US Formula 18 Championship

Guess I'd better start pimping this thing, eh?

NOR is posted HERE.

Note that we're feeding you every night - social schedule includes specials on already absurdly cheap drinks and two nights of live music. Lunch isn't included but is available at the on-site galley for very little money. We have plenty of safe beach parking for the boats right next to the club with fresh water rinse, hot showers for sailors, and lots of free parking immediately across the street from the clubhouse. We've got good hotel deals cooking and an on-the-water RV park only 5 miles away. Shirts by Zhik US and Sailing Pro Shop of Long Beach, who will also have a parts van on-site all week long - it is the perfect opportunity to use the $15 gift certificate you got for renewing your class membership.

Also note that you are welcome to attend the two-day warm-up regatta! For the warm-up, we'll be sailing inside the breakwater, but for the Championship, we're splitting our time between the flat, protected waters of the Inner Harbor and the rolling swells of the open Pacific. Surf and plane to your heart's content.

We have professional press on the water, too, so break out the new gear. You don't want your mom seeing you in pictures with tatty duds. Smile!

Competition is looking deep and wide with competitors from South America, Australia, Canada, Mexico, and the EU already RSVP'd on top of the returning champions, Robbie and Hunter, and a host of very serious US sailors, some of whom are making their F18 debut... like Jay and Pease Glaser (uh, yes, the Silver Medalists)... and Pete Melvin (uh, yeah, he designed the Infusion F18). A certain Hobie team is coming out of F18 retirement to show off the Wildcat. There's a gaggle of F18 guys in the Pacific Northwest that are poised to make their championship debut as well - they think they're flying under the radar, but they're not to be underestimated. You've been warned. Also, if you've only sailed in the Eastern US, you might not know names like Christensen, Harteck, Sparkhul and Myrter... come race 'em and you won't forget 'em.

I've been in contact with both Hobie Cat USA and Performance regarding new charter boats (Tigers and Infusions), and there are a couple of privately owned boats that may shake loose. Please send me your requests - there will be more information about available charters on the Class website soon - www.NAF18.com

There will also be a crew exchange page set up - there have been enough inquiries now that I think we'd better have an official page. Again, please send me your requests, and good luck.

Truly, Pensacola Beach and Key Sailing put on a fun event last year - we intend to top it and not just by a little. The West Coast has been waiting for its chance to host the fleet. I know it is a long way to go for some folks, but I guarantee it will be worth the trip. Don't wait - get in on a container, organize a double- or a triple-stack and get here. There's already some plans being made in just about every fleet I know of - call your local "go-to" guy and see what's going on.

Only 56 days to go. Don't forget that preregistration closes on July 31st - 20 days from now. Save 50 bucks - get your registration in.

I'll post a link to the Labor Day Luau flyer when it's ready - this is one of ABYC's biggest parties of the year and always a lot of fun. We have great food, real hula dancers and live music all night. If you can come for the two days of racing and the party, you won't be disappointed - eight races are planned and it sounds like they are going to sail the F18s on the inside one day and on the outside the other so as to give the RC a chance to work with both before the Championship starts on Tuesday. We will also be doing check in for F18s during the weekend - avoid the line on Monday and get your boat checked on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

Mike Kranz:

Do you have a lot of boats signed up to come on the East Coast trailer?

Dan

Revised NOR.

I think you are supposed to be postmarked by today to get the early-bird special. Only $400 for a great week of sailing.
NOR: NAF18 NAs NOR

Racing begins today!

Updates and results will be posted here:

http://www.abyc.org/home.cfm

Day 1 results

http://www.abyc.org/upload/2009_F-18_Champs.htm

Hey John Williams, we all know you are a bit shy. Hoping you come out of your shell a bit and post some brief write ups of the daily action going on out west.

Thinking the North East teams will recover from jet lag by Wednesday and start kicking some of your cali sun tan'd butts.

Looks like a bit of everything for this one:

Today
Winds variable 10 kt or less...becoming SW 10 kt in the afternoon. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 2 to 3 ft at 8 seconds. Patchy fog in the morning.

Thu
W winds 10 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 2 to 3 ft at 8 seconds. Patchy fog in the morning.

Fri
W winds 10 to 20 kt. Wind waves 2 to 3 ft. W swell 1 to 2 ft. Patchy fog in the morning.

Sat Through Sun
W winds 10 to 15 kt. Wind waves 2 ft or less. W swell 2 to 4 ft.

Today I sailed with Scott Miller’s wife Patty instead of Eileen. Unfortunately my father was sent to the hospital on Friday. I have been visiting and it is kind of difficult as it is a 2 hour drive to San Diego. Eileen, sailed with me yesterday, but had a court appointment this morning. We had arranged, weeks ago, for Patty to sail with me this day. Due to the timing of my father’s hospital stay I was not able to sail the Labor Day weekend regatta that preceded this race. I have been driving back and forth with Eileen. Today she said I should sail and she would go down by herself to see what was up… what a dear! We do not yet know about tomorrow. If I need to get down there in the morning I will miss the sailing. If I can be there in the afternoon I will just miss maybe the last two races. Patty was a bit timorous about sailing with me after a good showing yesterday with Eileen. She did not want to be responsible for us getting out of the top ten. She did great and I really appreciate her enthusiasm and the fun she had, we both had, while sailing…thank you Patty…and not too bad we are in 13th at this time. I think it is okay for never having sailed together and in such difficult conditions. Enough about me what about the sailing?

Today started of with some light winds. The forecast was for similar winds to yesterday which was very light all day. Yesterday we did not even get our diamond wires off the loosest setting. There were four races starting in about 6 knots and building to about 17/18? Yesterday we sailed in the harbor which is sheltered from the swells, pretty much. Today was off the coast of Seal Beach which can give you some confused seas. There is a swell that fetches from the wind and a surf swell that comes in from the south. The wind direction started at 180 and went to 230. At 180 the wind swell is about the same as the surf swell, so no problem. At 230 you can see that there is a 50 degree variant from each other. Challenging conditions for sure but everyone had a great time in them. Even people that flipped as many as three times, maybe more, had smiles on their faces.

All the dinners for this event are at the Yacht Club so there is camaraderie after the races with all the sailors swapping stories of the day. Really great time to sit with people you know on the forums or hear about in the stories.

There were no general recalls today but there were some individual ones. The courses were 1,1,2,2. All races took about 45 minutes to complete, except maybe the second which was about 10 minutes shorter due to increasing wind during the race. All the races were run very well. In the last two races it looked like the weather mark was a ways out there but it did not take too much time to get to it. Well done race committee.

Later,
Dan DeLave sail# 651

Sorry for not having posts up - my hands have been pretty full on the admin side of things on top of the typical boat stuff.

RC swears that we had 17-20 with gusts to 21 or 22 for the final race yesterday. It felt like less than that, but arguing with a wind meter is pretty pointless.

RC is doing a pretty good job - we had some start line issues, but they're quick to re-square the line. We have plenty of support boats on the water, which is nice. The conditions have been fun - even the light stuff on Tuesday was tactical and the races were a good length. The couple of three-lap races we had were tough - the two-lappers feel just right.

Dennis and I are having a great time. Although the fleet is smallish, the competition is really top notch. It's a tremendous effort to stay in the top pack and starts (even with only 28 boats) are difficult when so much of the fleet is aggressive and confident on the line. You can have a killer spot picked out, set up and defend it for the entire sequence, and still get crushed in the last 30 seconds. Clear lanes in the first beat are sometimes hard to come by.

Food has been great, though we ran out Tuesday night and a handful of people missed out. The club readjusted quickly - the manager told me last night that he's never seen a fleet eat so much. We're working hard out there!

Today, Gunnar Larsen is putting on a clinic at 10 AM. Then we're back inside the breakwater for racing. Forecast looks healthy. More later!

This is the same post I put on Sailing Anarchy:

Today was a fantastic day on the water! Anywhere between 8 at the start to 20 somewhere in the middle of the course. That is not me it is from the committee. Swells were about 3 to 4 foot so the downwind was really a treat for a surfer. Races went Course 2,2,1,1. There was some interesting things happening with the wind. Usually when the wind blows out of 220 to 235 it is really consistent with little change. This being the NAs though it started blowing then in the middle of the day backed off then piped up again toward the end. I was sailing in a shorty wetsuit and very comfortable all day. If you were able to share this day with us in Long Beach you would be back for more. It is rarely better any place in the world than it was today.

A very informative clinic was put on this morning by the teams from the Netherlands. They gave us all their secrets then proceeded to keep teaching us on the water.

After the races we were treated to a great dinner of cedar plank cooked salmon for which our manager, Kelly, is locally world famous. A great band played during and after dinner and was still at it when I left. I wish all that those that planned to be here could have made it. We have 27 teams having a time of it.

Later,
Dan

SO DO WE!
Thanks for the update Dan
Chris

2009 US F18 Championship is in the history books:

http://www.abyc.org/upload/2009_F-18Champs2.htm