Welcome to the Regatta Promotions Sailing Marketing Blog

At USSailing.org president Jim Capron attempts to answer a few question about a new prescription in the 2009-1012 rules. The prescription will require the owner and skipper of each boat to be a member of US Sailing.  Not sure if we agree this is a good idea but we want to hear from you. Will this rule once again provide a stumbling block for building participation in the sport of sailing? Is this prescription in the rules a good idea? Vote now at our weekly poll question on the left side of this page.

Below is Mr. Capron’s comments.Newport, RI (March 16) - US SAILING wrapped up its Spring Meeting in Newport, R.I., this morning and the more than 120 committee members in attendance are returning home with new ideas and fresh energy. As President of the national governing body, Jim Capron (a lifelong sailor from Annapolis, MD) presided over the three-day meeting. One of the more prominent issues discussed over the weekend was a possible new requirement for racing sailors to be US SAILING members. To bring more light to the ongoing discussion, we asked Jim Capron to answer a few questions on the issue.

Why do you feel it’s important for US SAILING to get more sailors to join the organization?
Active competitive sailors expect a level playing field through standardized rules, offshore rating certification, trained and certified race officers, judges, and sailing instructors, and much more. All these services are provided by the national governing body, US SAILING. There is also a consensus among the Board of Directors that, in fairness to everyone, those who participate in the competitive aspect of our sport and benefit from these services, should be members of US SAILING.

How would US SAILING get more competitive sailors to join?
For several years, the leadership at US SAILING (the Board of Directors and numerous committees) has discussed the necessity and fairness of getting sailors to be members of the organization. The most likely method of obtaining membership would be through a new US SAILING Prescription for the 2009-2012 Racing Rules of Sailing that would require US SAILING membership of racing sailboat owners and skippers. This possible requirement is currently being reviewed.

Why is US SAILING doing this now?
Frankly, we are one of the few national authorities for sailing in the world for which membership of all competitive sailors is not required. We are also one of the few U.S. sports’ national governing bodies for which membership is not required, either directly or through clubs or regional associations. The majority of national governing bodies of U.S. sports require membership, such as figure skating, skiing, and tennis.

So, what is the next step?
A lot of details still have to be refined. The Board will make a decision in June on US SAILING Prescriptions for the new rule book. We are also looking at new membership structures to make it easy for members to follow any new requirements.

No real surprise here, knowing our current readership and having just attended the MBBS this past weekend.  It was great to see all our Regatta Promotions friends at the show.  Thank you for all the kind words about our efforts to increase the sport of sailing.

Thousands of people came through the Maine Boatbuilders Show this past weekend from all over the U.S.  The best sailboat on display was the spitfire a boat that was a rehab project by French and Web up in Belfast, Maine.  I received many comments that the boat looked brand new (which it did) and many wanted to see the boat racing asap!  Other sailboats of note were the Alerion by Rumery’s Boatyard and a couple of pretty looking boats by Artisan Boatworks.

The traditional, for MBBS, boats were all there as well.  Hinkley, Back Cove Yachts, Sabre, Lyman Morse, and others all had great examples of pure Maine craftsmanship.  We hope to see you at the show next year.

Here again for video Friday is some fast sailing during the US National skiff Championships. Not only are these cool boats but they use sponsorship and advertising in a smart way. The class and regatta both have wonderful sponsorship support from Ronstan. Have fun watching this cool video and hold on tight to your chair.

The one thing that volunteer race officers and many sailors overlook is the helpfulness of using a wind log sheet. Not sure what one is? We have one for free download in our Race Committee Supplies section of our web site. Download any of our forms here.

What is a wind log sheet?
The wind log sheet provides for a way to organize the wind direction data over time to see patterns that may affect the race. Our wind log sheet is perfect for PROs and volunteers that are on a stable boat with space to keep records but what if you are on a smaller sailboat in the race. Try drawing a grid on the bulkhead or in any easy place you can write with a pencil. Pencil is great on gelcoat it will wipe off with a little water and elbow grease.
How does it work?
The left most column is for the time. I suggest reading the wind every five minutes as soon as you reach the race course. For each five minute interval write the wind speed in the next column and then use the next 8 columns for the wind direction. For the first wind direction entry put the compass direction into one of the middle columns, this is for visual reasons. At the next five minute interval write the data in the next row down but when entering the wind direction make sure that if it has changed to change the box you write the bearing. For example if the wind direction moved 5 degrees to the right use the box that is one right of the box you used to write it last time(but obviously in the row below the first entry). If you have a persistent wind shift you will see a diagonal line on the page. If you have an oscillating wind shift you will see a zig zag line down the page. And if you have consistent breeze you will see a straight line down the page.

What are the benefits?
For a PRO (principle race officer) this data and how it is organized can help him or her quickly recognize what the wind is doing and provide the guidance for setting the course, line and time of start.
For a racer this data will help him or her make quick and informed decision on what end of the line to start, which side of the course to sail towards, when to tack or jibe and many more decisions that make for a much longer blog entry.

Why don’t many of us use this technique?
Simple, we are lazy and undisciplined. We think we can check the wind every once in a while and understand what it is doing and keep track of it in our head. However, it is my experience whether racing or running the race, the many distractions that we encounter on the race course create a situation where we forget or don’t actually know exactly what is happening with the wind. We then make a decision on what we think is happening and not based on what is ACTUALLY happening. As a PRO or a skipper you have many decisions to make, what type of beer to bring, when the crew can eat lunch, should you use the green marks or the orange, etc.., etc…Therefore delegate! Ask one of your crew or volunteers to keep the wind records. This person’s task is to take the wind readings on the exact time you two agree. If this means asking you to stop the boat and interrupt your plan for a minute or so then so be it.
Do you use this technique/tool? Have a better idea for the same application. Let us know about it.

I have been getting the questions; when, where, why and who cares?!

Well here are the answers:

• This Weekend March 14th, 15th and 16th - Thats Friday, Saturday and Sunday
• Times - 10 am to 6pm Friday and Saturday 10am to 4pm Sunday
• 58 Fore Street Portland, Maine at the Portland Company aka Portland Yacht Services
• Its almost Spring! Time to renew sailing friendships, see boats and dream of summer
• This show for anyone who appreciate good craftsmanship, New England ingenuity and Downeast hospitality.
• Regatta Promotions will have free gifts for anyone who stops by our booth. Come check it out!
• Register for another season of fun sailing regattas at the show.
• Free seminars from Lou McNally and other experts in many areas such as weather, boat maintenance, electronics and more…..
• Boat show deals from many marine suppliers….get it before its too late - summers right around the corner

For more details check out the boat show web site here.

This weekend marks the 20th Maine Boatbuilders Show in Portland, Maine. Regatta Promotions will have a booth at the show giving away fun things to people who stop by our booth. On-line registration for most of our events will be “live” by this weekend and we will be encouraging skippers (by giving away fun prizes) to register for their favorite events at the show.

The Maine Boatbuilders Show is at a perfect time for most of us in the northeast, even though it snows every year, it’s still a great time to meet friends and start thinking that the snow and ice will melt and we will be able to enjoy our favorite sport soon enough.

Check out this week’s new Poll Question, “What is the best Sailboat Boat Show in the United States?” We have put up 9 of the most well know shows. There are hundreds of shows throughout the U.S. so if you don’t see your favorite, make sure you add your answer.

Click here for more information about the Maine Boatbuilders Show.

This video is awesome! Good music and fast boats - what else do you need? O.k. these folks like winter more than most of us and they probably don’t want the ice to thaw, but it sure does look like a lot of fun. Too bad spring is right around the corner, most of us will have to wait until next winter to have this much fun again!

This video is so fast that the load time is a bit slow, therefore you may want to pause it and come back in a minute or two to watch it in entirety. It’s definitely worth watching to the end to see some near wipe outs and port/starboard near misses.

This might sound like a no brainer, but we just made this mistake and I will be sure that it won’t happen again. This past weekend, we lost our headstay during a race. At first glance, it looked like it had broken. Upon closer look, the pin had worked its way out and landed square on the deck. This could have been avoided by making sure that the pin and ring ding were taped, to prevent them from working themselves loose. Electrical tape works well and should be a staple aboard all boats for this purpose. Taping the pins will also help to reduce the risk of tearing any sails. So check yourself, not once, but each time you go out and be sure that all pins and ring dings aboard are covered in tape!

Announcing Tip day Thursday! No we are NOT sitting here with our hand out! Tip day means every Thursday we will be bringing you a tip from either our team at Regatta Promotions or from a guest expert. The tips will cover specifically race management, event management, regatta promotion or sailboat racing techniques and tactics. Our experts include National Champions, Inter-collegiate All-Americans, Certified Race Officers, professional sailors, sailmakers, local heros and local zeros. We all have something to learn from anyone and everyone. Hopefully, we will bring you some of the best tips that will make your sailboat racing more fun and more successful. Check back every Thursday and don’t forget the weekly poll updated every Monday.

This week’s tip is a very simple one that we should all know but often don’t follow. Next week we will be talking about wind and how to organize the patterns for both race committees and racers alike.

It was a bit daunting going into the first race of the Etchells Mid-Winters with the new windward gates. We now had to determine which side of the course we would come in from to pass through our windward gate and which mark to round before heading south on the downwind leg. For us, that decision was not always made well in advance. I found it was not always choosing the favored gate, but sometimes choosing the path with the least resistance in order to keep our boat speed with clear air.

The gates seemed to form a larger area of disturbed air and chopped up water if you were in the middle to back of the fleet, This scenario was always true with the standard windward mark, but the area became much larger with the gates. In the one race, we found ourselves in the top 20 boats, between two Etchells World Champions on the last downwind leg. For this race, many of the obstacles we had dealt with before were not there. We didn’t have a wall of boats to sail through at any of the turning marks and it was a lot easier not having to try and dig out from the back of the fleet. It was a great thrill to have the boat tuned for the conditions and to see that our boatspeed was able to maintain with the fast guys.

When we used the starboard gate, we put our pole up on the starboard side and waited to jibe around the offset mark before the spinnaker hoist. Our boat is set up with two spinnaker bins, one on each side, but we never really knew ahead of time which gate we would round, so we stuck to the port side hoist that we were used to. There were plenty of other boats that used our strategy too.

The most positive thing about the gates was watching the fleet change positions. You had to really think three steps ahead to keep yourself out of trouble with other boats and to position yourself on a clear path around the mark. We didn’t always make the right choices going into it, but we sailed clean, we were challenged and it was fun and exciting. I think it worked well for a large fleet and I hope we will see the gates at the Worlds in Chicago this year.