As it relates to the questions Carl posed and Mark's rephrasing - it is an interesting question to ponder.

A point that was made at the end of the race by race organizer, Chuck B., was that he has opened up the race to the "open" class but they haven't shown up. While I think in some regards that might be true, this past year didn't give them much of a chance. We were supposed to see two Tornados in this years event but I know that at least one of them pulled out because the northern leg (where their sponsor was located) was cancelled and they lost their sponsorship. Last year, several 6.0's and I20s showed up in force - but honestly, I think that good showing put a nail in the coffin of the 6.0 class....we had some of the best 6.0 sailors in the country competing and I think they left the event wondering why they weren't sailing I20s because most of them own one now. The 6.0 is a good boat and can keep up or sometimes outperform the I20 when the wind angle and sea state are right for it's narrower hull shape and large jib. However, the I20 hulls and sail plan are significantly better optomimized for offshore racing.

As it stands now, to open up the race to a non-existant F20 class is to ask for custom built boats since there are no other F20 platforms. However, for people to make that kind of time and money investment the race will need to prove to be here to stay (which includes consistent attendance and early planning) and have a succesful open class for several years.

Looking back, we saw the Worrell migrate from sorta-one design, to a very open rule, and back to a very strict one design (that, IMHO, could have been very succesfull - they got a bunch of teams to put up a $5000 entry fee!). Personally, I think this one design is evolution of our sport and a strong one design showing will bring more prestige to the event. The more I race, whether it's around the cans or up the coast, the more I see things the way David Ingram does (should somebody just shoot me now?). I'm not opposed to you guys having an open class, and I'm going to reserve the right to change my mind when I'm rich, don't have to work, and can afford to build a one-off monster...but I would rather keep the competition on the water than in the garage. For me now, I prefer to loose to a better sailor - not a better boat and really like the one design format.

Perhaps the open invitation should stay - if they don't show up again, so what? Who loses? I do think that if three Tornados show up and their crews are consistantly sitting on shore already showered and dressed when the I20 fleet comes in, you'll quickly see more and more Tornados because they're readily available (much like what happened to the Inter20s). If someone builds a viable F20 and races in open class and has success, I think you'll see more of those show up. If someone builds a one-off monster and is successful, you will see more of those (albeit more slowly because of the additional time and resource involved to build). It's going to take two or three pioneers to create a movement away from the current course of the race but while I'm not opposed to having an open class in the race, I don't care to race in it.