Hey Carl - it was a great week indeed!

While I think most of us agree on 80% of this issue - the remainder can be explained by looking at our physical attributes. At just under 5'8" (this is the ONE time that is an advantage!) I can get my body weight to a little less than 1/2 of the minimum crew weight of an I20 and still have plenty of physical fitness to fullfill the requirements of the boat. Jay is pretty much the same. Because we can both get to minimum weight, we are both pretty satisfied to sail in the strict OD I20 fleet. Carl, although in better trim than I, is considerably more than 6' in height so for him to find a way to reach minimum weight for the existing I20 or N6.0 is much more difficult. The I20 handles heavy teams much better than most other platforms but it still makes a pretty big difference carrying an additional 10% full-up weight than everyone else.

So how can the bigger guys find a way to be more competitive? The Formula is the answer where the platforms are flexible enough that the bigger guys can have custom sails and/or masts made to help offset the additional weight (much like the A-class guys do).

I'm all for an open fleet in the Tybee - why wouldn't you include them? What do we lose if they continue to allow an open fleet? (nothing). I would however like to see the opens and each class have their own start in the future to promote both kinds of racing. Then the race can let evolution take over and see which class develops better numbers over time. I predict we will see the boat that offers the best combinationof speed and affordability continue to grow in numbers in this kind of racing. For now, the I20 has fit that bill very well.

I do not believe many teams - especially those that are up front, will subscribe quickly to the Formula 20 concept and simply consider their I20 platform now Formula 20. It will take a new breed(s) of boat that is as faster or faster and as affordable or more affordable to convince these guys to change. The F18 class was unique in that there was not a popular/affordable 18' spinnaker equipped boat in the market and it found this niche and defined a platform that could be very competitive, faster, affordable, and useable by people with varying physical attributes. There is already a couple popular 20' spinnaker equiped platforms which makes the assembly of a Formula class around this a more complicated task.