Hotline

Another great Hotline. Particularly enjoyed the Signal Boat article on race management. PU is the EF Hutton of ROs.

On the issue of suggestions for updating the fleet selection for Alter Cup - keep in mind that the Committee is most likely to select methods that are fair to all fleets, regardless of manufacturer, and that provide the most competitive Championship fleet possible.

Also, a reminder that Hotline Editor Matt Bounds will be speaking at the USSA Symposium in New Orleans, January 17-21. <img src=

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John and now Jake
Is there any plan to get participation up at the qualifiers?
There wasn't a regatta with over 25 boats and four had under 10.
I found this surprising.
Up here in area A&B there isn't even a race.
Almost all the people that have qualified are very good sailors, so your getting good people, but the turnouts look bad.
I've heard T Korz talk of wanting a qualifier up here(possibly Canandaigua). Anything happening?

So how does one get involved with the multihull council?

Speaking as a potential participant in the qualifiers, I feel that trying to compete against the talent that these events bring out would be like trying to get a bottle rocket to the moon 😛

So knowing you have no shot to win would keep you away?
That could be a legit reason why numbers are small.

While I savor the opportunity to compete against those who are on a whole different level than I, at the same time, I have to consider each regatta as a function of time x money. I prefer to go to the smaller local regattas (like Bare What you Dare), the larger local regattas (Spring Fever) and the FUN ones (like Outback cup). The alter cup qualifier is serious business. While I'd probably see it as a learning experience, I'd probably feel in the way more than anything else.

We would have participated in our qualifier, just for the experience, had it not been for the 13 hour one-way drive to Texas. We realize the Tomkos, etc. would have chewed us up and spit us out.

If I thought I could have got away with submitting my mother-in-laws Missouri address I would have shown up in Clear Lake, Iowa.

Is this the wrong attitude to have? I would think those aspiring to compete would be competent and knowledgable enough of the rules to not

cause problems

. Otherwise why have the race? Just pick the handful of teams you know are favored and have a match race of sorts.

John, I don't think there's any reason you can't sail in the event. To win and qualify you would have show why you couldn't sail in your own area qualifier.
Those in the know could explain better.

Don't expect that being a problem in the immediate future <img src=

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You bring up a good point.
Why can't you qualify at the closest race to where you live?

It looks like there will be at least 5 former and current H16 sailors this year. I have to root for those guys and gal.
If Struble has been sailing he will be trouble.

There are issues with attendance at Qualifier events, no doubt about it. Each region has its own issues. It is up to the people in each region to overcome those obstacles.

A large one for us in the new Area L (Pacific NW) is the cost. Many of our sailors are not members of US SAILING, and must join US SAILING as well as pay entry fee in order to compete. We are working hard to keep the event fee minimal to overcome this obstacle.

At the 2006 Qualifier -- my first year organizing it -- $30 bought you 7 double (or single!) trap races in 15+k winds run by a US SAILING-certified PRO, seafood dinner Sat. night, some of the Pacific NW's finest microbrew all weekend long, and brats and weiners after Sunday's racing. Oh, and if you were lucky enough to not just win but place in the top 3, you got a US SAILING medal. (These are not chintzy medals, but the nice ones!) We even had a US SAILING-certified judge to handle the one protest.

That was all accomplished by aggessively marketing to sponsors (to keep the cost down) and through the efforts of some great volunteers (to keep the quality high). It took effort. But, hey, what in life that is worth anything doesn't take effort? We are in the midst of rebuilding the Qualifier into a premier NW event. It will take several years to get the numbers back up. But if you will build it, they will come!

So it is up to each region to identify what obstacles lie in the way of attendance, and then address them aggressively. There is no substitute for the Alter Cup format. The venue is fantastic -- you get to go toe-to-toe with sailors you rarely get to race against. It should be promoted and promoted heavily.

Good lord, you can almost hit the lake where your qualifier is held from your residence by tossing a rock!

Would that be the same rock that I hit with the boat due to my incompetence? 😛