Welcome to the Regatta Promotions Sailing Marketing Blog

As spring approaches, with the sun shining and weather warming up, it is time to start thinking about our getting our boats in the water. But before you splash your boat in the water for the season, think about what she has on her bottom. Your paint choice will help to keep her clean through the season and hopefully smooth allowing your boat to travel fast while under sail.

One paint that is widely used for racing sailboats is VC Offshore, with a healthy amount of thinner added to the mix. Once the bottom is sanded, prepped, washed and dried you are ready for the paint. First, you want to thin the paint out with paint thinner. As you apply the paint with a brush or roller, it dries very quickly, which allows you to apply multiple coats without waiting hours for the paint to dry. Because we like to thin out the paint, 5 to 6 applications should be sufficient. It is recommended that you use 2 to 3, but that is without adding thinner to the mix. The bottom can be finished by wet sanding for an exceptionally smooth finish.

Another option for your bottom is to use the environmentally friendly, copper-free, antifouling bottom paint called E Paint 2000. This would be an easy green option for those that have a clean slate to paint on, as it is not compatible with other existing antifouling paint. It is recommended that you prime with the EP 2000 primer to protect the fiberglass from water and blistering. It seems to work well and now that copper prices have gone up, the price doesn’t look so bad either. The manufacturer says not to apply the paint in temps below 60° F so it looks like until the weather warms up some more, bottom painting will have to take a backseat to your other boat projects for now.

Today is the first day of spring and for boaters in the North that means one thing. Preparation! Time to get the boat ready for another season. As the saying goes winning is 90% preparation 10% execution. Stay tuned over the next four weeks or so for the best tips for preparing your boat for battle. Our tips will include helpful information for both sailors and race officers that want to improve their performance.

Today’s tip is for Race Officers. Check you inventory now before its too late and your using a bed sheet to make an “S” flag. Our Race Committee Supplies page has a great check list to make sure you have everything you need to run a race. Obviously check the big items. Do you have all the code flags. Inflate your marks and check for leaks. Organize your anchors and tackle with each mark. Horns, VHF, GPS, extra batteries etc… are all items you can check now and reduce the amount of running around with a week to go before your big event.

Race Officers, need some missing equipment? Want to upgrade your flags and marks? Check out our race committee supplies page where you will find links to an on-line store with all the flags and marks you might need. You can order right on-line or give us a call and help you pick just the right product.

Hint: Purchase the larger tetrahedron marks with a clear pouch on each side to put an image of your club burgee or your title sponsor. This will help recruit sponsors and make your event look more professional.

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.

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.