Hi Carl

I will run the risk of mis characterizing the michigan fleet history as an outsider but here goes.

Once upon a time they had a very strong 5.8 class, the 6.0 and inter 18 class did not catch on.. The drivers... read guys wanted to move up to chutes and so the I20 caught on... BUT.... the fact of life is that any 20 footer wants a strong person on the front of the boat because it's physically demanding. Any 20 is a lot for a standard couple team for it to be fun. So, IMO, the migration to the F18 fleet makes a lot of sense for a fleet that has a lots of couples at it's core. You are a big guy and just won't fit on an F18 unless you have the perfect crew.

Locally, CRAM supports class and open racing by scoring the races every way they can. You just have to find the other large teams and agree on common schedule that gets you out to the same regatta. (I know, its worse then herding kitty cats)

The I20, Tornado, N6.0 and M6.0 Supercat 20's are the existing platforms for bigger teams and the number of teams we are talking about is not huge.. But... they won't be switching to F18's because of the physics! To make matters worse, the sailors that own these boats split their time between distance and buoys races...with distance races being favored so its hard to see the 20's as a big class anywhere in the USA.

The solution is to relax your one design/forumale standard, Come up with a series of races that people want to do and see if promotion and perhaps some sponsorship from Performance will restart the 20 foot ersatz class.

You would think that with 10 I20's and 5 Tornados, and 3 N6.0's on the Chesapeake Bay that you could get a 20 foot spin class racing ... BUT... its worse then herding kitty cats!

Take Care
Mark








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