You have to read this article in one of our local papers that refers to catamarans as "gnats" and "Why were these things bugging us":
http://www.danspapers.com/paper/northfork2.htmlI wrote a good response, which is below. I hope they print it.
My response:
Hi Dan,
Love your paper, always have.
I have a response to the article "Whitebread Regatta: A Sailor's Story" written by Greg Burton on page 39 of the October 15th issue.
I was sailing on a "that catamaran" as he referred to, in that race. There were actually four of us total, and one 43 foot trimaran in our division. We were referred to as "gnats" and then later on he asks "Why were these things bugging us?"
I'm not sure why he felt we were bugging them any more than any of the other racers. He stated, "and that catamaran shot past our bow". If it were a J120 or another type boat, would it have been any different? It wasn't the same catamaran passing them each time, though we do "all look alike". We started last at 10:05AM, as there were 15 minutes between each division's start (not 10 minutes as he stated), separating the first and last divisions by one hour. After 4 and half hours we were able to pass nearly all 100 "monohulls" that started ahead of us, with only 3 that we could not catch by the finish. He also forgets to mention that 2 of the catamarans finished in front of their boat "Team Tonic" (a very well sailed Beneteau 42s7, owned and skippered by Jim & Ellen Sanders), but somehow we are just left out of those standings in his article. I guess this is because he feels we really aren't sail boats, but some sort of annoying insect. I too own a monohull, and also a Beneteau, like "Team Tonic". But I've always felt that if a boat has a stove, a shower, and a place to sleep, it's really not for racing. That would be like bringing a motor home to a Nascar, Indy or Formula-1 track and then wondering why all these annoying little cars are "shooting past you..."
Thanks!
Steve Bellavia
