Harry,

The secret to the raffle is getting your local shop and or Hobie or Performance to donate goodies for this purpose. You round up a bunch of little things like coozies and hats and then have one big thing like a harness and you sell raffle tickets. The cost of the ticket depends on the value of the raffle. Our experience here has been that you will gross alot more at a buck a piece then you will at five dollars a piece. The raffle has saved the day for us a few times when comes to offsetting expenses at a regatta. As for the discount, make the discounted price your regular price and the late registration 5 or 10 dollars more. In the end you are not lowering your income, but instead raising it from the procrastinators, and you will also reduce your expenses as you will have a better feel for a head count and thus will not overspend on perishables that go to waste.