How many regattas do you go to in a season?

I'm just curious how many regattas people sail in these days.

Back when Rick and I were racing a Hobie 18 in Hobie Division 10 (Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, etc.), we went to a regatta every weekend (about 12 regattas for the summer, not counting Nationals). Most were within a 2-3-hour drive, and at all of them we were able to camp (usually at the regatta site). Everybody brought their kids and their dogs and frisbees.

Is there any part of the country (or world) where that still happens?

We have about 12 local events mostly within a 3 hour drive of upstate SC and all of them have camping available. Typically, we have at least three or four families camping (plenty of room for more) and at least that many RVs. The rest stay at nearby homes or hotels.

I've been doing up to 18 events a year, but I find that I can't keep up that pace. I will probably sail 14 or 15 this year including the Tybee and a North Americans.

You can still do that in this part of the world, Mary - but the drives have gotten longer.

I used to draw the line at 5 hours (300+ miles) for a weekend event. From Detroit, that will get you to Traverse City (north), Chicago (west), Toronto/Buffalo (east) and Cincinatti (south).

I routinely stretch that limit now - Kingston / Rochester is 6+ hours (depends on border traffic). Madcatter is 7 hours (420 miles).

Occasionally, I'll do something (stupid) that really stretches the limit:
Hobie MWE - 1,025 miles, 15+ hours (Panama City - Tampa was 1,237 miles)
Wildwood, NJ - 13+ hours
Statue Race - 11 hours
Rhode Island Classic - 15 hours

Last year, I did 6 two-day regattas, 3 North Americans (Hobie 14, 16 and 17), two distance races (Statue and Red Fox (2 day)) at least 3 fleet fun sails (1 day) and the US Sailing Championship of Champions. 15 events total.

This year, I've got 18 events on the schedule, including 3 NAs (Tornado (RC), Hobie 14, Hobie 17/18 (RC)). Doesn't count any fleet stuff that I might squeeze in.

Last year was eight with Nationals to cap it off.

This year will be nine (we're hosting one <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />)

Closest is 3.5 hours and furthest 7.5 hours <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Camped at all but the one at Lake Hefner in downtown OKC.

If you take a look at a regions high point series... you get an objective estimate. You will see that an active racer is probalby doing about 4 events plus a national type event.

If you set the number to qualify at 5 ... I find that you only get about 25% of the pool of racers out on the course that often.

4 is about one a month.. with a sailing season of May to Oct
Most don't really get started until late May and are done by Mid September.

(numbers are off of the top of my head and reflect Hobie Div 11 and the Open CRAC fleet in the mid atlantic.

Max drive is about 5 hours from Sandy Hook to West River with stops in between. (now that does include the largest populaton density in the country for traffic considertions).

We are in Chattanooga and plan on doing PeeDee(7hrs); Spring Fever(4hrs), Tommy Whiteside(5.5hrs); Cinco-de-Mayo(2.5hrs); Slip-to-Ship(8hrs); Bare What You Dare(3hrs); Reggae Regatta (2.5); CatFest(7hrs); Outback(5.5hrs); and Cat Capers(2hrs). That doesn't count the trip to the Alter Cup(12hrs) to pick up a new boat and a possible race in Charleston(8hrs). We use the RV and stay onsite whenever possible.

Geeze, and I thought a 3 hour drive was a bear.... Spoiled, I guess.

3 hours puts me in the Keys, Eustis, Delray, Tampa, Melbourne (almost)... I could race almost every weekend (all year) just using those points. Of course, the missus would have something to say about that!

Throw your flame!

Thats pretty much my schedule, except I'm a bit closer to them all <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Division 4, Pacific Northwest.
We plan on attending 8 Hobie points reggatas, an Alter cup qualifier, and a distance race in the Gorge on the Columbia River.
Thats ten events, all 3-5 hours drive.

I live in Long Beach CA and we have 14 Formula-18 regattas planned for this year. There are four Hobie regattas to pick from outside that number and plenty of pick up races, available through the Yacht Clubs, that are not on the schedule. These do not include any Nationals or Worlds events. 1/2 of the regattas are within 1/2 hour of me.

I pleasure sail every weekend there is not a regatta. I also sail Etchells on Thurday nights and some local regattas. I just started a Thumb Boat Fleet (Radio Controlled) at my Yacht Club. We are getting 30 boats in the first order and plan on sailing those at the Yacht Club basin Friday afternoons.

Plenty of sailing...so why do I want more?

Later,
Dan

Now that's crap and you know it. We haven't been able to get you to drive 45 minutes to a regatta in the last year.

Pardon moi mister uppitty.

I was at Outback helping Dave out as Race Committee, and I prefer not to sail in the frigid cold. I only got my boat in September, and haven't had the best luck in finding solid crew.

I'll concede that I haven't been the best at going to regattas since I got the boat, but its not like I had all the ducks in a row and when the day came to sail, I simply said "nevermind, I'll just sit on my butt and do nothing"

Plus, just like the stock market, past history is no indicator of future performance. If Doctor Binkles continues to want to sail with me, then I'll have no reservations about showing up to all the regattas listed, except for ones that may interfere with the damn wedding.

(Oh I forgot to take out Slip-to-ship. Don't think I'll be making that one)

Did Algore make you angry? <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I am planning around the Harken Bouy Series. Will do all six if possible, plus the GYC club series. GYC is every other Saturday, so there are bound to be some conflicts.

Driving time is 3-5 hours. Haven't had the opportunity to camp. Always a motel, except for Tback's hospitality at the last Eustis regatta.

This is my 2nd season racing my own boat. I crewed a couple of regatta's the first year I got into sailing. I did I think 6 events last year. This year will hopefully have one more. I started a new fleet and we're hosting a regatta this year so I'm pretty sure I have to attend that one. Farthest this year will be 7 hrs, closest will be 35 min.

Nah...just yanking your chain.

Regatta sailing used to be the norm a few years ago in Oz but this is changing. NSW and Qld are still more or less regatta strangle holds but here in Victoria we have moved to club based sailing most weekends from October - April (inclusive) and then focusing on only a few regattas inbetween. This seems to work with the family/life/work balance quite well and since we have adopted this model our fleet has grown quite well. Most guys attend 4 or less regattas a year but overall have more sailing days than before.

Tiger Mike

It sounds like a lot of Americans do a lot of regattas, and seem to neglect weekend club racing. Is this the case?

You will generally always drag some of the non club racers out for regattas.

The plan for this year is start with new boat in the winter season club racing then do regular season club racing every weekend and attend about 3 regattas and the Great Race marathon.

During the summer I sail two different weekly series: Mondays on my cat and Wednesdays on a keelboat.

The rest of the year I split my time between collegiate regattas and cat regattas.

Total about 15-20 per year.

ncik,
In the U.S. most catamaran sailors do not belong to yacht or sailing clubs. Most of our boats live on trailers, and are towed to regatta sites, which also are not usually at clubs. Hence the reason for the popularity of the forum thread about what towing vehicle people use.

I reckon I do 25 regattas a year, about half on cats the rest on big boats.

I have seen a trend in NSW for people to chase the regattas even if they are only weekend ones. not sure why but it might be something to do with getting more from your leisure time (a regatta includes a trip to somewhere else so the family can tag along..)

That is the scene that I missed and, to this day, I still miss. I am immersed in catamaran sailing, as a way of life, and I sure do miss all the great times that I have missed.

GARY

I store my boat at home and tow it every weekend to club racing about 30 mins away. Not being a member of a club is a foreign concept to me.

How do you get rescue/start boats at regattas that aren't held at clubs? Do the regatta organisers also organise people to supply and man boats?

We usually leave this up to the club that is hosting the regatta, whether it be a class championships or an all-boats style regatta.

Of our local events, I would estimate that 10 of the 12 are actually held at sailing clubs. In my case, my nearest club (the one I belong to) is a one hour drive away - so it makes just as much sense for me to keep the race boat at home on the trailer and go to weekend regattas.

My club is catamaran friendly...most are still quite astonished at the speed and when I bring the cat out for club races I regularly lap the entire field (that's usually my challenge I present to myself). The problem is, relatively few cats make it out to sail club events. I joined this club because it is so catamaran friendly...the cats have just sort of evaporated.

I do wednesday night club races on a mono. But what Jake said is true, the cats don't have enough mass to have a presence at every club.

Before wife and kid, 20-25 races a year including two nationals and Alter cup. I couldn't accumulate vacation time quickly enough, so I went part-time - which is to say, I did 50-hours a week at the office until it was race time.

First year after Sara was born, I was dirtside for all but a couple of weekends. Participation is back up again as the kid gets more portable. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I have 12 races on the schedule this year, including a week at F18s and a week at Alter Cup. I've also found the time to do a little day-sailing with Sara in school. Also just found out the Rudder Club does Wednesday Night racing, so I'm probably in for some of that, too. There is also a minimum of one three-day USSA meeting, and a lately a good bit of time spent on the phone... this is definitely more than a hobby. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

We're involved on the ground floor of a Sailing club opening it's own dry storage. They (Thistles) already raced 20 Saturdays per year, so we (Hobie fleet) have the opportunity to be a part of club racing now. I have mixed emotions about this. Looking forward to the chance to race "at home" say 12 out of the 20 Saturdays, but it seems if a boat is in the yard with the mast up, the likelihood of it getting packed up and towed 3 1/2 hours to a "major" race are slim to none. I think this is unfortunate.

This is half the fun! We sailed two or three regattas last season with no wind on one day and still had a blast.

Most Hobie fleets that were formed in the 70's & 80's have seemed to hang on to, and maintain at least their committee boats. Chase boats are usually friends of friends and can be a problem to pin down (line up four so two will actually show up), but yes, still the responsibility of the organizer.

(Note: We're hosting our first regatta this Spring and having the "Club" spring to volunteer the use of the committee & chase boat, marks, etc, is a HUGE benefit and of great relief in planning.)

Wow this is scary. Looking at last year's calandar.

96 race days, including two NA's, an Alter Cup, a Key West race week, a world's, and a nationals. That's not including practice days or pleasure sailing. Believe or not I had a job somewhere in there...

Yeah but your job IS sailboat racing!


No fair <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

For me, a weekend not spent racing is the exception. I belong to two clubs and typically race with them 2-3 weekends per month year-round. The remaining weekends are spent going to away regattas - either to sail or to officiate. This past year, I sailed fewer regattas (Spring Fever, Clark Cup, Mayor's Cup, Governor's Cup, CatFest, Nationals, and Loose on the Neuse) and officiated more (Thistle Orange Peel, Edenton Bay Challenge, Flying Scot ACC, North Points 7, NC Offshore Championship, Charleston Race Week, NC/SC Offshore Governor's Cup, Jane at the Lake Regatta, GA Special Olympics, Sunfish Worlds, Melges 24 Nationals, A college points regatta, and club racing) than previously. My wife and I are also getting more involved in SAYRA (South Atlantic Yacht Racing Association - aka US Sailing Area D). She's taking a board position and I'm on the appeals committee.

I presume we're more gung-ho than most, and home maintenance is definitely suffering. We've bought yet another boat; we're sewing two new suits of sails ourselves; and we're fitting a spinnaker to an Isotope in hopes of racing it F-16 class (after replacing the mast we broke last year).

So, for me, the question is not how often we go to a regatta, but how many weekends do we stay home.

Regards,
Eric

Getting man and machine to support the sailors is the biggest hurdle for organizing regattas in our area. We spend $500 per regatta for fuel, mileage, boat rental, etc. for committee boats and chase boats at our fleet's two biggest regattas (we sponsor three, of the seven events in our Division). Travel time ranges from 45 min. to eight hours for Hobie Div. 5 events. All of them offer camping, which almost everyone does, with about half in motorhomes or hard-sided campers. This aspect of regattas is at least half the fun of these events. Camping on the beach, tinkering with your boat, drinking barley juice and playing with the kids is what makes catamaran sailing so unique.

A relatively new club that is catamaran friendly has established itself in our area. Though the lake they are on is smallish for two hulls, it gives me a chance to race on Wed. evenings and almost every weekend. This year, including Wed. nights, I'll hopefully get in 12 events plus nationals or about 20 race days. Once my son is a little older, I suspect we'll travel to many more events, unless he decides (God forbid) that one of the mainstream sports is to his liking.

JW, what age (approx) is this so I can mark it on my calendar? I had to push my anticipated schedule back somewhat, partly due to crew still being overseas.

The good thing is she's taken to swimming, and if I can get her comfortable wearing a PFD (not water wings) before she can walk, she'll be in line to grab a tiller before she can run... <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Although, I will have to add some corrector weights (she's 10 kgs),or maybe sail the Tornado in China!) <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Dude - I got her this really cool Speedo suit with built-in flotation. At 3.5 yrs, she is taking the tiller on the Wave. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Got one of those suits for my daughter as well! Haven't tried it out yet though. I am light as it is and her 24 pounds isn't going to be enough for my light boat !!

3.5 years and at the tiller. That is excellent news on an otherwise bleak day. 1.5 years to go.. My wife will never belive it <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />


We travel to 3-5 regattas a year, but that is never less than 8 hours of driving away. Otherwise we participate in around 20 wednesday night races + 15 "real" regattas where we can sail to the starting line.

CRAM (Michigan) runs ten regattas a year, and I try to go to all of them. Add a Nationals once in a while. Your description is exactly what CRAM does. Kids, dogs, frizbees, and motorhomes.

Roger