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Re: TYBEE 500 HOTLINE [Re: Brian_Mc] #178784
05/19/09 07:07 AM
05/19/09 07:07 AM
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,655
Portland, Maine
T
ThunderMuffin Offline
Carpal Tunnel
ThunderMuffin  Offline
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T

Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,655
Portland, Maine
Thank You very much Brian. It was a lot of work leading up to the event and it seemed to go off VERY smoothly.

Speaking of which - I need to do something in that vein.


-- Have You Seen This? --
Re: TYBEE 500 HOTLINE [Re: CatInTheHat] #178824
05/19/09 09:10 AM
05/19/09 09:10 AM
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 3,293
Long Beach, California
John Williams Offline
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John Williams  Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 3,293
Long Beach, California
What did you guys think of the idea to add another leg on the south end?


John Williams

- The harder you practice, the luckier you get -
Gary Player, pro golfer

After watching Lionel Messi play, I realize I need to sail harder.
Re: TYBEE 500 HOTLINE [Re: John Williams] #178826
05/19/09 09:13 AM
05/19/09 09:13 AM
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 712
mikekrantz Offline
old hand
mikekrantz  Offline
old hand

Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 712
I like the idea, but logistically it would be a challenge.
Most Key West hotels are not near the beach. Parking is worse than any other location. Personally, I think it would be more hassle than it's worth.

Re: TYBEE 500 HOTLINE [Re: mikekrantz] #178838
05/19/09 09:26 AM
05/19/09 09:26 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 66
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CatInTheHat Offline
journeyman
CatInTheHat  Offline
journeyman
C

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 66
John, I was just saying that to Chuck the other day. I think it would awesome, and then maybe the milage would close in on 700 wich just sounds cooler than 600. I'm sure we cound find a suitable hotel somewhere. I think the Southernmost sits right there in a good location.

Also, does anyone know where the message to contact Skip Elliott with our serial numbers is?

Re: TYBEE 500 HOTLINE [Re: CatInTheHat] #178843
05/19/09 09:50 AM
05/19/09 09:50 AM
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,655
Portland, Maine
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ThunderMuffin Offline
Carpal Tunnel
ThunderMuffin  Offline
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,655
Portland, Maine
Quote
lso, does anyone know where the message to contact Skip Elliott with our serial numbers is?


The message is over on the sailing anarchy forums on the "On the Water Anarchy" thread for for the Tybee 500. Its on the second thread somewhere.

Re: TYBEE 500 HOTLINE [Re: CatInTheHat] #178855
05/19/09 10:37 AM
05/19/09 10:37 AM
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 3,224
Roanoke Island ,N.C.
Team_Cat_Fever Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Team_Cat_Fever  Offline
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Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 3,224
Roanoke Island ,N.C.
Originally Posted by CatInTheHat
John, I was just saying that to Chuck the other day. I think it would awesome, and then maybe the milage would close in on 700 wich just sounds cooler than 600. I'm sure we cound find a suitable hotel somewhere. I think the Southernmost sits right there in a good location.

Also, does anyone know where the message to contact Skip Elliott with our serial numbers is?


Here ya go Larry,
They seem to be trying to make this right. I spoke with Harry and Skip and got positive feedback from both. They are taking responsibility which is nice to see.

"At this point I really don't know too much about it. I did get a call Friday afternoon from a person that told me it had happened. All I can tell you right now is that we switched the tape we use on them a few years ago after one sail failed with the old style tape. Since switching we have not had any failures, however it is obvious from this regatta that this tape is not strong enough either. We will certainly stand behind any of the sails that failed.

In the mean time I need to get more information on those sails so I can trace back to when they were built and see if they were all done with the same batch of tape or see if there were any other similarities or differences. If you have one of these sails please call me at the loft on Monday. I will need to know the serial number that is stamped on our logo on your sail.

Harry Pattison
Elliott / Pattison Sailmakers
949 645-6697"


"I said, now, I said ,pay attention boy!"

The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea
Isak Dinesen
If a man is to be obsessed by something.... I suppose a boat is as good as anything... perhaps a bit better than most.
E. B. White
Re: TYBEE 500 HOTLINE [Re: Team_Cat_Fever] #178860
05/19/09 11:10 AM
05/19/09 11:10 AM
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 69
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Lost in Translation Offline
journeyman
Lost in Translation  Offline
journeyman
L

Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 69
I agree with Mike on the start from Key West. While it sounds great on the surface, hotels are expensive there and logistically it would be tougher. I've only done the race once now, but I'd vote to keep starting from Islamorada.

Bailey

Re: TYBEE 500 HOTLINE [Re: Lost in Translation] #178861
05/19/09 11:12 AM
05/19/09 11:12 AM
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 3,224
Roanoke Island ,N.C.
Team_Cat_Fever Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Team_Cat_Fever  Offline
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Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 3,224
Roanoke Island ,N.C.
The Islander was by far the most expensive and it puts you there at least 2 or 3 nights. It may actually be more affordable in Key Weird.


"I said, now, I said ,pay attention boy!"

The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea
Isak Dinesen
If a man is to be obsessed by something.... I suppose a boat is as good as anything... perhaps a bit better than most.
E. B. White
Re: TYBEE 500 HOTLINE [Re: Lost in Translation] #178862
05/19/09 11:14 AM
05/19/09 11:14 AM
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,655
Portland, Maine
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ThunderMuffin Offline
Carpal Tunnel
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,655
Portland, Maine
Instead of making the race longer - how about splitting up the Cocoa leg or the Tybee leg. If you made the Jupiter leg longer (although I love the Jupiter stop where it is, but if the beach is going to stay rocky then maybe more thought needs to go into changing that checkpoint) that would make cocoa shorter. Split the last leg from Fernandina and stop in St. Simons, which makes a nice short 30 mile parade into Tybee which makes it easy to plan an event or something at the finish.

Just a thought....

Re: TYBEE 500 HOTLINE [Re: Team_Cat_Fever] #178863
05/19/09 11:16 AM
05/19/09 11:16 AM
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 2
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FrankMoore Offline
stranger
FrankMoore  Offline
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F

Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 2
Frank's Post-Mortem:

After spending 9 days away from Pittsburgh and my wife Monica and three boys, I just now have the time to look at the many posts/opinions on this forum and felt I should give my thanks and congratulations to the many people who made this regatta so successful this year.

Having done a few Tybees, this week was the very best in my opinion. My thanks to my tireless ground crew for their superlative efforts. Tim Owens, our team manager had our boat dialed in and corrected every day. Daryl Moss has become a Tybee legend and is a great team member and even better friend. I can't imagine doing any major distance race without Daryl at my side. Bonnie Kohl's brilliant and effortless writing gave so many who could not be at the race a vivid decryption of the minute by minute details as only she can describe. And finally, to my dear friend Jake Kohl nothing need to be said - we have been through many great adventures on the Atlantic together and I hope we have many many more. A very good week Jake - thank you kindly.

I also wish to congratulate a some of the people who made the journey to Tybee Island last week:

Chris Zander and David Strickland of Team Seacats White. You guys sailed very well and had some bad luck with the boat. Shake it off and look forward to next year - Jake and I will help you get back to the line next year - start planning now. Bjorn and Robin stay after these guys and start planning for the next big event. Bjorn, the photos were great - thanks!

To Chuck, Judy, Neil, and the RC thank you for putting it on again. None of us appreciate the BS that you go through and I am glad you took the time to get us into the Keys this year. Chuck I apologize for some of my loud comments about the Canaveral matters - the RC passed judgment and enough said. It wasn't the first judgment I didn't like and I am certain it won't be the last. In the future, however, I suggest you add a sentence in the SIs that says the penalty will be 8 hours after the last boat in that day - problem solved! You will have the best little navigators in the world rounding the cape!

John Williams: God bless you for coming - your presence added greatly to the entire week. I hope to talk to you soon.

Rick Bliss: For those who remember, Rick was part of the Tybee RC in 2003 and was as helpful then as he was this year. I struggled mightily on Windy Hill's "barge" or HT18 - I hated that boat. Rick found us everyday and gave advice and support on how to do better. You will not meet a finer gentlemen at any regatta. FYI: Thank you for bringing your parts trailer - it kept many a boat on the line each day!!!

Trey, Tad, JC, Misha, Alison, Derek, Kate and the entire Velocity Sailing entourage - you guys helped make this regatta a great one! No one will ever know how expensive and time consuming it is to get your boat and team ready to go on this journey - and you managed to do it for SEVEN BOATS!!!!!!!!!! Also, getting professional sailors on the line helps the event greatly - thanks for convincing Carrie, JC, Misha and Eduard to come to the states for the event.

Jay and Laurel Sonnenklar thank you for organizing your teams and convincing Steve to come to Tybee this year. You young fellas sailed like champs all week and I greatly enjoyed your company and help all week. Congratulations on winning the N20 class - a pretty good lot of sailors!

FYI: Chris and Terry looked way too comfortable on the beach this year - pull out the foulies and get to the gym - I hope to see you guys on the water next year!

Jamie and Leondro thanks for coming - we managed to keep you guys in sight on quite a few legs this year but you were just too fast! Congrats to Leondro on his first Tybee - I hope you come back next year.

Jared and Colin - Another super regatta. Jared, let me know when your congressional campaign starts - I will gladly send a check! You have a very bright future and I look forward to seeing where the path of your future takes you.

Mike and David of Team Zhik/Layline - thanks for getting the F18 guys coming to the event. You guys had a great week and I promise to lend you our extra paddle next year!

To the New England Sailors: Chris T., Chris B., Todd, Brandon, Morgan, Tyler, Mike & Tripp - Congratulations on a terrific regatta! Spread the word and get some more Yankees to come to the race next year. Also, get Michael Ferrara on the water this summer - he needs some on the water training for next year's event!

Larry and Jackson you pilgrims have come very far indeed! You were fast and in the mix all week - I appreciate you being there and I am glad to have you as friends.

And lastly, to the TODD and his crew Jeff. Cat Fever had a great regatta and your flip at the finish line will grace many a magazine article(s) - I still don't know how you managed to walk away from that dreadful landing but I am very glad you did - look forward to sailing with you again soon.

Thanks,

Frank - Team Seacats

SUGGESTION: Hey Chuck, Let's start in Tybee and go North next year....Think about it.

Re: TYBEE 500 HOTLINE [Re: Team_Cat_Fever] #178864
05/19/09 11:18 AM
05/19/09 11:18 AM
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 3,293
Long Beach, California
John Williams Offline
Carpal Tunnel
John Williams  Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 3,293
Long Beach, California
It would be a water start and finish for the first leg from KW to Islamorada, then a water start from Islamorada. Beaches after that. Most of the logistics are on the RC side (boats, marks, flags, etc.) at each end. I don't think you can count on being on the start boat and beating the fleet to the Islander - we'd need a team at each end. There's only one road and it gets jammed up too easily. Or the RC follows along on the water, but at significant fuel cost.


John Williams

- The harder you practice, the luckier you get -
Gary Player, pro golfer

After watching Lionel Messi play, I realize I need to sail harder.
Re: TYBEE 500 HOTLINE [Re: ThunderMuffin] #178866
05/19/09 11:40 AM
05/19/09 11:40 AM
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1
H
Harry Pattison Offline
stranger
Harry Pattison  Offline
stranger
H

Joined: May 2009
Posts: 1
So far I have only heard from 4 people who had spinnakers fail in the Tybe 500. If you had this problem please contact me at 949 645-6697. We will need you to send the spinnaker back to us. Please ship it to:

870 Production Place
Newport Beach, CA 92663

I don't know all the details yet because I haven't seen any of the sails but am trying to get a complete picture of the problem. What I do know so far is that somewhere in the neighborhood of 9 spinnakers failed. From the people I have spoken with I know that the age of the sails goes from at least 2 years old to the present, and the failures so far have been the result of the horizontal seam failing. Since the sails span that much time difference we can be fairly certain that it doesn't have anything to do with a bad batch of seam tape or a difference in the finish on the fabric. We are now leaning towards the idea that while the tape may have been strong enough for most sailing that it is not strong enough for the more extreme conditions.

Most of the people I have spoken with have indicated that the conditions for this race had much more time spent very tight reaching in breeze than previous races had. This would seem to indicate that while the sails were strong enough for shorter races and more downwind races, that under high loads for extended periods of time the glue seams were slowly creeping until they reached the point that they were no longer strong enough to hold the seam together.

Besides replacing the sails that failed we are also asking anyone that has one of our I-20 spinnaker to please send them to us to have the center seam sewn.

As a side note I have heard there has been a rumor going around that some of the sails are being built overseas. I can tell you without exception every sail from us is built here in our loft in Newport Beach.

Harry Pattison
Elliott / Pattison Sailmakers
949 645-6697

Re: TYBEE 500 HOTLINE [Re: FrankMoore] #178947
05/19/09 07:10 PM
05/19/09 07:10 PM
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 3,224
Roanoke Island ,N.C.
Team_Cat_Fever Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Team_Cat_Fever  Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 3,224
Roanoke Island ,N.C.
Originally Posted by FrankMoore
Frank's Post-Mortem:

After spending 9 days away from Pittsburgh and my wife Monica and three boys, I just now have the time to look at the many posts/opinions on this forum and felt I should give my thanks and congratulations to the many people who made this regatta so successful this year.

Having done a few Tybees, this week was the very best in my opinion. My thanks to my tireless ground crew for their superlative efforts. Tim Owens, our team manager had our boat dialed in and corrected every day. Daryl Moss has become a Tybee legend and is a great team member and even better friend. I can't imagine doing any major distance race without Daryl at my side. Bonnie Kohl's brilliant and effortless writing gave so many who could not be at the race a vivid decryption of the minute by minute details as only she can describe. And finally, to my dear friend Jake Kohl nothing need to be said - we have been through many great adventures on the Atlantic together and I hope we have many many more. A very good week Jake - thank you kindly.

I also wish to congratulate a some of the people who made the journey to Tybee Island last week:

Chris Zander and David Strickland of Team Seacats White. You guys sailed very well and had some bad luck with the boat. Shake it off and look forward to next year - Jake and I will help you get back to the line next year - start planning now. Bjorn and Robin stay after these guys and start planning for the next big event. Bjorn, the photos were great - thanks!

To Chuck, Judy, Neil, and the RC thank you for putting it on again. None of us appreciate the BS that you go through and I am glad you took the time to get us into the Keys this year. Chuck I apologize for some of my loud comments about the Canaveral matters - the RC passed judgment and enough said. It wasn't the first judgment I didn't like and I am certain it won't be the last. In the future, however, I suggest you add a sentence in the SIs that says the penalty will be 8 hours after the last boat in that day - problem solved! You will have the best little navigators in the world rounding the cape!

John Williams: God bless you for coming - your presence added greatly to the entire week. I hope to talk to you soon.

Rick Bliss: For those who remember, Rick was part of the Tybee RC in 2003 and was as helpful then as he was this year. I struggled mightily on Windy Hill's "barge" or HT18 - I hated that boat. Rick found us everyday and gave advice and support on how to do better. You will not meet a finer gentlemen at any regatta. FYI: Thank you for bringing your parts trailer - it kept many a boat on the line each day!!!

Trey, Tad, JC, Misha, Alison, Derek, Kate and the entire Velocity Sailing entourage - you guys helped make this regatta a great one! No one will ever know how expensive and time consuming it is to get your boat and team ready to go on this journey - and you managed to do it for SEVEN BOATS!!!!!!!!!! Also, getting professional sailors on the line helps the event greatly - thanks for convincing Carrie, JC, Misha and Eduard to come to the states for the event.

Jay and Laurel Sonnenklar thank you for organizing your teams and convincing Steve to come to Tybee this year. You young fellas sailed like champs all week and I greatly enjoyed your company and help all week. Congratulations on winning the N20 class - a pretty good lot of sailors!

FYI: Chris and Terry looked way too comfortable on the beach this year - pull out the foulies and get to the gym - I hope to see you guys on the water next year!

Jamie and Leondro thanks for coming - we managed to keep you guys in sight on quite a few legs this year but you were just too fast! Congrats to Leondro on his first Tybee - I hope you come back next year.

Jared and Colin - Another super regatta. Jared, let me know when your congressional campaign starts - I will gladly send a check! You have a very bright future and I look forward to seeing where the path of your future takes you.

Mike and David of Team Zhik/Layline - thanks for getting the F18 guys coming to the event. You guys had a great week and I promise to lend you our extra paddle next year!

To the New England Sailors: Chris T., Chris B., Todd, Brandon, Morgan, Tyler, Mike & Tripp - Congratulations on a terrific regatta! Spread the word and get some more Yankees to come to the race next year. Also, get Michael Ferrara on the water this summer - he needs some on the water training for next year's event!

Larry and Jackson you pilgrims have come very far indeed! You were fast and in the mix all week - I appreciate you being there and I am glad to have you as friends.

And lastly, to the TODD and his crew Jeff. Cat Fever had a great regatta and your flip at the finish line will grace many a magazine article(s) - I still don't know how you managed to walk away from that dreadful landing but I am very glad you did - look forward to sailing with you again soon.

Thanks,

Frank - Team Seacats

SUGGESTION: Hey Chuck, Let's start in Tybee and go North next year....Think about it.



Frank you ARE da man!!!
Thank you for everything from your comittment and integrity as a racer and your generosity as a party organizer. I truly am glad to know you, balloon hands and all.


"I said, now, I said ,pay attention boy!"

The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea
Isak Dinesen
If a man is to be obsessed by something.... I suppose a boat is as good as anything... perhaps a bit better than most.
E. B. White
Re: TYBEE 500 HOTLINE [Re: Team_Cat_Fever] #178949
05/19/09 07:31 PM
05/19/09 07:31 PM
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 3,224
Roanoke Island ,N.C.
Team_Cat_Fever Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Team_Cat_Fever  Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 3,224
Roanoke Island ,N.C.
This year was by far the most competitive and mentally grueling races I've done.
I'd like to thank Jeff LoSapio(note the capital S ,Jake) for crewing with me and pushing me to sail my best. There's a few folks on here who know I'm not the easiest guy to spend a week with but Jeff did it like a champ. Stokes Seegers ( note the lower case s) worked his butt off for us taking care of the boat and us. I've never met anyone who was as willing to do anything the team needed, like he does. Kevin Lineberger received his baptism under fire in the Cat distance racing world as our Team Manager, he did exactly what was needed and asked of him. We call that ground crewin' on the big boats.
I'd also like to thank all the competitors that drove us to push as hard as we could. Especially Karl Langefeld (my crew from last year ,who never got a proper Thank you then. THANKS) who was hell bent on beating me as I was him. Jared Sonnenklar was the same way . Thanks ,it just makes us all faster.
Also Jake and Bonnie Kohl for vinyl, apparel and web coverage. Thanks a million. My two favorite discoveries this past week that far exceeded my expectations were McLube one drop and Jake's shirts.
Thanks to the race committee for their tireless work.

Hope to see everyone again in the future.

Todd Hart
Team Cat Fever


"I said, now, I said ,pay attention boy!"

The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea
Isak Dinesen
If a man is to be obsessed by something.... I suppose a boat is as good as anything... perhaps a bit better than most.
E. B. White
Re: TYBEE 500 HOTLINE [Re: Team_Cat_Fever] #178988
05/20/09 08:29 AM
05/20/09 08:29 AM
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,590
Naples, FL
waterbug_wpb Offline
Carpal Tunnel
waterbug_wpb  Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,590
Naples, FL
So for those of you who participated in multi-boat teams, did you feel that this strategy was the most effective way of obtaining support (sponsorship), publicity, logistics?

Is this sort of race just too complicated to handle as a one boat, unsponsored, 5 person team?

Were the experiences of, say, Stray Cat and/or Cat-in-the-Hat different than those of Velocity or White/Orange/Blue?


Jay

Re: TYBEE 500 HOTLINE [Re: waterbug_wpb] #178991
05/20/09 08:58 AM
05/20/09 08:58 AM
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,152
tampa, fl
K
ksurfer2 Offline
old hand
ksurfer2  Offline
old hand
K

Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,152
tampa, fl
Being a 1 boat team, with no sponsors or websites, I found the program to be quite easy, but then, I had the easiest job of all....I just steered the boat. Beth, God bless her, was the driving force on the beach. There is no way I could have done the race without her. She handled all the hotels, found sailmakers when I needed them, found the marine stores when I needed them. She made sure Bryan and I had our waters and food for the day, changed batteries in the GPS every morning, made sure all the electronics, and supplies came off the boat each night and made it to the boat each morning. She even posted our progress on her Facebook page. Through all this, she even managed to help out some other teams when they needed some help. My Dad was there every night washing off the boat and helping with sails. Dan, our pusher, helped catch us each day and never failed to give us a Herculean push every morning. So with all the help I had, one boat was easy to manage, I think a multi-boat team could get very complicated unless each team operates independently during the race.


If your havin girl problems i feel bad for you son
I got 99 problems but my beautiful wife ain't one
Re: TYBEE 500 HOTLINE [Re: ksurfer2] #179004
05/20/09 09:51 AM
05/20/09 09:51 AM
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 12,310
South Carolina
Jake Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Jake  Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 12,310
South Carolina
1 boat team = easy
2 boat team = a little harder
7 boat team = i don't know how they do it

The ground crew goes a LONG way to making this race less challenging on the sailors. Ideally you need two people that A) knows catamarans B) is easy going but attentive/responsible and C) can put up with you.

Both of our ground crew guys (Tim and Daryl) have ground crewed in excess of four years (I think Daryl has been there 6). They are pretty darn selfless when it comes to this race and it's hard work being on the ground. When we slide onto the beach, they're their to catch the boat and as soon as the boat is wheeled back to the dune and turned into the wind, Tim has a waterproof notebook and pen ready to make a list of anything the boat needs. They are fully skilled to handle any repairs or maintenance with the boat that is not fiberglass related (I manage that - but it's a rarity that any is needed). If I've done my boat prep well, they hopefully don't have much to do (and Tim lives near me so he helps with the prep before the race). There's a cooler with refreshment and a couple of sandwiches or something waiting there too. It's easy to discount what the ground crews do for this race but they really have to work hard and are almost constantly on the move, at the hardware/marine/food store, checking in and out, packing up cars / trailers...etc.

The pusher function proved to be a big deal this year and Daryl excels in this area. You don't necessarily need a huge guy for a pusher but it helps. On the tough days (Daytona / Cocoa) a little experience from the pusher pays off big - as it did for us this year as we never got trapped behind the surf line and made steady progress out each day.

When Bonnie comes along, she is in front of the computer for 6 to 10 hours a day manipulating photos, writing, and uploading her well written story - and we all enjoy having the documentation to go back and relive.

Bjorn was a new addition to the team this year to help with the addition of the second team. Though it was his first year he hit the ground running and blended in very nicely with the team. He did a terrific job managing Chris and David's "Team Seacats White" and taking many of the photos on our site. It sounds like he's willing to come back again too which would be terrific.



Jake Kohl
Re: TYBEE 500 HOTLINE [Re: ksurfer2] #179005
05/20/09 10:02 AM
05/20/09 10:02 AM
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,655
Portland, Maine
T
ThunderMuffin Offline
Carpal Tunnel
ThunderMuffin  Offline
Carpal Tunnel
T

Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,655
Portland, Maine
I can sort of speak from both sides of the coin, having now spent time on the conglomerate side, and previously being the single team small operation.

I'll preface this by saying that the reason we went "all in" with so many teams, is because we heeded the warnings of Chuck when he sat us down in '08 and said "10 boats don't pay for this race."

So we got some new guys on 20's. We knew that they didn't have the experience to get to the line without help - so Trey and I, already planning on running our two boats, added them to our fold. We had to get more ground personnel to handle the additional boats. We had to get a manager to keep track of all this stuff. So even though we added two boats, we added a whole new level of complexity - especially since they were new teams and would need a certain level of ramp-up time to get what this thing was all about.

When it was presented to us that Carrie and Sizzle wanted to get into the race, we looked at what we had already, and how many more resources it would take to get them to the line. We found that as we added more boats, other than the personnel, that the incremental costs were lower.

It was when the race was hovering around 18 boats or so, when we decided to introduce our outsourced logistics operation. I think that something like what we offered is going to be necessary to offer in order for overseas teams to be interested in this race. One team, Pirates, took us up on our turnkey package. To my knowledge, based on the feedback we got from them, they were happy customers. We certainly have some ideas on how to improve this program in the future.

As for sponsorships. No matter how low the incremental costs were getting, we were still looking at a huge budget compared to a smaller team. We had, I think, 11 rooms at the Islander. WITHOUT SPONSORSHIPS - WE COULDN'T HAVE DONE WHAT WE DID.

I remember reading an SI article where Todd Hart said that we had problems raising sponsorship dollars for the W1k - but that was fine by him since he "sails for [my] himself." There's virtue in his words indeed - since sponsorships are often misconceived by those who haven't had them before as one-way streets. We're not Michael Jordan, Jeff Gordon, or any other professional athlete (well except for Carrie and JC) who only needs to wear the product and give the Sponsors ROI. So while you may be sailing for "Team Velocity" or "Tad Pecorak" you really are racing for THEM, and you have to remember that while you carry their logos on you sails, on your website, on your body, that you represent THEIR corporate name. This is another thing that some people don't understand. Everything you do, you have to have the "what would our sponsors think of this?" in the back of your mind.

In the vein of "working for the sponsors" is why we brought in CLEAN from SA. In addition to the broad coverage and readership he brought the race, his gonzo journalism got our sponsors more exposure than any other media outlet available to us. Since the overwhelming majority of our sponsors were sailing/marine related, then SA was the perfect demographic to shoot for. Whether you love CLEAN or hate him, you cannot deny the popularity of his website. Like Howard Stern, when people who hate him are asked "why do you keep listening?" the response was "I want to see what he says next." I don't want to blow up his spot, but he's a very cool dude. I had the pleasure of staying in the same room as him and his lovely wife the entire week, and I'm proud to count him amongst my friends now.

As for whether or not the size of our team allowed us to get more sponsorships, I'm sure that had a lot to do with the decision to sponsor us from some companies. I'd like to think that they sponsored us because of the quality of the people involved, not just because we were spamming ourselves all over the fleet.

As for the complexity of running all these teams? We knew that we had to pick the right person for the job. Without Allison, the wheels would have fallen off the wagon very very early. When we arrived in Islamorada, we were all tired from lack of sleep, moody from being cramped up with each other for so long, and HOT. I was honestly scared someone was going to blow up, but it passed in one day as we have a plethora of personalities on the team who have a divine talent to make people laugh - which is well needed throughout the race.

Does that answer your questions WB?


Re: TYBEE 500 HOTLINE [Re: Jake] #179009
05/20/09 10:20 AM
05/20/09 10:20 AM

A
andrewscott
Unregistered
andrewscott
Unregistered
A



Originally Posted by Jake
Ideally you need two people that ..... C) can put up with you.


I'm OUT!

Re: TYBEE 500 HOTLINE [Re: ] #179012
05/20/09 10:42 AM
05/20/09 10:42 AM
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 3,293
Long Beach, California
John Williams Offline
Carpal Tunnel
John Williams  Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 3,293
Long Beach, California
Andrew, I know that is said tongue-in-cheek, but in reality the compatibility part is extremely important. I have been a part of, and witnessed, teams that melted down under the pressure of the event. It ruins friendships and is debilitating to the guys on the water. Jake's team has been through the fire and been tempered, so he may only have a academic idea of what can happen if personalities clash. The sailors or managers who build teams are responsible for laying the cornerstone.


John Williams

- The harder you practice, the luckier you get -
Gary Player, pro golfer

After watching Lionel Messi play, I realize I need to sail harder.
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