Hey Mark -

Sorry to not have seen your note sooner.

Yes, Area D North had the Qualifier last year with the Outback Cup. The Alter Cup fleet had a seperate start. By contrast, Area D South was hosted by OSYC at the Shearwater Regatta - out of a fleet of about 30 boats, two were not competing in the Alter Cup Qualifier - just in the Shearwater Regatta. In the future, those two boats won't be on the same start line as the folks trying to get to the Championship. The Qualifiers can still be combined with other events as long as they get a seperate start - I don't think that has been or will be a problem.

In an unrelated development, both Area D events this year will be stand-alone events. With 20 or so boats at each, I think they're finally self sufficient now. D South will be in Melbourne, FL in November, and D North will be on Lake Hartwell in the early Fall.