Category: Regatta Notices

The 2007 Ronstan A-Class catamaran Worldsin the Florida Keys, Islamorada, FL, USA November 9-16, 2007. With a record setting 100 boats pre-registered, the 2007 Ronstan A-Class catamaran Worlds sponsored by Ronstan, FSE Robline, Corum, and West Marine is now only weeks away. The regatta will take place at The Islander resort hotel in Islamorada, FL. The Islander has been hosting the US A-Class for its last two midwinter race weeks and was the unanimous choice by the US class as the best venue to host this world championship. The race site is a 9 square mile area of the Atlantic ocean protected by an offshore reef. Sailors will enjoy clear aqua water and hopefully warm and consistent easterly winds of 8-15 knots.

The international contingent includes Glenn Ashby from Australia who will be racing to defend his 2006 title. Glenn is a multiple world champion in the class and is regarded as the best A-Class sailor ever. In addition, Glenn is regarded as a favorite to medal in the 2008 Tornado Olympic event in Qingdao, China with his teammate Darren Bundock. In addition to Ashby, other top international sailors racing will include past world champions Scott Anderson and Nils Bunkenberg, Olympic medalists Andrew Landenberger and Goran Marstrom, New Zealand champion Murray Philpott, top Dutch sailors Sjoerd Hoekstra, Pieterjan Dwarshuis, and Piet Saarberg, Alinghi designer Mike Drummond (New Zealand), and top Swiss sailors Dieter Melcher and Luc De Bois.

100 mile distance race, no ground crew needed!

Editors note:Ever thought you'd like to do one of the distance races like the Tybee 500 or the Great Texas, but don't have the ground support or resources for such an adventure? The Fort Walton Yacht Club, 'Round the Island is the perfect event to challenge yourself without breaking the bank or scaring your loved ones. Sail a 100 mile round trip race with the start and finish inside the bay, no surf launch to deal with and only takes a weekend. Read on for the race details.

Note: This years race start is Saturday, June 16, 2007

The Round the Island Race is a 100 mile circumnavigation around Santa Rosa Island located in Northwest Florida.  Headquartered at the Fort Walton Yacht Club, the race begins off the point, through the East Pass and continues west through the Pensacola pass where the northern turn is made for the return trip.

Having one start for all competitors, the initial direction is east in the Choctawhatchee Bay as the boats head for the East Pass from the start.  The wind is usually 4 to 6 knots from the Northeast so the start is a one legged beat.  As the multi-hulls round a turning mark off the shoals of Crab Island, they head for the Destin Bridge and the East Pass.  There they meet the Destin Charter Boat fleet heading out the Pass for a colorful parade of sailors and fishing boats.  Spectators line the Destin Bridge and capture some beautiful sights, as the fleet hoists spinnakers using the NNE breeze to speed them out the Pass.

White sandy beaches and glistening emerald water provides for a spectacular run to the Sea Buoy.  Approximately one-half a mile out the Pass leaving to starboard, the fleet will now head due west for 50 miles of beautiful sailing in the Gulf of Mexico.  The fleet is usually favored to stay along the shore to take advantage of the east to west flowing beach current where most of the competitors will stay within 1 to 2 miles of shore.  As the sun rises higher and starts its usual east to west trajectory the wind follows it.  Thus the NNE breeze in the morning will give way to a Southeast veer that will usually turn southerly before going to the Southwest in the late afternoon.  This makes for a lot of spinnaker work and reaching in the Gulf before reaching the Pensacola Pass.

The fleet will pass three fishing piers in the Gulf at Fort Walton, Navarre, and Pensacola Beach so the landmarks are easily recognizable as well as great perches for the spectators.  Upon reaching the Pass at Pensacola the competitors will usually hug the shoreline at the Fort Pickens State Park as they round inside the Pass for the run home.  The lead boats, usually RC 30’s and 27’s as well as a sprinkling of Super Cat 22’s will enter the Pass from 1p.m to 3p.m. if the normal wind pattern holds true.  The majority of the fleet will be in the Pass from then on into the late afternoon with everyone required to be in the inter-coastal waterway before sundown.

September 11-15 The 36th Hobie 16 North American Championship, aka: the Continentals, starts Monday off Roger Wheeler Beach in Narragansett, Rhode Island. The regatta will continue through Friday.

Sailors from fourteen states and five countries have pre-registered for the event. For Hobie 16 racers from Guatemala to Canada this is the year’s main event. Year after year the 16 Continentals attracts the biggest one-design catamaran fleet on the continent with the competition and the parties to match. Some come to measure their skills against the best and some for the parties but everyone comes to celebrate this simple one-design that started it all.

This year’s championship will double as the country qualifier for the 2007 Pan American Games. The top four countries from the NAs will qualify for the Pan Am games.

Nine past champions will be racing this week making this event as tough as ever. A complete list of past champions and daily updates during the week can be found at www.HCA-NA.org

Only 11 days more before Wayward Winds Regatta at the Texas City Dike. This open multihull event has been running for over 30 years. Its shaping up to be a good one this year with strong participation anticipated from many classes of boats, including the Hobie 16, Tiger and A-Cats. There will also be a novice class which looks like it will be a good size. You can get more information, including the Notice of Race and contact details at the TCDYC (Fleet 8) website.

Last years event was well attended despite being rescheduled due to Hurricane Rita. You can get a good view of some of the A-Cat fleet that showed up in this picture.

Chris Green
Chair, Division 6.

Statue of Liberty Marathon Sailing Race expecting record turn-out, about 100 Boats Expected to Race from the Sandy Hook Bay to New York Harbor… and back

ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS, N.J. - June 24, 2006 - For skippers and crew of catamaran sailing boats, the most exciting event of the year is approaching quickly. On July 2, the Sandy Hook Bay Catamaran Club, located in Atlantic Highlands (NJ), will be hosting its famous annual event, known among sailors as the "Statue of Liberty Marathon Sailing Race”. With just days to go till Independence Day weekend, an increasing number of teams are signing up to participate in what is probably the largest sailing event in New York harbor this summer.

“We are proud to host one of the largest annual sailing events in New York Harbor, and definitely the one with the most boats,” said Jacques Pierret, the club’s race director. “With more than 75 boats pre-registered, the race is well on its way toward a record attendance this year, and we are getting close to our goal of seeing a 100 boats that the starting line. Our race is the living proof that sailing off the New York & New Jersey coast is easily accessible and affordable to all.”