I've had several people contact me requesting some clarification about what the T4.9 Nationals in St. Pete is all about. Wanna hear it? Here it go ;-)

This is first and foremost a FUN regatta. It is not to take the place of the F16 Nat's. - it's another beast entirely. It's for those people who are not yet comfortable with the chutes, and who are new enough to the T4.9 to want a stepping stone, and who want to get together and meet the other owners. AND EVERYONE ELSE IS WELCOME AS WELL.

In other words, those of us organizing this event don't want anyone to choose between this event and the Keys. Having personally spoken to 50% of the T4.9 owners in the U.S., I can say that so far, no one that could conceivably have gone to the f16 Nat's has opted to give up on that for the St. Pete event! This is a really great sign of cohesiveness within the class.

This is also a supporting event for the f16 Nat's the following week. I don't know of any active 4.9 owners so far who don't either have chutes or have chutes on order. No question we all plan on racing the boats with chutes. But we didn't want to leave out those people who are new to spinnakers this year.

Thanks - and please feel free to post with any questions or suggestions.

Michael Coffman