Just an idea;



I was thinking that maybe we can arrange something that will allow all participants to sail and lighten the load on some of the boat suppliers.



I mean ; it will be feasable for most to fly in race and fly back. But it is difficult for most to drive down with their boats race and drive back again.



Now Geert, Nico and myself are planning to make a trip out of it by looking to go to both events so we have spare time.



And more importantly ; we have a class organistion ! So lets organise and make impossible things happen.



Maybe it is an idea that one or two of us fly into an area, away from Tampa or the Keys, pick up a trailor with 1 or two boats and drive down to Tampa. After Tampa the three Dutchies have 5 days of doing nothing so we must surely be able to drive three rigs down to the keys with possibly 3 to 6 boats. I know Bill Moran, Kirt Simmons and Chip have trailors that will take two taipans. With the boats of Rick and the other yet anonimous party we could have at least have something like 5 to 8 boats at our nationals. This would allow the others to just fly in and race and drive back themselves when. Although all boats near Tampa would be driven back by the Dutchies.



The fuel costs would be devided over the transported boats.





Several implementations can be dreamed up :



-1- Dutchies pick-up all boats and drive them back again.

-2- Dutchies pick-up the boats and the owners fly in and drive back.

-3- Owners drive into Tampa and fly out only to fly back into the keys again and drive back from that event. The Dutchies would drive the boats down to the keys from Tampa.

-4- another possibilty that I haven’t thought off.



We would split some costs and everybody would be happy.



Any suggestions ?



Wouter

Bill Moran has reaffirmed his willingness to lend us his boat. Ofcourse he is in Ohio, but there may be a way to get his boat down to Tampa Florida. We have the keys covered with Ricks boat.



Ofcourse a local Tampa option would be more practical, so ...



But Geert we have a very good shot at arranging boats/places at both events for us three. Thank you Bill.



Regards,



Wouter







Wouter

Wouter-

What I was thinking was drive my boat down to Tampa, race with one of you all at the Taipan Nats, then drive to Ft. Lauderdale (just North of Miami- flights much cheaper for me!), catch a flight home, my crew drive down to Key Largo. Then I would fly back into Ft. Lauderdale, have my crew pick me up then do the F16HP Nats and drive back here after that.

My trailer is not currently setup for two boats but it could be if that is what is needed. I will need to make/modify my maststands to hold 3 masts (I need to bring my "spare" back from Tampa!) and modify the rear maststand to support the rear beams of both boats plus add one angle to my front support. Not a big issue- just let me know so I can work on those things- I would probably also add another "cat box" to the trailer-

Of course another option would be for one of you all to just fly in/out of Arkansas and help with ALL the driving!



Kirt

The plan I'm trying to organize into existance looks something like this :



-1- Kirt picks up Bills boat and his trailer which is prepared for stacking 2 boats. (Thank you Bill ) Kirt does in October when he is near Bill anyway.



-2- One of us Dutch guys flies over to Kirts and drives Kirts rig with two boats down to Tampa.



-3- Kirt flies in into Tampa and sails with that Dutch guy and flies back out again.



-4- the Ducth guys now united at Tampa drive all the rigs that need to down to the Keys in the 4 days that lie between the two events. It will give us something to do.



-5- All fly or drive into Ricks to race. And we'll have two charter boats at Ricks place so we'll have a boat left for another crew that wants to come. Any takers ?



-6- The Ducthie who drove Kirts rig down to Tampa flies out and save holliday time while the Dutch persons who directly flew into Tampa drive the rigs back to Tampa and Kirts.



-7- Taipans that don't belong in Tampa can be delivered back home in Georga or were ever or be left in Tampa where they will be picked up later by their owners.





A variation to this theme is when the owners drive the boats back from the Keys themselfs. Although it might be cheaper for us Ducthies to arrange for retour tickets from a single airfield than two one-way tickets.





There is one problem that needs to be solved though. When all lodging requires 150 bucks per night than I think we need to arrange something else for lodging at the keys. Any suggestions ?



Wouter

Thanks for all the effort so far, looks good, just want to say that if i can help with driving Taipan's it's fine to me.



Geert

And Geert is very serious about attending both events and has confirmed his willingness to do some driving.



Nico is seriously considering it and I'm drawn in deeper and deeper.



Now Chip Zenke en Lee Mullins have already agreed to come



As well as a yet anonimous crew; in fact when all come there will be 7 persons from the EU comming over for Ricks F18HT and F16HP event of which some 5 persons for the F16 class.



Tampa is pretty much assured an attendence of 7 to 8 boats and Ricks will come out at the same amount although not all confirmations are in.



I will e-mail the guys like Chuck Harnden and Mike Crawford as well as Mike Woodard from Atlanta as well as David Swingle and see what they think of flying into the keys and race with us.



I looks pretty sure that we'll have 1 charter boat at Tampa and 2 charter boats at Ricks place. So people can fly in when they want to and fly out without loosing precious holliday time.



I'll keep everybody posted.





Wouter

Wouter,

Hardly anyone has called Mary about rooms and it is imperative that you all do so immediately. And we still have two studios remaining:

*Unit #1 (studio w/Queen bed and pullout couch bed) is $65 except for Sat & Sun when it is $105 for those two days only.

*Unit #6 (studio w/Queen) is $65 except for Sat & Sun when it is $95 for those two days only.

Don't know where you got a price of $150 please let me know where and I can advise where else to look.

No use re-inventing the wheel.

And Kelly's Motel has blocked a bunch of rooms for the regatta and are priced at $60 and $70 (for two people) for the entire time. Better NOT to use Amoray -- they tend to price themselves much higher than the others in the area and they are not worth it.

Also, Neptunes has a small beach to keep your boat at night, although you would have to launch here and sail a hundred yards to get to it. (they have no launching facility)

Rick,



I got those numbers of the F18HT forum but Nacracando there also told that neptunes was a good resort for 60 USD. Kirt is currently in Kellies and the Dutch person are currently synchronising actions so that we can call you or one of the other places.



You know what I'll just call you now.



Regards,



Wouter

Rick-

Umm, I called Mary at ~12:45 CST and she told me she was holding those two rooms for someone else and I needed to make arrangements elsewhere. I tried you all FIRST because I think it's important to support you in this endeavor (and besides, it's been a great place to stay in the past when I was there!)-



Kirt

Think you misunderstood her -- the rooms we have were just to small to accomodate the size of your group. Sorry for the misunderstanding.