Interesting... The A cat guys do not take this point of view. I don't know of an A class builder who meets the need of sponsoring a weekend builder class only regatta ... much less a a XXX builder nationals.
It may not work for the Acats. No idea really - I have never sailed one competitively and right now it's not a class that I know much about. My only comment is that because the A's have or haven't done something be it good or bad for their class, doesn't mean it will or won't necessarily work for another class (or even different specific markets)
I don't think you had Reg White Tornado nationals competing against Marstrom nationals back in the day.
No idea if they did or didn't. Same thing goes though. AFAIK the T is a specific design with very limited freedoms manufactured by several builders over the years. Once again, it's a very different class from F18.
Can you point me to any other sailing classes that do this?
Weather others do it or not has no relevance. In our market down here it seems to be working quite well and several boat owners have noted that it is a large contributing reason why they chose their particular model boat.
The points raised in support of this notion are... More nationals.. = more trophies = more champions.
and... Hey... anything a builder does to support racing is good... don't get in their way.
(my restatements)
My response to the first comment is... OK, but why devalue champions this way.... You leave the door open to... Well X, didn’t race the #$%#^ nationals.. he was at the *()* nationals and would have... could have... should have... Whatever.
I don't think it devalues anything. IMHO it is very poor form to make similar comments that you suggest (Although it does go on I agree). Whoever wins any particular regatta can only beat who turns up to race against him and to say that somebody else "would" have won is very disrespectful to the champion and should be niped in the bud very quickly. This goes on weather there is 1 championship or 5.
In support of rejecting this notion that more champions the better.. I would point to Stuart Walkers comments on B Fleets and how in his opinion they don't grow participation or meet the needs of the sailors. (B and C fleets being another way to give more trophies away and crown more champions) [Stuart does not race on Lake Woebegone... US Joke... all kids in Lake Woebegon are above average]
We are getting a little off the track here however I am not a fan of B and C fleets and/or handicap prizes. Some think differently and I respect their point of view but disagree.
So far in the US... the evidence is that builder nationals have had 0 and 5 boats and the result is to burn up a couple of yacht club hosts.
So... I am puzzled... It's not obvious to me.
Mark
Sorry Mark but the US is not the only market in the world. If it doesn't work there then don't pursue it - simple. It has proven to work in Europe and also down here and I hope it builds.
Tiger Mike.
