I thought I read that the F18 class was going to Charleston RW this year? Were my glasses fogged?

A Hobie 16 makes for an epic show on the SA front page... Nice Move captain!

This is the first I've heard of it.

The only way that would work is if James Island YC hosted the F18s (I think there's another club on the opposite side that might have some water access)...there's not much water access to work from around there for a sizable fleet...and, well...that Harbor is not THAT big. I'm amazed they get as many boats in there as they do already. We've had serious commercial traffic concerns racing there with only two race courses in the past.

Only the Melges and Vuper fleets are in the harbor. The PHRF boats go out into the ocean.

From CRW, this has got to be the most painful gate rounding ever. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152105553584895

The torquedo maneuver at 2:20 is priceless...

If the RC let that race finish, I would not want to be defending Torquedo against RRS 44.1(b).

I would also not want to be the PRO defending a decision not to abandon. Of course we don't have the full story of the entire race or regatta, but that looks like a great day to NOT be the PRO...

Mike

Aaaaaaa Charleston. It's a great place to sail (if you are OK with the commercial traffic) but when it doesn't blow, it sucks, literally. Lots of current.

There was some discussion about trying to do CRW because it fit well with our boats return from Florida. We decided entry fee was too steep to pursue beyond initial discussions.

Big plus 1 on that! It's a venue where an anchor is a secret weapon.

+1. Also never found out if they can make space for us....

The current in that video certainly was impressive. The only thing faster than the boats with the private glory puffs and chutes up were the boats going backwards...

Mike

Thanks, I thought I remembered some discussion.

What value do you guys see in showing up at the mega multiclass events? My experience is that nobody cares about what other classes are on their race course or in the regatta... until they have an issue... and then the SOB is an axxhole and A class should not share the course with Lightings (my favorite dick fleet).

I would love to believe that participation at Charlston or Newport or in my world...Annapolis to Oxford would be worth the PIA but..

Is it just the off chance that somebodies crew wanders over and starts up a conversation based on the cool hat and T shirt you are sporting?

I want to believe that it is worth it.. but I really have no evidence that it helps or works.

I don't know how many people directly "convert" at the sight of our boats (maybe Jeff or Todd can speak to this for Newport), but if nothing else, it gets to showcase the boats, and helps in lots of other ways (venues for future major events, etc.).

There can be negative consequences to this much attention. There were a few situations at Buzzards a few years back that we can talk about over a beer sometime.

For the most part, these events are festivals where you can party with lots of folks from many, many classes. None of the circle groupings, all the way up to the big boats, is ideal.

But, you get to show up, pay your money, and someone else does all the work (OA, RC, PC and parties).

Mike

We sail in a few multiclass events- Madcatter, Wickford, Newport, Hyannis, and HPDO. Part of the reason is exposure to other fleets, especially jr. sailors and college sailors. Does it help bring sailors to our fleet? I think so. I personally want our fleet to be viewed as a high performance one-design fleet with critical mass in New England. I want sailors looking to step into a competitive one-design fleet to see us having close racing with solid numbers and know we are an option. I know when I was looking to buy a boat I looked at what fleets had good turnout at local events- I could care less how many hulls.

We also like multi-class events because we don't have to worry about the logistics- you show and and race. We also like the social scene with friends from other fleets.

Also, Newport and Hyannis are just awesome venues.

One think that's important is that you get put on a course with appropriate boats. We typically share courses with Vipers, 505s, 49ers, and VXones, and that is ok. At Hyannis we share with the J22s and that is also fine because we just sail around them. At BBR we shared a course with the A and B phrf boats and that was a nightmare, especially because of the starting order.

The PHRF trimarans were invited this year for the first time. I am presuming they participated on the "Pursuit Course" since only five boats actually showed to Start, and they only got in two races. Reminded me of our way of dealing with a "cruising" class on Pensacola Bay during a buoy - style event. I hope the boys enjoyed the show, but at least they planted a seed, larger multihulls usually inspire smaller multihulls. That has been the case in NOOD events.

The 49ers and N 17s in Miami were a bit surprised to find that there appeared to be limited shore support at the Rowing Club except for the coaches.

I can just imagine what fitting into CRW would be like for beach cats.

I would opine that beachcats and the like might "fit" better with a small sportboat regatta rather than a larger mono/multi event (like boats over 30').

Smaller sportboats are in a similar pricerange and you might find more potential converts (fewer crew requirements, higher performance, etc) than the big boat teams?

That's because you're not a catsailor...

Jeff, take us through your NE circuit, and list the events with the other classes on each circle, starting order, types of courses/number of laps vs. the other boats, pros/cons and any other details that might help us get an idea of what works well (and what doesn't).

Mike

CRW has M24s and J70s out the wazoo but I suppose you are talking about smaller sport boats like 49er, 29er, etc.?

I think it would be great to have an F18 fleet at CRW (and I have a free place to stay! ;-)) but I just don't know how they fit us in that bay without sending us up the river or off a beach (which would defeat the purpose to be so far away from everyone else).

I don't mind monohull crowding. I think it's still good to mix it up with them - otherwise, they don't notice we're there. There will be some tension at marks but, ehh, there's tension anyway. I think it would be interesting to use the Spring Fever style start line with separate start and finish lines below and above the course respectively. If you're careful with the starts, I think it could still work.

My favorite is while sailing on a mixed course, I was sailing my a-cat and approaching A-mark on the wire. An MC scow sailor was coming in at the mark wide (well overstood giving me plenty of overlap). He apparently never saw me and turned down hard into me driving me into the mark. Of course I gave him the protest hail. His reply? "Well if you weren't so f(*&#$ing fast this wouldn't have happened!". He bought an a-cat a year later.

It's almost always better to sail around monohulls at marks, even if you have all the rights in the world. They don't typically anticipate how fast you'll get in there, so they don't plan ahead (or react fast enough) to give you the room.

Mike

I knew somebody was going to lecture me about that. I was in the lead and would have had to tack twice to get around him which wasn't going to do me any good.

Had there been damage, it could have been bad for you.

I feel for you though, sometimes it's really hard to anticipate their (lack of) reaction.

Mike