Welcome to the Regatta Promotions Sailing Marketing Blog

The annual Points East Crew Match Party will be Wednesday May 7th at 5:30, hosted by Handy Boat in the Falmouth Foreside. This is a great chance for skippers and crew alike to come together and catch up from the long winter. The crew match party is the perfect opportunity to meet and mingle with potential crew and skippers and have some great food and beer to boot. Best of all, it’s FREE! This year’s sponsors are Gritty McDuff’s, Handy Boat, West Marine, Hamilton Marine and Regatta Promotions. Note to all skippers; You can register for PYC Race series events at the party and we will have some cool stuff to give away for those who register.

If that isn’t enough fun for you, there will be another Crew Match Party in Rockland on May 16th, 5:30-7:30, at the new location of the Rockland Yacht Club located at the head of the Public Landing with the Rockland harbormaster. For more information about this Crew Match Party call Doug Pope at Pope Sails for more information. 207-596-7293.

We hope to see you all there!

On Monday of this week April 28th 2008 the US Gov’t asked for the help of recreational boaters to be on the lookout for suspicious activity on the nation’s water ways. According to the Gov’t there is an actual threat to national security from terrorists potentially using small craft to carry a bomb that can do major damage to a US city or port. They are trying to enact an on the water neighborhood watch with very little enforcement back up – the US Coast Guard already can’t handle all the calls they receive, as noted in the associated press story.

So we want to want to know from you what you think. Answer our easy poll question of the month. Will you be thinking of National Security this summer while on the water or will you be enjoying the experience like you always have?

There was a lot of buzz regarding the latest poll that we had up on the site that had to do with the change to the 2 boatlength circle rule 18. The unanimous winner was that NO, the rule should not change, 3 boatlengths is just too hard to judge. We had some great comments on this blog, if you want to read what others had to say about it. I tend to agree with many that say 3 boatlengths will be very subjective and that it will create more problems than solutions. It sounds like this will be a new prescription change to the rules, so while out sailing this summer, start thinking in that direction to get geared up for 2009.

This is Regatta Management and Marketing done at its best for both amateur and pro sailors alike. Now if we could just do this in the U.S. it would be great!

Here is a first hand regatta report direct from Grapevine, TX, just outside of the Dallas area. The event was the 2008 Mayor’s Cup Regatta held on Grapevine Lake, just northwest of DFW Airport in Grapevine. It is a man made lake that is approximately 8 miles long and about 1 mile wide, completed in 1952. This event is sponsored by the Grapevine Sailing Club, an all volunteer organization with 175 members. Here is what Geoff Emanuel had to say about the event;

The regatta was excellent with temperatures in the low 70′s and wind speeds of 15-30 knots as well as great race management. I sailed on a Santana 30/30 called Roxanne with owner Tommy Gambulos. My favorite part of the event was when we did a gybe/broach and ended up putting our mast in the water. The Catalina 22s were out in full force, preparing for the Catalina 22 Nationals being held at the lake later next month. The worst part of the entire event was when we ran out of beer after the second of three races on Saturday. To view full results, see below:

photos from Shelley Stephens

2008 Mayor’s Cup Regatta

The first race boat of the season has now splashed into the water. Jon Randall bought a new C&C 115 and it was launched yesterday at Handy Boat. There are plenty of moorings in the water and soon others will start to launch and join Snowbird in the Falmouth anchorage. This proves that it is not too early to start thinking about the boating season ahead of us. Below is a picture, courtsey of Rob Windsor Tartan C&C Yachts Long Island, of Snowbird at the dock. She looks great in the water and will be tough competition in the races this year.

The C&C 115 class will be having their debut of one design sailing in the Annapolis NOOD regatta this weekend. We will give you the updates throughout the event. They have an impressive 9 boats registered for the event and perhaps Snowbird will join them next year.

Here is a picture of “Seven” in action (photo by Tim Wilkes):

From all reports, Charleston Race Week was a success in every aspect of the event. The weather allowed for 8 races, Gosling’s rum provided refreshing after racing beverages and there was great competition on the water. We will have a first hand report from Tom Hall, who was sailing on his newly purchased Seven (An Elliot 770) in the PHRF class. Check back for more on what Tom had to say about this event. To see a complete listing of results and more information, go to www.charlestonraceweek.com.

The Star Worlds will be wrapping up today, providing that they are able to get 1 race in. There have been 5 races completed to date, allowing for the fleet to have one throwout race. With the throwout race, the preliminary scores have now changed drastically. The previous leaders, John MacCausland/ Kevin Murphy USA 95, have dropped to 12th place with 54 pts, 45 points behind the current leader, Mateusz Kusznierewicz/ Dominik Zycki POL 09. Their 9 pts overall is an impressive tribute to their consistency during the regatta. Japan, Austria, Ireland, Croatia and Switzerland are trying to secure their place in the Olympic spotlight this summer in Beijing. All stakes are high today as the end of the regatta is near. We will all have to stay tuned to see how it all plays out. Gook luck to everyone!

Star Worlds

Lot of boats! Hiking Really Hard! About to take Flight?

The Star World Championships are underway as we speak.  Coral Reef Yacht Club, in sunny Coconut Grove, FL, is hosting this large scale event.  104 boats are competing for the title of 2008 Star World Champion.  There is only one race each day, with long courses and tired abdominal muscles for the sailors that are out there.  The Star is a very physical boat and requires long periods of hiking to keep the boat flat and fast.  Race 4 will take place today and Friday is reserved, in the case where they miss a race day.  There are 26 countries competing and for some, this stands as their country’s Olympic qualifier.
The top boats are in tight competition, and Race 2 gave many top boats a Black Flag Penalty, setting them back in the results.  It will be interesting to see if the boats in the top can hold their spots, USA 95 and AUS14 tied right now with 27 points.  Check it out if you are interested in seeing the results or reading more about the event.
2008 Star Worlds

Tax time is behind us and it is now time for Charleston Race Week to begin April 17th-20th. This is sure to be a great event, with an impressive entry list of 143 boats already registered. They have a large turnout in fleets of the Melges 24’s, Viper 640’s, J-80’s, J-24’s, J-105’s and Flying Tigers, to name a few. The race organizers expect it to be a record setting year for the number of boats in attendance. This race makes sense for a lot of people that bring their boats north from Miami this time of year, or for those that want this event to kick off the spring season. We will be having a Question and Answer session with some of the racers in attendance next week, so check back for first hand regatta reports.