2012 pre-registration list for NA is online.

[Geoff Sobering]

I guess you don't see my pretty graph unless you are logged in..

Maybe this will work better:

[KB [us5219]]

Agreed... regatta fees are a relatively small part of the expenses.  HOWEVER you have to hook the potential participants.  Dont give them an excuse.  There is a littany of crazy stuff your buddies will come up with for excuses.  (the dog, the wife, the children, the parents, the car broke down, cant miss Glee....)
Example:  Western Challenge regatta.  Cost FREE.  How many toledoans piled into a Van?  6.  we divided the cost of diesel 6 ways and shared rooms.  on a 14 hour trip that wasnt too bad.  Even splurged for an evening at the Ballet. 
Month later:  Western Regional Regatta. Cost $30.  How many toledoans?  Just me.  I drove up to Detroit and split van and hotel with 3 others.  same 14 hour trip.  More money. 
Whats this have to do with the entry fee?  Maybe not much.  But here is my point:
Ask someone to do a regatta for $0-$60.  They jump in with both feet, whip out the credit card and enjoy the weekend or week with their buds. 
Ask the same guy to do a regatta with you for $120 and he automatically starts crunching figures into his head... fuel, hotel, paternity suits... etc.  Whats his answer?  Get my drift? 
The final cost has little to do with it. Its all about suckering.... er convincing them that this is the best thing they can do with their time and money.

[rpotcova]

First of all, thank you Jim, Geoff and everyone else for your input and keeping an open mind. Well, most of you.

Numbers are way down and what are we doing to fix it?  Current pay structure is ok.  $60 for a NA and about $25 for a regional.  These prices allow costs to be covered and puts extra $$ away for race equipment, RC expenses and the unexpected costs. Agree.

The newbie price structure is there to set the hook.  My guess is about 1 in 5 of these newbies from either regional or continental regattas will be seen again.  I didn't expect that when we put those changes in place. Still a good thing.

Our local fleet in Toledo is growing.  Our club averages about 1 new member every week between December and March. Over half of these new members have a DN.  We drag new guys to the Centrals every year but when we mention the NA's and the commitment required they turn sour.  In the 60's thru the 80's people didn't work as much as they do now. Work week went from 40 hours to considerably more.

The North American Regatta has become something a bit larger than a regional regatta and smaller than it used to be.  Its alot of work to organize and almost as much to attend for the entire week.  This regatta needs to be simplified.  Lets take notes from the Western Challenge.  What are they doing to get all those boats? First Ice?  No entry or trophies?  Relaxed format? 3 day weekend regatta?  Lets think outside the box and forget the by-laws.  At this rate we'll have the best organizational by-laws and no sailors!

Loose the late fee forever. Register online and in person - cut off the online registration 2 days before.  Whatever it takes to make it customer friendly.  If you feel the need to toss an extra $60 bucks around, give it to your local charity instead.

[DN 5449]

I have to agree with rpotova.I think because the unique format (set date ,variable location) that doubling the existing registration fee is a little much.Certainly should be able to find some comprimise.
In terms of attracting more racers,I believe like a lot of classes this is a major concern.Again the circumstances involving the DN class are unique.First of all you need to get sailors then you need to convince them to race.This is a huge task even in any one design fleet.Combine that with equipment variables and it magnifies the problem.It is like asking someone who just learned how to sail to race in an A-Cat fleet.Most people that race have some competitive nature to them,and certainly think they can and are improving.The DN is a very tough class to measure skill improvement while racing.
I have mentioned this before the One Design Symposium is a very usefull weekend of all different One Design Classes sharing there ideas on attracting and promoting there Class.

[Bob Gray]

  In the last two years I prepaid two NA'S and a Gold Cup. Through no fault of my own I didn't get to sail any of them. The only thing that bothers me is when a event like last years NA is cancelled, you're screwed. Why not that the money spent for prizes out of the fee and credit the rest to the following years event. In the future if I decide to attend a regatta I will pay when I get there, I'm tired of gambling and losing, and to be honest I will be less likely to attend because of the late fee.

[rpotcova]

That's another topic that few have touched.  Where is our partial refund for last years na s that didn't happen?   Mother natures fault 100%.  Rained out baseball games offer rain checks.  Does this sort of thing happen elsewhere?

[DN 805]

I too paid for the 2011 GC and NA.   Was pleased to at least receive an NA T shirt.
I assume the regatta chairman still had expenses to cover, even though there was no racing.  He had the race committee on site, he had prizes to award.  The phone bills pile up.  Expenses don't stop just because racing is cancelled.

A preferred solution should be to allow the regatta to be postponed a couple of weeks.  That is what happened in 2005 when the GC went from Oshkosh to Madison.  The NAs were postponed a couple of weeks and we enjoyed a top notch regatta at Elk Lake. 

..sneaky scribe

[Bob Gray]

The  iceboat club I belong to has hosted the Fun Regatta for at least 15 years and we have had up to 60 boats attending. We were also very involved in the 2009  Gold Cup on Torch Lake and have helped out on several  Centrals. I feel I have a pretty good understanding of how regattas are run.  There seems to a lot of different feelings about fees and if I were King, this is what I would do.  First I would do away with the prizes. They are nice but I come to race and would rather have lower fees. The hosting region could have a nice one size fits all hat and sell them to the participants, they'd go like hot cakes. One of the reasons for the preregistration is to get sizes and to get a feel for the size of the fleet.  Let's face it, the Gold Cup is going to get about 120 entrants and the NA's about 80-100. The fixed cost for travel, race committee etc. really doesn't change much whether you have 50 sailors or 100 sailors.

My next change would be to have those preregistering pay half the entry fee early with the balance due at sign in. That way if the regatta isn't held, the money spent would be covered but the participants would get a bit of a break. For those not prepaying, hit them with a $20 penalty (easy to make change). Most people would still prepay but this way if someone's plans changed and they could make it, or if the race just showed up in your back yard, you wouldn't have to pay $120  or more to partake in about 5 races.

I like a scheduled week for the races. The Gold Cup has to have a definite time frame since folks come in from Europe. It also makes sense for the NA's. However if we get a scenario like last year, I would let the NA's, never the Gold Cup, float to the first weekend that it could be held and run it like a regional regattas. Sign in would be Friday night and Saturday morning, you'd have a quick skippers meeting, and then go racing. If you are worried about stickers, don't sweat sail numbers, just put a serial on each set and assign them to individual skippers.

This is what I'd do if I were King.

[eric_anderson]

The changing dates thing for the NA's does not work for me at all.  I like the fixed week format much better.

Cheers,
Eric US 5193

[bmintz]

If I were King:

I'd make a 400 acre refrigerated surface with a fleet of Zambonis and never have to worry about the dates or location.

Of course I would also change the rules about adultery, but that is a bit off topic.

If I were King.....

And yes, $120 bucks is a bit steep.  Before I read the rules carefully and realized that as a newbie I could race for another years' dues I had decided not to do the NA's because of a combination of cost and time.  Now that I realize that I can just show up and race, I am much more likely to make a long drive for the regatta.  Again, as a newbie I really don't need yo go to the NA's, I have no illusions about my placement, but I like the vibe of a big regatta and I learn more, faster at one. 

I really do not know about what it costs to stage a race like the NA's.  I know there are expenses and I am very willing to help foot the bill.  I am not sure why it would cost so much more if I do not commit early.

I'm just learning about all this, but I am more likely to show up if it is less expensive.  Just one man's thoughts, and worth what you paid for them.

[US 5432]

If the NA’s are cancelled or if you end up paying a late fee just think of the 60 dollars as a contribution to the greatest sailing organization in the world and you will never have a problem justifying the expenditure.

Bloom us5432

[DN 5449]

 If you feel the need to toss an extra $60 bucks around, give it to your local charity instead.

Sounds like a better idea to me