how many times have you driven to Florida for a National type event? It's not the boat... its the time and money to get there, race, train, afford coaching. etc etc.
Darrel yes... but ISAF through your MNA... eg US Sailing can also sanction the Yacht Club that lets you... the banned racer compete at their event. Now this may be a toothless threat... but some clubs would take a hard look at it and say... Not worth the hassle! Also... the mono's own the most essential thing we need... WATER ACCESS.... those clubs will be our only access to the water in a few years..... either we join them, run them and take stewardship of them... or we melt away.
IMO, The opportunity does exist for a savy sports marketing guy to make something useful happen though.
Perhaps, Herbie Derkson may have the means to pull a pro 20 foot circuit together.... Certainly... the EU has a strong 28 footer circuit, plus the decision 40 footer PLUS the Ishares extreme 40 circuit. Certainly... the aussie skiffs haven't needed the 5 ring circus to capture peoples imagination and marketing $$$.
Maybe the Olympic circuit will prove ... one circuit too many. The Olympic Ol Farts certainly haven't done a great job of marketing the sport now have they.
Heck... one of my local budies had stickers made up for his idea... NASCAT.... just keep turning left! He has had a plan for quite some time now... (its strictly a USA kind of thing though)
For sure.. Lots of people have had a lot of dreams torched by the powers that be. Had the Star class gone down ... an equal number of dreams would be crushed.
It certainly ushers in a new day... (NOW, I only wish we could be debating the old... Hobie 16 sloop versus... the Tornado with spin choice of equipement)
The future of the catamaran sport will be determined by our success in creating a development program for youth... Developing strong sailing clubs for the rank and file and creating and marketing an elite level of the sport which puts the benchmark out there for all to aspire to.
