What do you like in an open water swim race?

I'm thinking of organizing a 10K open water swim race for 2013, mostly because there isn't one in our whole state that I know of (Texas...has anyone heard of a 10K here?) and we have a great venue. I've only done a few open water races, so I'd love advice from those of you who have done others. What makes a good race? Any special touches you appreciate? Anything you hate? Some things I've gathered from my own experience and from reading through past threads on here: - Accurate timing is important (we have a local timing company with a proven swim timing system, I'll work on getting a sponsor that would offset the cost of using them) - Figure out rules for wetsuit/non wetsuit awards and apparel and make these clear in advance - Figure out what to serve at feeding stations and have cups that aren't too tiny - Our venue would allow for either a point-to-point course or a multi-lap course. Point-to-point seems more interesting, but more logistically challenging, because it would be harder to offer other distances (I was thinking the 10K field would be pretty small, so we could also offer a 5K and either a mile or 1K to allow more people to participate). Another option would be different out-and-back legs in opposite directions from the start beach. What do you think about how to handle this? Thanks so much for any ideas.