In mulling all this over, I have to say that Darryl's posting just reinforces a gut feeling I have, and it keeps coming back to that definition of insanity - continually doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result.

I applaud the work of the MHC in US Sailing, and wish them success, and some day I may find the time to join in and help out (work and family commitments kept me from the call-in recently, unfortunately).

But, as I will probably keep my US Sailing membership (although I'm ambivalent about it), I know that my efforts to get other cat sailors to join will be even harder now. In the past the question was always "what does US Sailing do for us", and given what has gone on that question will be much harder to answer. If it cares, US Sailing needs to make a genuine gesture to help its cause. It needs to be real, and not some cynical placation thing like trumpeting support for two events and voting for none. If there is nothing, then most will take this as further proof of their intentions. In other words, the ball is just as much in their court as ours - we can be nice, play along, beg, plead, etc., but in the end if the other side is deaf to us it will come to nothing.

As for the rules - if multi-sailing were to split there is no reason not to continue using the same rules. They can't come out to our clubs and tell us to stop using them. There are many clubs that use them that have affiliation with US Sailing and ISAF. What you can't do is publish the same rules and claim you wrote them, that's all. In fact, it's the one uniting thing we have in common with other sailors, and us knowing them helps the respect game within the whole scene.

All this having been said, I'm not fan of kicking the keel boats out of the Olympics either, although I question a class that requires the foredeck crew to become obese for the purposes of hiking ballast - great example for sports. In many ways the Star is similar to the Tornado - it's an old design that has been kept alive by participation and updates to the rig and platform.

Like others, I believe the mix should include a women's high-performance dinghy, a keel boat, and a multi. Drop the Finn - it's the only class designated for a weight class. Maybe it's time to swap the Star for a more modern keel boat - maybe the i550 (a home buildable 18' sport boat) would fit the bill, and would be more exciting and accessible for sure. Perhaps arguing for a full slate that includes the monos will help our cause, to help it being seen as more than just the cat sailors whining. I don't know.

As much as I feel frustrated for the cause of multi sailing, I really feel frustrated for sailing overall, because I really think the current slate of events will do little to enhance the image of the sport overall. Even the windsurfers - with pumping allowed, light air races are just bizarre to watch, and although I appreciate the conditioning that must be done to do that, I think most people (including myself) when seeing it on TV for a whole regatta just think it's time switch channels. Don't know how to fix that, they should be a part of the game but it doesn't represent well in those cases.