out something us 14ft sailors have known for years, that 14ft is a special class. I raced a Maricat for about 10yrs in club events, at open regattas and State and National titles and enjoyed it immensely. They are a great boat and in their heyday Maricats had 150 boats on the start line. The really amazing thing is that you had those entry numbers even though the Mannering Park organisers decided to run that regatta on the same weekend as the traditional Koonawarra Bay 14ft regatta is/has been held on for the past 10years or so. I'm not sure how many boats they got but it is usually around fifty. A shame the fleets couldn't be combined in two separate regattas on different w/ends. Maybe in the future. Tuggerah Memorial SC also did a 14ft regatta a while back but I'm not sure if it's still a goer. Maybe Phil will advise us.
Another interesting stat. is that the Paper Tigers currently attract 50 odd boats to their nationals each year so 14 ft is alive and well in Oz even if somewhat fragmented.
Bern