I may have a response to that question. As a crew involved in the mid 80s and now just getting back into the sport, I have a slightly different perspective. I don't think you'll find one person on this forum that will say that surfing OR the LV Cup is more exciting than cat racing. Cat racing is extremely exciting........for the racers. My wife attended a regatta early in the year and the only time she went again was as a crew. Why? Because for a shoreline spectator, it is more exciting to watch the trees or go for a walk. You can't tell how your friend/family member is doing and it's hard for a non-cat sailor to tell what is going on from the shore. I have had friends who have wanted to come and watch and I have honestly told them there isn't much to see from shore. That may not be the right answer, but it is the truth. One thing we can do to help this become more of a spectator sport is by moving the courses closer to shore. Why not have the start/finish close to the launch or one of the marks? That way at least the family members can see you and maybe even wave. Whatever disadvantages there are to bringing the marks in closer is a disadvantage to everyone.



I think the Worrell is a wonderful event and is prime for TV, much like other events like the LV Cup. As a racer, I was interested when the world cup of match racing was on OLN earlier this year. Again, being honest, I turned it off after 5 minutes (very boring) and this is from a sailor! Imagine the non-sailors out there.....yawn!! Maybe we should inundate OLN with emails requesting coverage of catamaran racing. If they say there isn't interest, maybe we can make our voice heard.



Kip

TheMightyHobie18