Welcome to the
Hobie Wave Class
Sponsored by
International Wave Class Association (IWCA)

Building on the tremendous success story of last three year's FIRST, SECOND and THIRD Hobie Wave Nationals, we are trying to make this year's even bigger and better. We have planned a full week of instruction, fun and racing. Come to any or all of the parts of this week as your schedule allows.

Overview of Race Week
Sunday evening, Dec 1st through Wednesday 4th --
A Rick White's Sailing Seminar on the Waves. This will be great opportunity to get the benefits of one of his famous race-training programs on boats that are all the same -- a rare occurrence. You will be thoroughly drilled in boat-handling, starts, mark roundings, and tactics -- and also learn a lot about how to make the Waves go faster. PLUS, it is a discounted price for a three-day seminar: $295 per person. If you are using a charter boat, there will be a charter fee of $100 for the seminar (this is separate from the $300 charter fee for the regatta).
You don't have to be sailing in the regatta to do the seminar.

For More info on the Seminar and to Register for the Seminar, Click Here!

Thursday, Dec 5--
Sail Measurements and Tune-Up Races.

Thursday night, Dec 5--
Sail Measuring, Registration and Welcome beer party in the tent at Rick's Place and check-in for the regatta.

For an Entry Form for the 4th Annual Hobie Wave Nationals, Click Here!

Friday, Dec 6 through Sunday, Dec 8 --
The 4th Annual Hobie Wave Nationals. Three days of racing.

Information about the '02 Wave Nationals
I have tried to answer most potential questions in the following information, so please read everything, and then if you still have questions, please call Rick White or Mary Wells, phone 305-451-3287, or e-mail rick@catsailor.com.

THE REGATTA HEADQUARTERS:
Rick's Place Motel and Sailing Resort is the regatta headquarters. Since most of you will NOT be staying at Rick's Place but will be spending a lot of time here, I just want you to know that we do have two bathrooms available for you to use at the headquarters.We will have a big tent here. We also have a jacuzzi and pool table and a dart board and a horseshoe pit area in case you have idle time.

HOW TO FIND US:
Rick's Place is located right on U.S. 1 (which is called Overseas Highway down here). We are at mile marker 104.3, which is also 104300 Overseas Highway. Mile marker 104.3 means we are 104.3 miles north of Key West, which is where U.S. 1 starts. So as you are coming south from Miami, the mile marker numbers on U.S. 1 keep getting lower. We are an hour south of the Miami airport. We are on the Florida Bay side, which is the right-hand side as you come south from Miami.
Take the Florida Turnpike south to where it terminates and merges into U.S. 1 at Florida City. Just stay on U.S. 1 and watch the descending mile markers as you head south. After crossing about 18 miles of Everglades, you will come to the Jewfish Creek Bridge (a lift bridge with a motel on the near side and a condo on the other side). When you cross that bridge, you will be on the island of Key Largo and about 3 1/2 miles from Rick's Place. You will pass a Winn-Dixie supermarket on your right and then go through a school zone. When you pass the "End School Zone" sign, you will be at Rowell's Marina. Just up ahead is a four-story condo complex. We are the very first driveway past that condominium. The other three motels are just past us, and Island Style Watersports, which will be a primary launching area, is just beyond the motels.
(I'm very serious about taking the Florida Turnpike. If you are driving down I-95, you want to get over to the turnpike preferably before oir when you get to Fort Lauderdale. We always switch over to the turnpike at Fort Pierce or Jupiter, where they are only a half mile apart. This will keep you out of most of the traffic in Dade and Broward Counties. And I-95 is bad news -- not only is the traffic really awful, it ends in Miami and dumps you onto U.S. 1 in downtown, meaning you have to drive for many miles in city traffic with endless traffic lights.)

CHARTER BOATS:
Thanks to the success of last four year's events, Hobie Cat Company will try to provide new Waves for charter for this event (last year they provided 9 boats). However, if there is anyway you can bring your own boat, charter from a local, or whatever, please do so. There are a few other beachboat rental operations that have some for charter as well.

As in the past years, we are trying to arrange for folks to charter and then buy their boats to take home. The price should be pretty well discounted.

WHERE THE BOATS WILL BE LAUNCHED AND KEPT DURING THE REGATTA:
(See attached sheet with area layout.) We can only "comfortably" accommodate about 30 boats here at Rick's Place. We already have three boats on the premises, which brings the number in the yard up to 27. Two years ago we had 29 in the yard, and it was completely maxed out. We really have to keep the charter boats at our premises for insurance reasons. So all the non-charter boats coming will be launching down the street a few hundred yards at Island Style Water Sports, next to the Caribbean Club, and will be kept there during the regatta. They have a lot more room, and it is actually easier to launch out of there even if the wind is from the wrong direction (west). We will have beach wheels down there and I know others will be bringing wheels, as well.
For people who are bringing boats, I am recommending you might want to stay at Neptune's Hideaway, which has a small beach area, but it looks like it can accommodate 10 or 11 boats, first come first get, when they are pulled up to fill the entire sandy area. But even if you stay at Neptune's and keep your boat there, you will still have to launch originally over at Island Style Watersports, and put your trailer there, because there is no way to get it from land to beach at Neptune's and no place to store trailers there. After launching at Island Style, you can just paddle it or walk it the few hundred feet over to Neptune's beach. (You can't use the vacant lot in between because it is too overgrown and also is private property, of course.)
The enclosed layout of the motels shows you where everything is.

WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR TRAILERS IF YOU ARE BRINGING BOATS:
If you don't want to leave your trailers down at Island Style Watersports or if they say we are taking up too much space, you can bring your trailers back to Rick's Place. We have plenty of room in the front yard if everyone puts them in there neatly.

ACCOMMODATIONS:
We only have five rooms available at Rick's Place, which is the regatta headquarters, so the majority of the sailors will be staying at one of the neighboring motels. Amoray is immediately next door, right on the other side of our fence, only 30 feet away.
Kelly's is right next to them, and they sort of adjoin with Amoray, so you can walk through Amoray's property from Kelly's to here. Those two motels share a swimming pool, too.
Just to the south side of Kelly's Motel is Hobo's Restaurant, and just past Hobo's is Neptune's Hideaway Motel, so it is still a very very short walk from Rick's Place. (It took us three minutes to make the walk at a slowish pace. Island Style Watersports is only a minute or two farther.)
How to decide where you want to stay? Well, if you are chartering a boat, you will definitely want to be staying either at Rick's Place or Amoray or, last choice, Kelly's. A plus for Kelly's is that they include a breakfast. But if you are bringing a boat and sailing out of Island Style Watersports, the closest motel to that beach is Neptune's Hideaway. So it would depend on whether you want to stay closer to your boat or closer to the regatta headquarters. Also, as I mentioned above, Neptune's has a small beach of its own that can probably accommodate 10-11 boats.
Also, under new management is Gilbert's Family Paradise Island located a few miles north of Rick's Place. They have newly decorated rooms a big beach, excellent launching facilities, a swimming pool, bar, and restaurant. This might be a very good option.
Remember, the regatta starts Friday morning. I have told the motels that most of you will probably be arriving Thursday night (unless you are coming earlier to do the seminar/race week).
Amoray, 305-451-3595
Kelly's, 305-451-1622
Neptune's, 305-451-0357
Gilbert's Family Paradise Island 305-451-1133

Camping Locations:

• America Outdoors (7 miles away) 852-8054
• Calusa Camp Resort (2-miles, but not sure if they are still open) 451.0232
• Campers Cove (2 miles)451-0561
• Florida Keys RV Resort (2 miles) 451-6090
• Key Largo Campground (2.5 miles) 451-1431
• Kings Kampground (.5 miles on the water) 451-0010
• Largo Park (2.5 miles) ?? 451-2911
• Pennekamp State Park (has camping, but I can't find a tel. no.)

ACCOMMODATION PRICES:
Mary has made arrangements with Amoray and Kelly's on pricing for the regatta participants. They will be charging less for rooms than normal. If you have more people in a room, it could be more. Neptune's has not yet given me a commitment because the manager has been sick, but their rates are already pretty low.
These are small motels and they have a variety of room types, so do not assume it is just a normal motel-type room with two double beds. If you need two beds because you are two singles, make sure you let them know that. They have fancier, more expensive rooms, but if you want the regatta price, you are going to have to take what they give you. Otherwise, you will pay extra, for instance, for an apartment on the water. The front-desk people do not always seem to know about the special price for the regatta, so make sure you tell them you are coming for the Hobie Wave Nationals that is being held at Rick's Place. If you still have a problem, call me and I will talk to them again.

ALTERNATIVE WAYS TO GET HERE IF YOU ARE FLYING AND DON'T WANT TO RENT A CAR:
If you are flying into Miami International Airport (which is about an hour from us) and are not renting a car, there are three possible transports:
Airporter: They pick up three times a day at the airport. Phone number is 305-852-3413 for reservations and pick-up information.
Upper Keys Transportation: They pick up any time, by reservation, and will also pick up at Fort Lauderdale Airport. Phone is 305-453-0100.
Greyhound --n they leave the Miami Airport to the Keys four times a day. For schedule and reservations, call 1-800-231-2222.

THE SAILING AREA:
We will be sailing on Blackwater Sound, which is a subsection of Florida Bay, which is a subsection of the Gulf of Mexico. Blackwater Sound is a beautiful body of sailing water. It is in the shape of a square, 3 miles each way, giving nine square miles of unobstructed water about 6-8 feet in depth throughout and with no reefs, sandbars or rocks to worry about. The chart section I have provided you has U.S. 1 (Overseas Highway) in dark black and a dark black circle in the area of the motels and launching areas. On Blackwater Sound there is a dotted line showing the course of the Intracoastal Waterway. We will usually be racing over to the northwest of the Intracoastal.

WEATHER CONDITIONS:
Air temperature usually is in the 80's in the daytime and around 70 at night. Water temperature shouldn't be below the mid 70's. Wind is normally 10-15 out of the eastern quadrant. If we get a cold front, the air temperature could be as much as 10-15 degrees colder, and the wind would blow out of the west as much as 10 mph stronger than the norm.

WHAT YOU NEED TO BRING (AND DO) FOR YOUR BODY:
(What you can and can't bring for your boat is covered in the boat rules section.)

• You don't need to bring a trapeze harness, because there are no trapezes allowed for the Nationals, even though there is an optional trapeze kit for the boat..
• However, Fred Johnston, who was in last year's event, made a great suggestion. You sail these boats more like a dinghy (Laser, Sunfish, etc.) than a catamaran, because you have to hike out and use the hiking straps. So he suggested that it would be a good idea for people to have hiking shorts to give them some extra padding for their butts and the backs of their thighs. If you don't want to go to the expense of padded hiking shorts, your wetsuit is probably the next best thing to give you a little bit of a cushion.
• If you don't normally use high-top booties, you might want to think about it to protect your ankles from chafing from the hiking straps.
• Sailing gloves and life jacket.
• Wetsuit and/or drysuit and/or spray suit. We don't really expect any serious cold fronts that early in the season, but you never know. The weather has been weird lately. And even in warm weather you are going to get cold when you are wet -- and this boat can be very wet if it is windy and choppy.
• Bring a water bottle and a piece of shock cord or something to attach it to the tramp. You are going to be out there for a lot of races, so personally I would take a gallon jug of water like I get at the local supermarket.
• A little toolkit is always nice to have on the boat -- small vice grip (or pliers), a Swiss Army knife that has both types of screwdrivers on it, extra ring pins and shackles, small pieces of line for jury-rigging.
• And you also might want to start doing some stomach exercises, because hiking out can take its toll.

WHAT YOU WILL GET FOR YOUR ENTRY FEE:
* T-shirts for all competitors, sponsored by the Hog's Breath Saloon
* Welcoming party Thursday night in the tent
* National Class Meeting
* Sharing session Thursday night about what people have learned about sailing the Wave.
* Continental Breakfast in the tent Friday, Saturday and Sunday (Assorted cereals and milk, yogurt, fruit, bagels and cream cheese, danish pastry, coffee, tea, and whatever else I think of that I don't have to cook.)
* Lunches in the tent Friday, Saturday and Sunday (Sandwiches, salad, fruit and whatever else I come up with that doesn't need cooking)
* Beer Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, provided by Hog's Breath Saloon (Hog's Breath Beer)
* Soft drinks, juices, water, iced tea, and fruit available all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
* Door prizes.
* LOTS of racing. The first year and last year we had 18 races, and the other two years we had 14 and 12 races in the three days of the Nationals.

Trophies:
7 places overall, 3 places for the women, 3 places for the masters (55 and over), 3 places for youth (18 and under). If more women, masters and youths sign up, trophies may go deeper.

Complete schedule of events
for Hobie Wave Race Week

SUNDAY, Dec 1
6 p.m. Welcome party for Rick White's Special Sailing Seminar for Waves ONLY
7 p.m. Seminar Orientation and Chalk Talk for Monday's drills.

MONDAY AND TUESDAY, Dec 2-3
9 a.m. Briefing followed by on-the-water drills
Noon Debriefing and lunch
1:45 p.m. Briefing followed by on-the-water drills
5-7 p.m. Debriefing and chalk talk about following day's drills

WEDNESDAY, Dec 4
9 a.m. Briefing followed by on-the-water drills
1 p.m. Lunch and debriefing
2 p.m. Graduation certificates awarded for the seminar

THURSDAY, Dec 5
1-4 p.m. Tune Up Races
3-? p.m. Sail measuring
6-10 p.m. Wave Nationals Registration and Welcoming Party, and Class Meeting (beer and snacks and videos of past sailing events).

FRIDAY, Dec 6
7-9 a.m. Continental breakfast in the tent
7-9 a.m. Final registration
8-9 a.m. Sail measuring
10 a.m. Skippers meeting
11-Noon Lunch in the tent
1 p.m. White Flag and multiple back-to-back races
5 p.m. Beer at the tent after races
6 p.m. Door Prizes (might be something you can use for the rest of the regatta, plus some of them will be dinner tickets and/or free drink tickets for local restaurants, which you would be able to use that same evening.
7 p.m. Banquet Dinner at a nearby restaurant included in your registration fee.(dinner tickets available for non-racers @ $20)

SATURDAY, DEC 7
7-9 a.m. Continental breakfast in the tent
10 a.m. White Flag and back-to-back racing
Noon-1p.m. Lunch in the tent (boats return to their beaches of origin)
2 p.m. White Flag and multiple back-to-back races
5 p.m. Beer at the tent after races
7 p.m. Dinner -- you are on your own

SUNDAY, DEC 8
7-9 a.m. Continental breakfast in the tent
10 a.m. White flag and multiple back-to-back races
1 p.m. Lunch in the tent following the conclusion of the races
3 p.m. Trophy presentations in the tent

For an Entry Form, click here!

Boat Rules for Wave Nationals:
Please click here for the complete, most up-to-date Rules

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