US sailors...Fall event in 2010.....

Ok, I've been talking to a few people and sturing up interest for an event in the fall of 2010. The reason why we are trying to do this is there are only a handful of F16's show up at the "Midwinters" at Tradwinds and Springfever regattas. Tradewinds is a LONG drive for a lot of the northern people and Springfever is on the Easter Holiday weekend, which a lot of people do the family thing including me. So, that generally brings out a handful of F16's at those 2 events.

Basically, we are looking for the same type of event that GYC puts on in the Spring that will bring out the numbers, but in the Fall. Here are some thoughts so far....


1. Make it Centrally located to bring the most sailors out from the Northeast and Central parts of the states.
One problem with that is that will most likely make it Lake sailing, which can suck, but if it's done in the late September/early October time frame there should be good chances of wind and the air/water temperature should be decent. And a couple of Club names that have been thrown around have been Birmingham Alabama, and Lake Lanier. Both VERY nice facilities with camping. The only contact so far at one of those facilities is Tom Shannon at Birmingham. Someone has mentioned they could talk to Mike Krantz for Lake Lanier. However, we don't want to talk to them yet, until we get the interest up and see what we can get.

2. Try to make it Ocean sailing. Some of the potential places would be Ocean Springs Yacht club in Mississippi, and a few others in the Florida Panhandle. One drawback to this would be NOT centrally located. The Northern people would have to drive approximately 16hrs, which I want to try to prevent. 10-12 hrs max, which would make it a good days drive. Again, there aren't too many contacts that we know of right now, but I'm sure we could work that out.

3. Do we want to start this in conjunction with another regatta? If we want to make it an annual event, we could do it either way. But, to get it started we might be better at starting out in conjunction. What are some of your all's thoughts on that?


What type of event do we want to make it? Comments have been if they have to drive a ways, at least a 3 day event. I think that's a good idea..What if we make it the first F16 North Americans or something like that?

Any other comments, suggestions, or questions?

Again, I'm just stirring up interest now. I'm thinking since we have the GC here in November, we should keep going while the momentum is there. I know that the GC will again be at least the same time or later next year in another country, but this could be an option for us people who can't make it to that.

Or, we could leave everything as it is.


Mike

Mike:

Great idea to have it on the table for the GC event! An annual "Nationals" event.

The Annapolis, MD area F-16s doubled this summer. We presently have 6 active and 3 semi-active F-16s and it is likely to increase during the next year. So if you want any chance of drawing any of us, don't go too far away. Frankly, if the growth continues, we'll have to get our act together and host.

10-11 hrs puts us in Myrtle Beach.

We have the annual Pumkin Patch regatta which is the 2010 Alter Cup qualifier for our area the 3rd week in October and expect to easily achieve N20, A-cat, and F-16 beachcat fleets. Scoring is overall, open, and fleet. Wind is not a problem that time of year on the Chesapeake (now I've jinxed it).

Darn it Kris! Why'd you have to go and say the wind won't be a problem?

Alec

That's 11 hours for me, which is doable.

Why not ask the CRAW guys to hold it at the same time as the F18 nationals Racine WI Lake Michigan sand beach great facility August 9 thru 13

If I were going to invite myself to someone else's party it would be these folks.

http://www.catsailor.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=191210#Post191210

In addition to sailing it's reasonably close to Niagara Falls and New Yawk City. If I'm gonna go all that way, might as well take in a show and do some sight seeing.

the problem with anything near MI or such is there is less chance the florida people will be there, which is still a big part of the fleet. Something off myrtle beach might be cool and not to bad for most to reach. But do we have any f16s there? that is the hard part. To get this thing going we need someone with connections to the location. I think mike is right we need a fall event and F16 NA would be a good thing to call it, make it 3 days so it is worth driving to.
I think Lake Lanier might be a good idea, great club and I think we can get them to help us since some great cat sailors there. Would that be drivable to most?

It's fine with me.

The CRAW guys are talking seriously about hosting the F16 nationals at the same time. It was a topic at the meeting after the Rock Lake Regatta last weekend.

It's on Lake Michigan, so the chances of wind are higher. I haven't attended their Racine Regatta, but I have heard its a nice venue.

I told them the majority of boats are most likely in the Southeast, but they wanted to explore the idea anyway.

I would say before anyone plans a big event (national or otherwise) i think we need an informal or formal vote on it fom the class. We are a small enough group that to put an event on we really need most of us to agree to participate to make it work. I would love to sail on lake michigan, but do not want to exclude the florida guys from it, as I do not think it is fair to exclude you guys by placing all the events in florida (even though I might be living there soon). Now maybe we can agree to do 1 major 3-4 day event every year as a class and alternate between north area and south each year. I this work then next year would be north.
just my thoughts as I sit at work.

Sounds good to me.

How do you go about hosting a "nationals" anyway? Do you petition the governing body for the class and make your case for your capabilities?

I think that's all open at this point. The class officers we have are currently serving past their term. This might be a good time to revisit the basic structure of the class.

I haven't heard from Kirt in awhile and it is my understanding that Tshan is dealing with some serious health issues within his family.

I think the GC would be a great time to have a USF16 Class meeting and revamp the leadership. I think all would agree.

Another reason for me to figure out how to get the GC...

BTW, I liken sailing in Florida to skiing in Colorado. I skied the Midwest when I was a kid, then I went to Colorado....

Driving is a pain, but I'd rather go where the wind is more likely to blow.

This is one thing I would like to do at the GC in November. Basically get a "representative" or two and others from each area and discuss over a beer or two or three.

I'm not sure what night/day because I'll be with my Mom and Dad myself, who are planning on visiting with some relatives while we are there. But I'm pretty sure we could figure that out.

Who'd be willing to represent from "their" prospective area? Again, this can be just more than one person cause we really do want to draw the numbers out.


Mike

I don't want to hijack this thread but. . . Last Spring I spoke with some of the "northern" boats about wintering at GYC i.e. storing boats with us after the GC. That would make it more feasible to return to Florida for Tradewinds and again to GYC in April, before trailering back north. Since then, I've spoken to most of the officers and board members and they are uniformly positive.

If anyone is still interested let me know.

Daniel Feldman will definitly be at GC. He can represent the Chicago F16 contingent.

Yes, I have been "silent". The Cat Caper at Birmingham, AL is a nice regatta and in the Fall- usually at least some wind and there are already several F16's that attend. MI is nice too but gets cold pretty early on- suggest not much later than Sept. up there. Gulf Shores is also nice and they have a nice facility. Atlanta might me an option or Lake Carlyle in southern IL?
Agree on a US mtg. at the GC- I have to work but may try to make it for one of the weekends if I can at least.

Kirt

That's generous Pete/GYC. I can brag that my cat is a snowbird!
What is the April event & date?

The April regatta is one of GYC's biggest events. It has been run in several formats, most recently including A Class, F18 and F16s.

No date has been set for '10. There was a conflict with the Miami-Key Largo race last year, so we will try and avoid that in the future.

I'll post the date as soon as it's known.

FWIW, a H-18 comes down from upstate NY. and winters with us. He seems to like the arrangement.

Good stuff guys. Here's how the driving shakes out from the Washington DC/Annapolis Md area.

GYC - 16 hrs
ATL - 11 hrs
Bham - 12 hrs
Myrtle Beach SC - 8 hrs (Kris must go the back way)
Roton Point Conn - 6 hrs
Racine Wisconsin - 13 hrs

My votes.
Yes - Doing a fall event. Air may be cooling but water is still warm.
Yes - Makeing it a 3 or 4 day event makes it worth a drive.
Yes - Have a vote at the GC and set up a leadership structure.

Ed

The problem with combining events is that is that it precludes one from racing in both the F18 NAs and the F16NAs. I've also heard some of the N20 guys grumbling because they want to do both F18s and N20s. Combining these events will reduce the turnout in each class.

Realistically, how many F15 guys sail F18 also?

Probably more than you think. . . Racine 2010 is already stirred up a lot of interest and commitments.

Fall is a busy time of year and there are a lot of events going on. It's hard to get that many days off for many folks and they must choose their event. Also, November is the Cuba run, and I'm kidnapping Jody to sail it with me, so there . . . :P

So what's the weather like this morning? If we are going to have a fall event "up north", can we do it before the first snow?

A little chilly this morning. Let me check our rule of thumb...water temp (45) plus air temp (45) = 90, so yeah, we're good.

Annapolis - Average high is 68F this time of year. Tomorrow, we will be nearly 20 degrees below average for the high (49F). Water temp of 65F with a low air temp of 46F. No snow but will put a chill in your bones if not suited correctly.

Mid-September, average high is 79F - 9/14/09 78F was the actual high with a water temp of 73F.

Unusual weather the entire summer this year in Annapolis. We did not have an August lull/heat streak. This weekend's regatta will be challenging because rain is also in the forecast with the unusually low temps.

YIKES!! The class needs to adopt the "120 rule"- water + air temp must = 120 or greater for a championship event.

45 degrees. I don't even go outside when it's that cold.

I'm kidding on the 90 rule.

This has been a cold year. At Carlyle for Muddy waters a week or so ago, the water was in the 60s (I personally tested it - twice) and I think the air was in the low 60s. People were a little uncomfortable with wetsuits.

The "Fall" event would probably have to be in Sept. if held up north.

September sounds great.

Weather for Racine
Month Avg.
High Avg.
Low Mean Avg.
Precip Record
High Record
Low
Jul 79°F 64°F 71°F 3.57 in. 104°F (1995) 42°F (1972)
Aug 78°F 64°F 71°F 4.08 in. 102°F (1948) 40°F (1977)
Sep 70°F 56°F 63°F 3.70 in. 101°F (1953) 32°F (1956)

Water temps are in the mid 60's

Racine is the place !!!! For 2010

We used to enjoy sailing late fall best in Nebraska as there would be a few warm days the water had not turned hard yet and we had the water essentialy to ourselves.

Those kind of days were few and far between though, so planning a late event in the North is not practical. I would think early Sept at the latest if up towards WS, and you could get away with mid to later along the mid-atlantic. If it was MS, panhandle, or Atlanta area you might pull off something into Oct without a problem.

I have gotten spoiled though living down here. 140 rule is even a but chilly for me now. When we have to put on a paddling jacket or anything more than my shorts, I start to lose some of my enthusiasm for getting wet.

Was it CRAW that invited us? Seems to me we need to go where there is interest.

I know we are going to discuss this at the GC, but things have a way of getting shoved aside.

CRAW has confirmed it is hosting the F18 nationals in Racine. At the last regatta, we had 3 F16 boats there and they asked if they should consider expanding it to include the F16 nationals. I have not been to Racine, but they have hosted 100+ boats there before. We said we'd check into it.

BTW I expect more F16 boats in CRAW next year. At least 2 people are considering them.

Racine has a massive beach with nice sand, and a nice yacht club.

The regatta this year was just odd. The wind was about parallel to the shore. You'd get a gust off of land, and it felt like standing in front of a giant hair dryer. Then the wind off of the lake was cold, especially in comparison.

When is the Racine regatta usually held?

August, but I can't remember the exact dates for next year. Maybe around the 7th-8th.

That's interesting. August is a good time to be FROM Florida.

The F18 National will be the week of August 9 thru 13
There will be a CRAW regatta the weekend before as a tune up for the Nationals Bring those 16's up to Wisconsin Enjoy one of the best beaches on Lake Michigan and CRAW hospitability The last time CRAW hosted the NACRA nationals (2006) the sailing was great and the parties were even better.. Lots of swag and fun for all !!

Maybe we will even have some cheeseheads to give out:)