Hey Folks -

Mine is a less valid opinion than Jake's, since he's actually been out there and done that. But I think one of the reasons you won't see a big F-18 fleet in this type of distance race in the Atlantic is that the sailors want to get off the water as quickly as they can. I've been one of the guys to tape boats and sailors back together every night (sometimes wee morning), and honestly, the less time out there, the better you and the boat hold up. The Nacra 20, even over the 6.0NE, has shown conclusively (if not unexpectedly) that mile for mile, it pretty much eats everything else up. I think hull shape and availability of modified parts, as well as some readily available institutional knowledge, will continue to make it the platform of choice for the foreseeable future.

I can say without a doubt that here in Area D, the sailors that have completed one or more of these Worrell/Tybee type events suddenly jump to a new plateau in ability, particularly around the buoys. I've never seen Nacra 20s sailed as well as I have seen over the last couple of years around here. Sure, these sailors were good before, but now it seems that they're in a very close pack of boats across the line... then a few minutes later, there's everyone else.