I was glad to see Joe mention in a recent newsletter that the issue of multi-day championship regattas had been raised.
I have raced EC12s in our club for a couple of years, and I race in other classes and travel to some of their regattas. But there is no model yacht regatta on the planet in which I am going to spend more than two days competing. I am not going to take the time away from work, family and other interests, or spend the additional money. I don't think I am the only skipper who feels this way.
I believe the EC12 class and others might see greater participation if such a large commitment of time was not required. Heck, I would have been at the NCR - it was only three hours from my home - if it had been a two day event. I understand all the reasons why one might like to have three or four days, but none of them are sufficiently compelling to cause me to give up that kind of time to race model yachts.
I suggest the class might gain more by giving some consideration to those for whom model yacht racing is not their only interest. If you put them (us?) in a position of having to choose, they may choose to do something else. Shorter regattas make it possible for more people to choose to participate. I don't mind one day events, and have traveled to a number of them.
Just my quantitatively-eased $.02, and worth what it cost you to read it
Rick F