Hello saltfreesails



The attitudes of the competitors is certainly important. As you noted... the top 1/3 of the Wed night fleet is working just as hard as if it were their weekend event. The issue here is the cost and their commitment to play the game.



Do these programs have new sails for the season? etc etc. I would equate these sailors to Hobie 16 A fleeters in Div 11and predict that they race a good number of weekends. The B fleet guys are sailing and racing with different goals in that Wed night series.



You wrote

A" fleet racing is the refined level of the sport and a given benchmark is assured through the single class structure.



Where in the country do you have A and B fleets ? In what classes do you have A and B fleets. In Div 11... such a split exists only in the Hobie 16 class. I have not seen A and B fleets in the published results in most areas.



I argue that the most important goal should be to develop a vibrant B fleet of sailors.... and this goal should trump the holy grail of "one design competition" In my view, this would allow the attitudes of the sailors to sort out according to their commitment to sail boat racing and greatly enhance the fun factor and the participation for A and B fleets. Obviously, the mechanism for this kind of reorganization is through the portsmouth system.



Preserve competitve one design racing for national and regional championships



Take Care

Mark Schneider