Hi Steven

In reading your post it seems to me that what you are looking for is " being pushed" its the challenge of passing a well sailed boat so that you can get better.
Your assumption is that this naturally occurs in a one design (Tornado) fleet.

I disagree and offer two points.

Obviously, sailing the scratch boat in an open fleet means that you better be out front... (not so much fun) What if you sailed an F18 against a mediocre fleet of T sailors..... I bet the challenge is now there.... Your ability to sail the F18 to its number and compete against the T's boat for boat who are not sailing as well will put a lot of the challenge back into the game.

My point is that What people want is competition and goals which are achievable. This is what keeps them coming back for more.

Another example...is it competitive to have a fleet of one or two Olympic level sailors and the rest ... weekend warriors. Of course not. Simply saying ...well it's one design and so its great... would be meaningless.... You would still be way out in front and not being pushed. You essentially match race Bundock and Forbes. You could do that at your convenience... why go to a regatta and then have to wait for the slow boats in the fleet to finish.

What you want to see are finishing positions in constant flux at all levels of the fleet. ... If the results in a one design fleet are easily predicted... its not a competitive fleet and people will find something else to do. (No matter how identical or tunable the boats are.)

Back in the day of 150 boat Hobie 16 regattas...you got exactly this.... three fleets (A, B and C) of sailors racing against their peers (experience and skill) and the game was competitive and fun.

To answer Mary's question.... Would I prefer to sail in a one design fleet. NO...... Would I prefer to sail in a competitive one design fleet ... Certainly! Would I leave a few of my friends who race I20's to race Waves in an open class... NO... Let them race against the T's unless its the nationals.

The question facing all weekend regattas is how do you optimize competition... (NOT the BOATS). Strategies are one design, Formulae, rating bands in handicap... eg spins, Handicap, or Personal handicaps. You also need to make sure that some sailors aren't left behind by your splits... Better to throw a P19MX into a 10 boat Hobie 20 fleet then have the P19MX in an open fleet with very few similar boats and just score the event twice Open and Hobie 20). If you don't keep every one in the game they won't bother to play for long!

Good luck finding a Marstrom ... the Capricorn looks like a nice design as well. You don't see many of the Olympic guys really cross training on other boats... (odd nationals... certainly but not really campaigning a non Tornado) How do you see it?

Take Care
Mark
Off to sail my T in the league of ordinary sailors fleet at the OCR at the end of the month