Attracting new members:
What about trying to interest the junior laser (or whatever) sailors? Last summer I took a few out and they were really blown away by cat sailing

How about inviting the local dinghy sailing schools out for rides?

Dave

That is a great idea Dave, and we did that years and years ago. Believe it or not, there is only one dingy sailor left, everyone else bought a Hobie 14 or 16... ha ha ha.

I'd really like to get those Wave and Getaway owners involved.

Hi Tracie
Your insurance is exactly like CRAC's. It consists of 2 seperate parts... on the water insurance for your race committe for about 400 and the second part is beach or property insurance. Virginia and Maryland counties require you to list them as insured before you can run an event and that's what the beach insurance provides.

If you run one event a year for 40 boats then your entry fee starts at 20 bucks.

The harder problem is convincing the recreational sailors to put their boat on a trailer and go racing! I have no idea how you pull that one off.

Take Care
Mark

I am wondering -- when you have a two-day event with one day a distance race and the other day course racing, do you think it is best to state in advance which day will be which or wait until the weekend arrives to make that decision based upon weather conditions?
Also, if people know in advance which day is which, you might get some people coming one day and some people the other, and it would take away from the two-day event aspect of it. If they don't know in advance, maybe more will plan to come for the whole weekend.


I wonder why they are turned off by buoys racing -- probably because it seems so much more complicated, and the need to understand the rules, etc. That's why the Hobie system of starting the newbies in C class and providing pre-regatta clinics for novice sailors worked so well. How many fleets still do that?


How many non-Hobie boats do you think there are in your area? And, do the Hobie fleets in your area NOT include at least an open class for non-Hobies?

Seems like if Hobies are predominant in your area, the ideal solution would be to get the Hobie fleets to include the non-Hobies, rather than swimming upstream by starting a new regatta for the non-Hobies and also including the Hobie classes.

UNLESS you call it something completely undiscriminatory and generic like the Great Corny Cat Open. Don't you grow a lot of corn in Nebraska? Have it when there's lots of fresh corn on the cob available and have a corn theme for the food for a big Saturday night cookout dinner -- everybody brings some kind of corn side dish -- corn relish, corn bread, cornmeal muffins, corn fritters, corn souffle, corn pone (whatever that is), corn salad, tamales......wow, I'm salivating (and gaining weight) just thinking about it. You could even have prizes for the best corn dish.

There would be other food besides all the corny stuff, of course.

Yup, that sounds right. I recall the on the water off the water insurance parts now.

I don't think the true recreational sailors in Va Beach even *have* trailers. Their boats are forever bound to the sandy dunes, only dragging them out during the summer months.

I used to get really frustrated on trying to figure out how to attract them. Now I just accept that fact that people are people. I just plan for the event and hope for the best.
No telling what makes people want to go to an event or not.

Tracie

I don't know why fleets don't have C fleet intro's anymore? To me an "ACAC F" race seems like anyone could do it but it doesn't happen. In a distance race, there is a lot of time to goof off if you want too. It's a big area so there isn't that pressure of all the boats being crammed together. ???


On a side note, it will prob. be held in SD rather than NE. Iowa has more corn I believe... I don't know why they named UNL's football team the Huskers. I am a transplant.

We hold a Raven Rookie Race each year to get new sailors on the race course. It gives them a chance to sail around the course without hanving someone yell at them bacsue they are in their way etc.
www.hobiefleet32.org/

BEER !

David Mosley
www.seacats.org

no joke, alot of people helping you, and ALOT of PR !!! Im talking 6 mos to a year in advance is needed.

Hi Flounder. Is that your real name? I belong to Hobie Fleet 192 that sails at Branched Oak Lake near Lincoln, NE. I raced at our Bent Mast Regatta this June 7th and 8th. We had many boats of all sizes and manufacturers.
The weather was rainy, cold, and windy. Only the the serious racers went out the first day and they had a blast. I find that people new to our sport are not turned off by racing if they are mentored and encouraged. Our fleet does a great job of this. I own 2 Nacras, at 5.2 and a 5.5, which I sail as unirigs. I have also helped to build a Nacra 5.2 fleet in this club and in another. I have belonged to the fleet since 1996. I have not sailed a Hobie Cat since joining the fleet, and do not have anything against them, I just like Nacras. I have always been welcomed to race and socialize with fleet 192.

If there is any problem with our fleet, in my opinion, it is with those former members that bought other brand boats and bad-mouthed Hobies. These sailors have all the answers but do not join, compete, or do anything positive for our fleet. This is a good part of why we have seen a decline in our fleet. Also our lake water level is at a 30 year low, making access difficult.

If you want to start your own regatta, feel free. It makes more sense to me to participate in ones that are already going and helping to make them better. Why don't you join us and participate? Mark Scherer

I like the two day events, and really like Mary's idea of having one a distance race, and the other around the buoys. I still haven't raced, though I have registered because I like to support my fleet, the events, and I'm still hoping to get out onto the course sometime! As far as the different brands of boats goes, I have friends with all different makes, and I like the idea of being more open and inclusive. My boat is modified so I can't race in my class, but I don't care. I'd just as soon race open class! I just want to learn to get the most out of my boat, and enjoy the comraderie.

That wasn't my idea -- in his original post that is the way Flounder said he was going to set up the regatta.

Hey Mark... yep I know about the Weds Night races they frequently have, but I will never be able to get to those. I had planned on Bent Mast, but the weather was horrible and the lakes are in tough shape around Omaha and Lincoln.

I am just tossing out ideas. I am not frustrated, but I am tired of going to the coasts for distance races. I and a fair amount of others would like to see an alternative to the typical events. Not that they are bad, but I think if it is possible to get some big sponsors foot the bill to do a weekend then why not? Variety is the spice of life.

Re: Insurance. I have mentioned this before on this forum. What is the regatta organizer actually buying when paying $400 to $1000 for "regatta insurance"? We found out that sometimes the underwriters are insuring only injury to "spectators". They do NOT insure injury or damage to participants, but try to find this out before paying for the "insurance". Some coastal municipalities force organizers to have "insurance"- but it is very difficult to find out what they actually want! So- they killed our fleet's regattas. PS: I have never heard of a lawsuit brought against a regatta organizing committee. Has anyone? But my wife says we ain't doing it anymore for legal reasons. This is a real shame because I used to have a good deal of fun organizing these events.

Most regattas require each participant to carry liability insurance in order to race just for this reason.


This coverage is included in the Beach coverage of your regatta package. It costs approx 400 more dollars.


The US Sailing insurance or Myers Briggs package will directly name the municipality on the insurance form.



Your wife is wise... Why should you take on any unneccesary risk when you can charge every participant 10 bucks for the YEAR! (40 boats, 2 people at 10 bucks a head!)

Insurance should not be stopper for running an event unless you don't have decent numbers of sailors participating.