Chris, you are too much. You said that with a yard of ale in the right paw, eh?
When you read Brawner you need to read deep. There is a lot of experience and history on the line as an RD at major events in his words. I can assure you that if it can be bigger and better he will be the first to stand and shout "Lets go racing."
Limits come in a lot of ways; the size of that portion of a lake that is reasonable to sail, the ability of the race staff to handle and conduct the event and an individual races, the amount of time and total races one is on the water for the effort in being there and the landed facilities and after hours events. Many that have conducted large fleet events agree that with a good venue 16 to 18 boats on the water for a start is likey to be a capability limit to manage with fairness.
Promotion Relegation has provided good fleet management above 30 boats for an event. The Matrix system is best at two fleets and places severe restriction in time and cycles when three fleets are needed. There have been other suggestions but in the end the reasonable fairness with time on the water is a sought after goal. Likewise, in championship regattas, the quality of the racing is a prime consideration through the lenght of the heat. It was hard at the Dayton nationals because of the very light air but the RC held to the two lap preference.
If you hold to these considerations for a national championship, where three fleets can expect to sail around 20 two-lap races in three days, one can feel comfortable with the effort to attend and better with a chance to offer a tactical plan.
Taking these considerations in mind a limit of 42 to 46 boats becomes the result of the math. We have 46 channels but even that number does little to guarantee a lack of switching. With this presentation for an event it can be a daunting projection for many but a few. The organization of four well prepared individuals is on the border of challenging to get off 120 water events at a nationals for entries around 40. This includes match racing.
I think that Larry is right in his expectations that major events will grow. It would certainly be reasonable to expect in class dense areas like Florida and Charleston. The decision for the class to form pro teams to conduct the nationals was part of these considerations rather than burdening a local club for such a large effort with possibly only tutored preparation.
I do not know what other classes do to handle 80 entries. It may be that we ourselves and the style of racing we like are the limiting factors. Whatever, the thinking has been underway should limits be thought to be real and expected.
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