Just wondering if anyone club help me out. This summer on Lake Coeur d' Alene, we are having our first multihull regatta and as many of you know there is much to do to have a successful regatta. So my question is as follows:

1. Would it be better to have a short distance race or an official around the buoys regatta. Pros & Cons for a new club.
2. Is there a simple list of items we would need for either type of regatta.

This is our first year officially as a club and so we do not have a lot of material to run a regatta thus the idea of a short distance race of maybe 15 to 20 miles. There will be Hobie Wave's, H16's mostly in the fleet with a few TheMightyHobie18's, and maybe one Nacra 5.8.

So what do you think and are we nuts for even trying to have a regatta? Do have 3 major sponsors and a strong and growing membership base so things are looking good financially.

Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Miles Moore
H16
www.sail-s.com

Wow!

I don't think I would send Hobie Waves on a 15 mile distance race... You might not see them again. You might set up a race with resonable length legs and run laps. Each time a boat passes through your gate/committe boat it can be scored as a lap. The nacra could do 10 laps for the 5 laps that the wave might do. The advantages are that you keep the boats closer to the beach where in case of a breakdown they don't have a bad experience. You also have to pass the other boats in a lap race which gives everyone the feeling that they are indeed racing each other and not just the clock. Sailwave will allow you to score each lap by taking the time and then compute the overall winner no matter how many laps they do or don't do. The racers will see if they are getting better on each lap. Everyone will hit the beach in a reasonable time spread and be able to start the social part of the regatta.

I think the last thing you want is to have the poor wave sailor finishing 1.5 hours after the Nacra.

Just a thought
Have fun no matter what!
Take Care
Mark

Why wouldn't you want to send a wave on a 15 mile race?

Rick seems to pull it off just fine.

Mark is right -- Waves are not well suited to a distance race. Not only are they slow (about the speed of a well-sailed Sunfish or Laser), they are also single-handers, and I personally don't think single-handers should be in distance races.

what an interesting idea....make a BIG triangle course (2 to 3 miles) and make everyone sail X number of laps (more for the big boats) - like an automobile race! Man, that would be fun! A Big long reaching leg right in front of the spectators too! Have two or three races in a weekend so you have a chance to catch up. Now to think of a name....

Take your biggest sponsor and honor them by calling it the "West Marine 10 miler" or something. Or perhaps each race (three in a weekend) could be named after each sponser.

Hi Miles,

We wanted a distance race with a wide range of handicaps so (as MS has already suggested) we changed the format to an endurance race; big laps around Swansea bay, each lap taking around 45 mins in a decent wind for the mid-handicap boats. It's not a perfect solution but it's now a popular event with the members and it's well named; going around-and-around for 5 hours is harder than it sounds... We choose a course that has a brief foray into some interesting seas, but racers are soon back to the safety of the inner bay... Just a thought...

Regards,
Colin
www.sailwave.com

Hey, Miles, you actually have a great dilemma - eager participants, willing sponsors and thoughtful organizer (you).

For a new club, you also need to consider availability of RC boat, chase boat, and area/distance to cover for safety of competitors. For round-the-buoys races you need marks to be set relative to changing wind conditions. Distance races may not need this exactly. Does the lake have permanent, well-marked and easily describable navigation buoys that can be used as marks of a distance course?

I think the idea of a middle distance/laps around an area is a good idea to start off with. It limits the area to cover, yet gives the faster boats a challenge.

Any time you can get a mark rounding near a spectator site like a pier or something, it can be great for publicity.