We are officially invited and need a committment of at least six boats ASAP!

Dates are Feb. 3-6.

Charlotte harbor is about 1 1/2 hours south of Gulfport, 30 mintues north of Cape Coral/Ft. Myers. It is great sailing and fishing water and has lots of golf courses close by. Also lots of cheap, and not so cheap motels and camping.

I won't be around at that time.

Pete, do they have a good beach to launch from and leave the boats (safe from vandals) overnight? Where exactly is the put in, club, etc?

Tim this seems to be coming together as a first rate event. I'm not part of the OA, but you can see they are doing a first rate job.

The last estimate I received indicated 50-60 cats of all classes.

http://www.charlotteharborregatta.com/wordpress/

I'm not exactly sure where we will launch from. As soon as I find out I'll let you know.

You gotta make room for this one and Buzzelli next year.

The cat launch is at Port Charlotte Beach Park. This is across the harbor from Punta Gorda where you sailed the Stiletto with us. There is a sand beach for launching. It is well patrolled by the county sheriff's department. And I think ? that someone stayed up all night watching over the boats.

The festivites are at the Charlotte Harbor Yacht Club, very close to the beach and Fisherman's Village in Punta Gorda.

Hotel space is close to both locations.

They have a nice area there, not unlike Kelly Park, but with more (sandy) beach space. There is a large parking lot, and half of it was reserved and blocked off for us last year. Seems like a safe area (no incidents last year), and I think that Jack is correct in saying that there likely was someone there keeping an eye on things overnight.

The launching area is very nice. Our gripe last year was the course was a distance race away. This year, however, the are going to set the course up on the north side of the Harbor, close to the beach.
They can't get too close as it is very shallow far out.
Rick

Thanks for the info, I will put it on my list of things to do! My son wants to race the old beater Prindle with one of his buddies, will there be any "open Portsmouth" type class for that?

http://www.charlottecountyfl.com/CommunityServices/ParkPages/PortCharlotteBeach.asp

I think this is the launching site. Anyone know for sure?

That's it.

Here are some pix of the beach. More cat shots available at regatta website, www.charlotteharborregatta.com.

Great News if they are moving the course closer to the beach. That was the only downside last year. Plenty of parking, good security, nice beach and good parties. This will turn into a big regatta. We will have a Weta Class there!

Pete, I've put this on my calendar and will plan on attending. How many F16's do you count so far for this? How about overal cats?

total should be around fifty boats. Maybe 10 F16s?

Early registration discount deadline for the Feb. 3-6, 2011 Charlotte Harbor Regatta is Dec. 31. With $10 off for early entries and a $5 US Sailing discount, you can get into this huge one-design event for only $60. With four nightly dinners included in the entry fee, you're essentially racing for free (or paying $60 for sailing and eating for free)!