I just realized that the Tiger Worlds is scheduled to start the day after Spring Fever ends on the other side of the country. Spring Fever is one of the two largest catamaran regattas in the U.S., is also a South East F18 championship event this year (of which the Tiger is a large part of), and has always been held on Easter Weekend. As an F18 class member, am I wrong to feel a little frustrated by this scheduling? I don't remember the details, or who started what, but I recall the Tiger NA's conflicted with the F18 NA's last year too. Is more of this to be expected in the future? Was this scheduling intentional, an oversight, or a 'don't care' maneuver? I know there are a lot of factors when it comes to scheduling an event - especially an international one - but GEEESH!

In order for F18 (and this sport) to continue to grow we need support from Hobie, Nacra, and all the F18 manufacturers and need to find ways to work better together. This year alone, 5 brand new F18's (Hobies and Nacras) have been purchased by owners within a two hour drive of my house and I know of 2 or 3 more folks currently sitting on the fence. Hardly any of us that just bought new F18s ever thought that we would ever buy a brand new catamaran. We are expecting to get anywhere from 8 to 12 F18s on the starting line at LOCAL regattas next year (we're already at 7 to 10)! This kind of high visibility will certainly bring new people and younger monohull sailors to the sport. However, it's not going to be as easy to build this class if we don't get support from the manufacturers offering the F18s.