Yeah, sorta..... but you're paraphrasing to fit your needs. Yes, we all choose to play and the level we wish to or can pay. I'd give my left nut, (possibly the right one too), to be doing something other than waiting for my printer to print off a phone book of drawings, and to be on the water.

I take this stuff as seriously as I dare and still have fun doing it. (when I take it too serious, I suck butt, get pissy and I'm not having fun) If my broke butt went and bought a last generation A Class it would be me doing everything in my power to be competitive. Well, everything legal, and quasi moral. I live in a shitty little house, work as little as humanly possible, drive old vehicles, and sail as much as I can. If I could get AHPC to build me a pre-preg carbon, autoclaved, Nomex core Viper I would be on that like stink on sh!t. I'd sell blood and semen by the bucket to come up with that extra $20k for that boat. Why? I want to rule out as much as possible. I'd be solaced knowing I had the best I could get.

The point is that while you can be competitive on an older design, it takes a skill level at the extreme end of good to adapt and make that older design perform at the top.


BTW, Mark, where the heck is there a healthy fleet of anything much less enough to fill the ranks of a A, B, & C fleet on a weekend regatta? or did I miss some intent of this statement.







Dave- I'm soooo worth it. :lol:

I seriously hope you use different buckets for each. BTW, if you can fill up a bucket, you may be wasting your time making cabinets for a living.

Hahah Lee... i was thinking the same

Hobie 16's still get A and B and C fleet turnouts in the Mid Atlantic.. Wildwood was this past weekend. This still works out well for these racers. A B and C fleet were popularized by Hobie when they had 200 boats at a Hobie 16 weekend regatta. Dividing a class into A B and C fleet was a great solution because it allowed racers to compete against others with the same skill and commitment.

The problem for any class is critical mass and how you manage the racing with your schedule of weekend and national events. The vast majority of racing classes simply don't have enough boats to divide the fleet up. It's a fact of life but the elite Olympic/World Class sailor simply does not get much fun out of racing someone in C fleet like myself. So, for any event... you have to manage everyone's expectations and when you don't... it will fall apart. The 6 C fleet racers at Wildwood this weekend don't race the circuit and would probably not want to race against the guys who race in A fleet regularly. Forcing them into A fleet would probably shut them down for good. The H16 class does a good job of managing the expectations of all of their sailors. The equipment issue is non existent.



The A Class is even more challenging because the equipment is constantly evolving and the elite sailors are at the cutting edge of equipment upgrades as well. So you must manage the A, B and C fleet sailors expectations as sailors at any regatta PLUS the equipment issue. Equipment always dominates the debate but is usually not the final word. The fact of life is that great sailors can still make old equipment perform at worlds. For example, Matt Struble raced the last USA worlds with an 02 vintage Flyer and was doing well (top 10) until he broke something. Jack Benson (Aus) is very young and poor. He raced the Aus Worlds in a modified 02 flyer and finished top 10... This year he upgraded his ride to the DNA and took third... (His training partner took the win and says... look out for him!) God forbid that great sailors on new equipment not perform as expected...(Stuble and Guck) the sh..it storm that ensues is spectacular! So having focused on equipment... Most people in the class would say that the A class is still about the sailors and not the boat... this is not the America's Cup! They are experienced and understand the A B and C fleet pecking order and play at the level they pick. (my point about Mosely)

GBR1 takes the opposite point of view though ... The platforms are the difference makers. so ... YMV

I always say fleets must manage ALL expectations and this means two things to me. The Class must come up with the right sized schedule of events ]AND the A B and C fleet racers need to buy into and show up for that schedule. The C fleet H16 sailor in the mid Atlantic shows up for their event in Wildwood. They are not flying to Figi (or wherever) for the Worlds!

Your point of view of max commitment to equipment upgrades would be really tested in the A class.. For one... It is a very complex judgement about equipment and very experienced people get it completely wrong (EG Glen Asby's curved board ASG3 design). My view, make sure everyone understands what the particular class is about and make sure the local scene matches what you want out of the sport.

In your situation... it might take more then blood and semen sales... your left nut might have some value! The right one is in reserve... (just in case you pick a lemon)!

You should narrow that down to the Chesapeake. I've only seen at most a B fleet for 16s during a couple of regattas in the 6+ years I've been traveling to EMSA events.

Whoa... you want to consider the Carolina's the mid Atlantic... The Solid South can't be Mid Atlantic... us Yanks think of the mid Atlantic as Va Beach up to Sandy Hook NJ. EG Area C and Div 11. Point taken though.... (

I can't believe you southerners want to join the North... must be the reason for today's 5.3 6.0 5.8 earthquake... Saturday the hurricane...

Here is the reason:
BREAKING NEWS: President Obama has just confirmed that the DC earthquake occurred on a rare and obscure fault-line, apparently known as "Bush's Fault".
Obama also announced that the Secret Service and Maxine Waters continues an investigation of the quake's suspicious ties to the Tea Party.
However geologists have just confirmed that it was caused by the founding fathers rolling over in their graves.

Well that lets DBNCSU off the hook!

Mark,
Allow me to clarify for you...I am from Northeast NC. It is a rural area with the closest cities located in Hampton Roads (VA Beach was included in your Mid-Atlantic category).

With that being said, you completely missed the point. The Annapolis area is not a true reflection of the East Coast sailing scene and there are rarely A,B,C fleets at any event. I'm going to go now because I'm about to lose power. It's a good thing you are SO far away from this storm.