"I was simply curious as to whether people sail in open class by necessity or by choice."
Well, Mary, why didn`t you just say so !!
That`s easy, if you have enough boats to sail OD, or SMOD, then that`s great. If guys are doing more open-class sailing in the US than class racing, it means that the classes are dying out and not being actively supported. I think what you can establish from the 95 posts above is that it`s different everywhere, not only between countries, but regional, and from one yacht club to another, even if they`re on the same pond.

This from David Parker : "Look more closely at the TBCS Hangover results. What you will see is 39 boats of 22 different designs, in four "classes" with 3 starts."

Now if all these sailors "preferred" strict OD sailing to open class, there would be 39/22 = 1.77 boats per OD class. Not much competition, you`d have to concede. So it is out of necessity that we form groups of similar boats, whether it is by size or configuration, together. Having a rating system that evens things out on a theoretical basis helps keep things a little closer.

Regionally, in Cape Town, we have a fleet of approx. 20-25 H16`s at one club, a fleet of 15-20 Mosquito`s at another, and a few Dart 18`s, at the same club as the Mosquito`s. While we race OD most of the time, we welcome the 3 or 4 Darts to sail with the Mozzies, one start, and have positions based on Open class handicap, and by class, even if the Darts don`t make a class by the official definition of the term (this is, after all, club racing, not world champs.) Hell, we even have a 505 or 2 that sail with us, and have no idea on how to handicap them !

So it would appear that we "prefer" OD racing. Not necessarily true. It`s just what we get due to our circumstances. I personally prefer it when we have open class regattas and the 20 Mosquito`s, 25 H16`s, 4 Darts, and 4 or 5 Hobie Tigers come out to play. Results are split out by class and overall handicap positions are calculated.
The social scene is so much better when you have 100 or so sailors in the pub, and long arguments ensue, in the name of fun, as to who has the "better" boat

Sometimes you CAN have your cake and eat it.

Cheers
Steve