Thanks for the replies and the PMs. Here's the deal; not sure why, but I have been asked to sail the event aboard a Beneteau 44.7 with some other US SAILING volunteers, including two past presidents, the current president, and the likely next president. I have been a vocal critic of some aspects of US SAILING over the last 18 months or so - conversations are likely to get uncomfortable. I thought about it a long time and decided that I should take the opportunity - the folks on the boat can't have made a mistake, in that they know very well I am a multihull sailor and have been happy in that niche for a long time. So I have to assume that they asked me along on purpose. I can't pass up the chance to have frank and uninterrupted discussion about the future of multihulls within the organization.

I haven't done big boats in a very long time - this will be interesting for sure, and the 100th anniversary of the event just adds frosting. Wish I were on one of the fast Tri's or Stars and Stripes with Randy, but it still promises to be an epic event (just slower than I'd like). I'm looking at it as a "working vacation."

I'll be taking any and all half-boat and navigation advice offered. And I promise - no softballs for the leadership.