While the F18 sailor is saying.. great! There is a flip side to this coin.
Is this a zero sum game... or worse... a situation which leads to loss of participation.
What about the sailors who can't or don't want to change their rides? Is the rest of the racing scene healthy or shrinking?
What is the status of the H20 fleet?
The I20 Fleet? the N6.0 fleets? How are the classic Hobie fleets 16, 17 and 18 doing?
The big picture question: Is the turnout going up or down with the rise of a dominant class?
These are valid and interesting topics of discussion. But the reality is that while there is some thinning of other pre-existing classes it is due to migration of sailors to the F18 class. In the big picture we are actually getting more sailors to regattas as attendence is on the up at nearly all of the local regattas.
If you took a picture of our current F18 sailors, you'll find that about half of them own other racing sailboats. This half are making a greater effort to get to the local regattas than they have in the past. This is because of the competition and the large turnout...it's a great rolling snowball that has started.
Do racers in classes that have lost members to the F18's feel that its still worth while coming to regattas with 2 or three boats on the line or do they cut back their attendance one or two events a year and finally loose interest?
Thus far, this has not been the case. Last year we were getting up to 12 F18s at regattas. We don't parade around in our own clicks and the atmosphere at these regattas is that we are all catamaran sailors first. The "entry level" and single handed classes are still there with the H16 and H17. The biggest local classes to be affected is probably the TheMightyHobie18 and H20 (which were on a heavy "lost interest" decline anyway), and the N20 (which was just starting to plant seeds in the area at the time). The H20s are gone and the H18s are fading quickly. The thing about F18 is that it offers a boat that can be sailed by smaller and bigger people and still allows people to support the manufacturer of their choice...open competition and the like too.
The largest migration to F18 has been from within the open classes. Myself on the 6.0, Cary and David on I20s, Nigel sailing various boats, a couple H16 sailors, and several TheMightyHobie18 sailors. The other sailors are largely sailing in the open class because it is convenient to them. These folks are serious about racing but the regatta atmosphere and fellowship are pretty high on their list too. Point is, the majority of our open class sailors are not there for a high turnout in the open class.
Do the left overs or (new members of the dead boat society) find enough competition in the open class to maintain their interest in racing?
What's a critical mass of sailors in a class (open or one design/formula) that is sustainable?
In our area, the open class usually consisted of 3 to 5 boats. An occasional Prindle, G-cat, Supercat, etc. These guys are still here and doing there thing - although they're salivating toward the F18 class too.
Is there a way to address these questions with how we manage our racing?
Can we learn anything from the EU and Down Under about how to manage our events?
I certainly can't act like I know what's going to happen in two years - but I do know that F18 is growing strongly here and that regatta attendance is on the rise for now.
