St. Pete NOODs

What is

UP

with the Florida fleet racing of both the F28R and the F24? I was told there was going to be an

active

F24 fleet here in Florida, yet I can find little or no information and it seems they only race a few regattas all year, and then with only about 5 boats showing up. The F28's seem to have a bigger fleet, but again, only at Key West and St. Pete or the annual Pensacola get together do I see any

fleet

racing.

I have been wanting an F24 (or 28R) since Bob Gleason took me for a ride on his F24 back in 1996. This summer I -might- finally have the money to buy a used boat, but I want to fleet race it more than 3 times a year.

Is there a

building

F24 fleet in Florida or is everyong moving up to the 28R or the new 24 day sailor?

Thanks.

Tim,

There's lots of class based communication among the 28R fleet owners that is email based. Join the 28R owners association to gain access.

FWYC is currently building a fleet of 28's and other tris right now. We have our own starts at every regatta run by the club, and have between 2 and 5 28's on the line at any given race. In addition, we have Randy Smyth on his 25C who is on the line, as well as Don Wigston with a 750.

Rocketeer 2 just sold to a really good sailor who will be racing it both at the club and at the multi events.

If you are looking for OD racing in FL, get a 28 and we'll figure out how to get you a spot to keep it in the area.

FYI, there are 2 other members actively looking into getting a 28R within 12 months...

Cliff.

Thanks for that info Cliff. I live down in central Florida though, a long, long drive from Ft. Walton unfortunately, because it sounds like you have a great fleet up there! There was supposed to be a fleet of F24's down this way; Sarasota, Marco Island, Miami, etc. but I don't see much written about any of their races, if there is such a fleet. I would think there would be as the Finish Line dealership is down here, but I guess they sell mostly 28's and 31's? If there is no regular racing fleet down here then maybe I'll get an old 27 and go cruising with the family, then get an A cat for the local racing.

There are racing boats out of Miami in the 24 class. Ran into a guy named Raoul and his daughter who rafted up with us. Very cool and good sailors to boot.

Join the fboats group at yahoo. That is where you will see most of the infomation on racing.

I bought my F-27 from Sarasota. It appeared to me that most people in the area stopped sailing the in the Summer months. It seemed that once it hit May sailors in the Sarasota Yacht Squadron were putting their boats away until Fall. I don't know if this is truly reflective of the area sailors, but if it is it might affect what kind of racing fleets you encounter.

It is true that most of the big regattas down here are in the winter, but the Sarasota Sailing Squadron puts on an excellent Labor Day regatta, which sort of kicks off the season. The wind is better in the winter. In the summer it's usually very hot, with thunderstorms every afternoon.

Tim, if I recall, there are about 3 F24 and 2 or more F28 in the Naples/Marco area. Not sure how active they are. FoN was a hired gun on one regatta here about two months ago.

How'd they do? You want to go halves on a

Family Boat

?! <img src=

alt=

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Have you taken the wife out on one yet? My wife actually liked it, compared to the J24 leaner! With all our kids, we will need the F31R though! <img src=

alt=

/>

Rick is sailing with friends on their Corsair 28R in the Conquistador Cup out of Punta Gorda this weekend. I'll let you know how many tris show up for it.

Rick just called from Punta Gorda. He says there are about 12 multihulls in the Conquistador Cup, all are tris except for an Edelcat. There are three or four F-28's, four F-24's, an F-33 and two or three F-27's. All but one of the boats are from Florida.

Thanks Mary, I wonder if any of those guys need crew.