Mike we have been working on JO's for years. I think the history is instructive.

CBYRA (Chesapeake) has a JO rotation schedule which puts the event at a different Yacht Club each year between Baltimore and Hampton Virginia. The weekend is fixed in the summer schedule and the YC is expected to step up and make it happen. JO's draw upwards of 100 to 150 kids... and 20K of college schloarship money is awarded in part based on performance at the JO's. JO's are a huge deal and a huge headache for the adults trying to manage all of those kids...

Only two of the Yacht Clubs (with JO responsibilities) have any catamaran sailors in their yacht club who would be able to move the ball within the club. Many of the Yacht clubs also have space limitations and the JO's are huge events for their facilities. The stated killer issue has dealt with the issue of a catamaran at the launch...and to a lesser extent managing the cat's on the race course. So the OA's could not see how they would manage 10 or so catamarans at their events amidst the chaos of a 100 + other kids who have never dealt with a catamaran on the beach or water.

This structure means that the JO's are a complete new experience for the OA and they have never seen how Hobie 16's would fit in at the JO's. ... by the time the JO's return to your Yacht club... the junior leadership has turned over and your start all over. The comeback was always... OK... we could run a separate event for you if you want. My experience is that trying to create those stand alone events just don't have the buzz and energy needed to really take off and the barrier was enormous.

So, the negotiations are local and are always hit the rocks on the logistical details.

This year, the sun moon and stars aligned. Rock Hall Yacht Club has lots of space and over the last 5 years have gone from creating and hosting one A cat start to running several cat starts on a cat only course and hosting a Hobie Points regatta. At the scheduling meeting in Dec, I was surprised when Rock Hall mentioned that it wast their turn for the JO's.... Moreover, the windsurfers who have an olympic pipeline program had asked Rock Hall for a start at JO's. So, I raised the possibility of Hobie 16's and got an answer.... of "I think we could make this work". Historically we have had a couple of Junior teams racing at the Rock Hall annual and hobie regattas at and the club leadership remembered these sailors as well.

Harry, is the only Rock Hall Catamaran Sailor with a boat at the club and he has taken the ball from the heads up at the scheduling meeting and run with it. He has lined up Rock Hall, Division 11 and NAHCA and USSSA support. He is working on all of the logistics problems that the club did not consider at the start and those have been handled. When you make it easy for the YC to run the event and can't find any huge reasons to say no... they are delighted to say yes and see the Catamaran JO's as a real plus to supporting sailing.

We hope that we have a hugely successful event and show the other yacht clubs that Hobie 16's at JO's are possible and successful. Hopefully we can find another JO event on the east coast next year who can also find a way to include the Hobie 16's.

So... developing relationships with Yacht Clubs and the Regional Sailing Authorities, Joining these Yacht clubs and getting a catamaran fleet at the club, making their events work by showing up and racing established the foundation Harry is building on!

PS... USSA does support catamarans in all of the ISAF championships... Adults and Junors. There has been no change in those policies. USSA Olympic (Dean Brenner) supports sailors... he is somewhat less concerned about sailors in a specific class when it comes to olympic sailors.