O.K. You would like that rush of doing the 1000. Don't have a sponsor, boat a little rough, can't afford
chase crew, money a little tight?
I think I might have something worth listening to. Of course the "particulars" would need to be addressed, but what the heck. After all, worse things have been worked out.

Lets just say that we run a "worrell wannabees" race here off Dunedin causeway. Set the number of days that the majority of sailors would like to race: 5, 10 15..what have you. Set a course in the gulf for 50, 75, 100 miles per day. You leave from the beach and return to the beach the same day (or night). We have facilities for leaving your boat on the beach, camping on the spoil islands, and I would open my home to some sailors. (certain others would). Just a thought. Catman, what could you do with this?

Dave

This is how I would "organize" a "training session" Worrell 1000-style "race". This would be something to give your average-joe sailor a taste of long-distance catamaran adventure-sailing.

First, I'd run the whole thing in the Gulf of Mexico. This means not having to deal with large waves and cold waters. The point is to make this a relatively easy event to complete. I'd start it in the Panhandle... say Gulf Breeze, and run it along the coast until we got to Key West.

#1- Gulf Breeze to Panama City Beach ~88 miles

#2- Panama City Beach to Appalachicola ~70 miles

Finding a place along the coast within 100 miles of Appalachicola that has decent facilities is pretty difficult. This section of the coast is mostly State-Owned and has only small towns with large beaches. RV parks and campsites would be the most likely accomodations. I chose Keaton Beach for no particular reason, and guesstimated the distance...

#3- Appalachicola to Keaton Beach ~80 miles

#4 Keaton Beach to Cedar Key ~80 miles

#5 Cedar Key to Dunedin ~110 miles

#6 Dunedin to Venice ~77 miles

#7 Venice to Marco Island ~113 miles

#8 Marco Island to Key West ~100 miles (straight across Flordia Bay!)

Total Mileage ~718. I'd say give-or-take 50 miles.... I did this using Map Quest and some common sense.

You could sail the entire Gulf Coast of FL in barely over a week. Spring would probably be the best season, when Fl gets steady winds and the Yankees are starting to thaw out. The week of Spring Break (March 22nd) would be ideal for allowing the largest number of people to make (and see) the event, but then the accomodations would most likely be full or at peak rates and there will be a lot of intoxicated idiots on the water.

Ideally each team would be 3-4 people. Two sailors and ground crew, which could rotate between sailing and driving if desired or necessary. Being the cheapskate that I am, I'd most likely try my hand at camping out each night. A sleeping bag on the trampoline makes a very comfortable bed, and a pickup with a camper shell can sleep a couple in relative comfort. I'm sure the older people would prefer real beds with a real roof over their heads, but then they can afford the luxury.

I'm not sure wether I'd run it as a race or a regatta. Like the Worrell, the main goal would be to complete the event. Not running it as a race cuts out a lot of logistal problems (race commitee's are hard to come by, insurance issues, etc.) and allows the sailors to enjoy it more and not feel forced to push their boats and their bodies so far beyond the safety level.

I for one would definately like to have at least one large multihull sail the course behind the fleet in case of an emergency. Something like a MacGregor 36 that would just about be able to keep up with them, and have aboard some people with decent medical knowlege (good first-aid experience). Of course, if there were enough "micro-multihull" class boats to make their own fleet, that would be really cool too.

>Ideally each team would be 3-4 people. <

A side thought.
How about increasing the size of the team?
Say Team Fort Walton, Team Pensacola, Team Miami, Team Tampa, Team Aus, Team Euro, etc.
Say each member of the team member sails 200 miles(or two legs) of a thousand or two thousand miles.

With a huge team you could sail from Corpus Christi to Key West.
Team size: 2000 / 200 = 10 crews x 2 members per crew = 20 team sailors + Land crew/managers
With a larger team individual members time/cost would be lowered.
Team practice would make their team faster than others.
You could position the team members based on skill level vs leg/wind difficulty.

Whose town wants the bragging rights?
Team spirit and quantity of spirits consumed would be dramatically increased, etc.
Finish line party would be hug mon gus?

I spent a few minutes sailing with some Aussie's off Englewood Beach, FL during the Hogbreath 1000 many years ago. It started in the Keys and went up the Gulf of Mexico.

What about a Gulf Coast Relay? You could put teams together that would race part, i.e. a couple of teams would race the Texas coast, then switch off to another team to do a different area. This could be done all the way to Key West.

Just a thought.

Clayton

I like the input regarding this post. It appears that a lot of different ideas are being posted. The reason that I thought of going out and coming back to the same place each leg was to take into consideration not needing support crews. Lets face it, the logistics of the Worrell or Tybee are not within reach of your average sailor. We have camping available on the numerous spoil islands and having talked to our local sailors, many of us could open our homes. One of the legs could be our annual "Macho Man", which numerous teams have used for training.

Just something to kick around.

Dave

Here's an idea! You could do it kind of like what the big motorcycle groups call a "Poker Run". I believe they supply a map and travel to various places where you pick up a playing card. The one that comes back with the best hand wins. That version is in no way dependant on finish times and is more about a bunch of guys getting to ride through some scenic places and still give them something to talk about.

Our version could place cards at businesses that are close to beaches in different directions and have the competitors travel to a different far away business on each day to collect their cards (and the business would get some sponsorship opportunity and/or could help establish a landing spot on the beach). The card is the proof that they got to the spot in question. In the end I would imagine that the overall low CT would be most important but maybe there could be a second prize...say a big raffle item or a collection of items from the sponsoring businesses...that would go to the team with the best hand.

Some work would need to be done with the local municipalities but the business could prepare a landing/launching area on the beach with a table to hand out cards (and the competitors have a map supplied and/or GPS coordinates). The sponsor would benefit by putting a banner up in the cordoned off landing area and drawing attention as the boats come in and out. They could probably even supply the help to man the table and perhaps even to re-launch boats as long as one race official were in place to make sure things were done properly. That would be a lot of fun!

Oh! I donn't see in your original post where you mention coming back to the same beach. How about something like a weekend-long "Macho Man" style race where the racers camp-out overnight. Say from Dunedin to Egmont Key or Anna Maria Island one day, and back the next? I'm sure I could talk the Beach-House Restaurant into providing us with beach access to hold the boats overnight. They've sponsored catamaran regattas many times before, usually a combination of buoy racing and a short distance race (up to the Sandbar Restaurant and back, or up around Egmont Key and back) over the course of a weekend.

The idea of spending a week doing distance racing and ending up back at the beach you started from is also very enticing.

www.watertribe.com have paddling and sailing events that involve point to point racing in several classes with checkpoints along the way, they usually take several days to complete. each boat has to take all gear, food, water, etc, camp at checkpoints if they want. seems like real adventure, no motels, no restaurant food, minimum cash outlay, support team, etc. i think the original worrell started this way.

You're right. How did we get so spoiled?

I sailed in a couple of the Watertribe Everglades Challenge events that Dannyb mentioned. St. Petersburg to Key Largo, 3-4 checkpoints, but not a staged event. It is nonstop or camp as you can. Some people cruise it, the "challenge" is to finish within the time limit of 8 days. Some people race it. Fastest finish after 3 events was last year in just under 3.5 days. There are 4 classes ranging from kayaks to sailing kayaks/canoes to anything goes. Class 4 allows pure sailboats of any type as long as they are launched from the beach above high water. Access to one checkpoint requires negotiating a 9' fixed bridge, but that is part of the event. Auxillary propulsion (paddling) is allowed.

I sailed in 2 Everglades Challenges in a performance dinghy and did well. More importantly, I had a blast and extended my experience significantly.

Switched to a Hobie 21 this summer for the watertribe's Lake Michigan Challenge. Would like to get down to Florida again for the next one this coming March. There was an A cat in the event last year but the event really needs more cat entries. I contend that a 48 hour run is possible in a beachcat but have yet to prove that it can be done.

If you want to participate in a low cost distance event this winter, you should consider this event. It's a great group of people, a great route and guaranteed to be an excellent adventure!

George VS

I like Dave’s original idea. Let’s keep it simple. Sail in one of the nicest places around – the Gulf of Mexico from Dunedin Causeway. Deep water, always winds, and may places to sail to and around.

For example, Anna Maria Island is 37 miles south of the Causeway. There and back is 74. Great day and if any problems you are within close distance to the Pinellas Beaches. Also, since all races would be close to the Causeway I’m sure we could get a few chase boats to watch over us – they wouldn’t have to travel far. Going north around Anclote Island is about 30 miles round trip. Many places north, south, and even west into the Gulf.

I would also open my house to a few sailors in an effort to keep costs down and to promote friendship in our great sport. It could be done at a time when the Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, etc. sailors could come and enjoy a little R and R (i.e., away from the cold lakes up north).

I would say 4 days with an average of approximately 60 miles per day on average.

Just let me know when to put in for time off at work!!

Mike – Taipan 4.9, #213

Hi Mike,
Missed having you on Sunday. Oh well, you did get your fix on Saturday.

I know that with enough "kicking" this idea around, if the interest is there, we should be able to put this together.

As you are aware, enought of we local sailors would be interested to pull something off. I would really enjoy having "out-of-town" sailors come and have fun in our beautiful sailing area.

Thanks for offering opening up your home. After all, if we can keep the costs of participating reasonable, we could have a good turnout.

Keep the ideas flowing.

Dave

Yes, I had a great ride Saturday. Looks like Sunday was another good one. I really enjoyed running my spinnaker the 10 miles back to Hurricane Pass. Can't beleive how deep and fast it was!!

See you Sunday. Looks like 10 to 15 knots from the southeast. 82 degrees and sunny. Can't beat the forcast for the Eric Barton Memorial. I'll be in spinnaker class sailing uni with spin. Hope we get a lot of use for the big sail!

Mike

Hey Dave,It's something to think about. We have a great coastline with many beaches. I agree it should be done so almost anyone could compete (low cost,3-4 days). We'll talk.