Area C Qualifier is cancelled due to lack of interest

I commend the job being done with the Alter Cup. A lot of volunteerism and dedication has resulted in several years of exciting racing. Each year the members behind the scene tweek the event into a better, and better, and even better event. WTG and keep it up!

The area Cs cancellation was best summed up by Mark....plus the economy and ...shortish notice.

Last year's area Cs'qualifier had a strong registration because it piggy-backed on an existing annual event at a club with +40 beachcats. Consequently, there was a core group that were going compete even though it usurped an OD/foruma event. Unfortunately, participation was hampered by

really ugly

weather.

With the growth of formula fleets, we may be approaching a time to revisit the qualifier methodology.....However, that is beyond the scope of this thread.

Pete, they are doing a great job. I am sure they would welcome your comments.
http://championships.ussailing.org/Adult/USMHChampionship/Committee.htm

It might be interesting to read through the minutes to see what ground has been previously covered.

4 out of 7 of those council members have participated in this thread so far. The members of that committee are many of the same people involved in this forum and that we participate in regattas with regularly. You need only to open your eyes to

see the light

{chuckle}

I think the way the current championships is run is top notch. I've had the priviledge of attending a few Alter Cups and they are always really enjoyed by the participants.

I think the only thing that really hurts the area qualifiers is the requirement for the crew to be a member of US Sailing. Many crews just arn't that serious and that causes the skipper to have to buck up an extra 40-50 bucks on top of the regatta fee and his membership. Many skippers wouldn't be members of US Sailing if it were not for the Alter Cup. I still see the Alter Cup as the one true benefit by being a member. (Even though I know US Sailing gives no money to the event but just a name).

My hat's off to the organizers and volunteers for this event. They get nothing but pain from everyone and yet the continue to put on a great event. Also a big thanks to the Manufacturer's who put up the boats.

Mike Hill
N20 #1005

You win.

can you take an existing (popular) regatta and piggy back the qualifier on it as well? At least then you'd have the attendees...

Yes, but the current prescription is that those bidding for the AC qualifier should have their own start.

You are missing the problem.

the large majority of racers simply don't care about the Alter Cup qualifier.... its last on the list of events to attend.

In your example.
When given a choice at a popular regatta between a one design class race and a handicap race for the Alter Cup slot the overwhelming majority of sailors will choose the One design Race.

They do not value the Alter Cup Qualifier Slot, a regional interclass championship or the differences in handicap racing. ... So, it's just another local regatta and the strings attached are unacceptable ( don't forget USSA membership)and last on the priority of regattas to attend list.

Basically, they know they will have the most fun racing one design and so WHY should they waste the weekend doing something they don't like?

Either we find a way to make the handicap regatta valuable and interesting to the average racer so that they replace a one design event with the handicap event and show up ... or we dump the qualifiers in areas where we just don't care to play.

Hi,

I'm a

Area C

resident/competitor ..... and the owner of one of the two last

Open

class boats in the area that Mark mentioned .... so why didn't I go????

For me the biggest hurtle is the

US Sailing

membership requirement for the crew .... it's tough enough to find crew ... any crew .... but now I have to find someone who is a US Sailing member also .... now I am a US Sailing member myself but both my boats are two-up ... a TheMightyHobie18 and a P19MX ... so I need crew.

And since I have only very limited employment currently .... $$$$$'s are a issue ....

And one more very personal reason ..... everytime I've gone to the Jersey Shore for pleasure in the recent years .... my friends or I ... or I've witnessed someone being

taxed

by some local police officer in the form of a ch_cken-sh_t ticket .... last year was my turn ... for not wearing my seatbelt ... no NJ license plates were pulled over ...only

out-of state

plates were pulled over and ticketed. It's all about generating revenue for the politions spending ... So personally I have better places to go and spend my $$$$'s then NJ .... added to that fact also is that the only thing cheap in NJ is the gas as the hotels/motels/campsites are too expensive anymore ... (property taxes are very high!!!!)

Harry

So to the residents of NJ .... get your Cops/Polititions under control if you want me to come and play .... w/ my $$$$$'s!!!!!!!

Harry... you have been saving that NJ rant for 10 years....
Feel better now?

Mark,

I don't get to vote in NJ ... so the only way I can have any influence in NJ is to take my $$$'s to Maryland or Delaware or Hatteress ....

Oh by the way I have a

issue

w/ Philadelphia 's Parking Authority you don't even have to go in the city .... they send you tickets in the mail saying pay the fine or else ... my father got one in January when we could prove that he was sitting in the dentists chair having a root canal done ... the PPA said

Just pay the ticket and come in-town for a hearing

.... $$$$$'s and time .... we finally got it squashed by our state rep when he saw the dentists noterized letter ...

I paid that NJ ticket but swore no more NJ for me ...

Past Incidences:
2007- Had Bill Mest pulled over directly in front of me on the way to Shore Acres Regatta for speeding ... we were doing 48-50mph in a 50mph zone ... ask Megan, she was sitting beside me in the truck and witnessed the event
2008/Labor Day- Meet Triple Threat in CapeMay to help bring her home .... Taxi had to go through

Traffic Check-Point Stop/SeatBelt ... 93 tickets issued .... not a single in-state plate ... all tickets to

Out-of State

plates ... whats the statistical probibility of that????
2008/LaborDay: Sitting on Triple Threat in CapeMay Harbor .... Marine Police stopping every boat for

Safety Check

... lots of tickets written/observed through binoculars ....most boat's had

out-of-state

registrations ....
2009: Given ticket for not wearing my seatbelt while numerous NJ tagged cars went by w/ the drivers not wearing their seatbelts ... only

out-of-state vehicles pulled over ....

Told NJ State Trooper (personal friend) of my observations .... was laughed at ...

that's the way it is in NJ

....

so ... I DON

T DO NEW JERSEY ANYMORE ......

And how close do I live to NJ???? I even grew up on the NJ Shore spending time every summer at my grandfather's house in Villas NJ .... until my 30's .... started sailing

Cats

at Stone Harbor/122st Beach ... very 1st Hobie event, Wildwood Regatta/

B

Fleet Regatta 1984(?) ....

I refuse to give anymore of my HARDEARNED $$$$'s to a bunch of corrupt NJ cops and Pol's !!!!!

How many Area C Alter Cup Eliminations have I attended?????

How many Div11 Regatta's have I attended in NJ recently????

See any pattern???????

Call me

Hard-Headed" .... but I want fairness and justice for ALL ... not just those w/ NJ license plates when in NJ .....

So I want people to know ... it's not all the Alter Cup format .... but (personally for me) .... location ... location ... location !!!!!!!!

That's just the way it is for me .....

Harry

Mark????

Did you forget about the $32.00 in tolls to get from Maryland to New Jersey on I95 .....

So the next time the Alter Cup Area C Eliminations are in Del or Maryland ... I'll go .... just never, ever, New Jersey !!!!!!

I have found more then enough sailing/racing on the Cheaspeake w/o all the potential hassles .... so who needs to go to New Jersey ..... Snookie???? FYI: She just got arrested today by the way ..... in NewJersey

Ya ... (rightly or wrongly) ... that's great for tourism .....

Harry

Wow, way to kick up the stoke for any regatta. Yea, Jersey sux, I got pulled over here once too- boo hoo. Ummm, don't know where to go with that one. I was signed up for the Alter cup qualifiers, actually wanted to give it a go at the qualifier and potentially go to the finals, but I guess I just gave a donation to US Sailing. Maybe if it was in MD more people would have shown up. Fact of the matter is the venue is one of the best on the East Coast and it's a shame it has been cancelled. This weekend probably isn't going to go off for wind, but Trixies is one hell of a spot, thermal rocked on Wednesday . Too bad it's New Jersey, then maybe some folks would have signed up - get real. I personally know several NJ
State troopers and they are amongst the most upstanding indivduals I've ever met. Perhaps next time you should just wear your seat belt. Hopefully next year they'll pick a spot that works out OK for Harry.

sm

Just to add a note on Mark and Harry. They both did an outstanding job on the Rock Hall Junior Olympics. They got the Multihulls, H-16, into the Junior Olympics for the first time. Got Matt Bounds to be the PRO, who also judged the event, secured Wally Meyers for the Guest Expert seminar, etc. Mark did all the scoring for all sailors, Harry drove over 600 miles one day, bringing Jim Glanden's H-16 down for my grandson to sail, and an RV for Matt to stay in.

They both do a lot for Cat Sailing, but Harry, do wear your seat belt, we want to keep you around.

Caleb

Guys,

Thank You for the compliments ....

But New Jersey's leaders have to learn that their actions are not helping their tourism industry w/ their attitude of

milk the tourists for all they got and then some ....

And I didn't even mention that after you run the guantlet of over zealous law enforcement officials .... the too expensive hotels/motels/campingsites ... and you do finally get out on the water to race .... then there are the

Power Boaters

.... hundreds and hundreds of them charging all over Barneget Bay .... every which way .... making the bay a

washing machine

.... passing with-in feet of you on their way somewhere .... it's not enjoyable trying to race when all you hear are loud engines and fear getting run over as you try to pound through power boat chop .... imagine +100 Cigarette/Speed boats racing down Barneget Bay ... w/ photo helicopter .... charging straight at you ... going throught your race course ..... that was several years ago ...

.... no more for me .....

Bob Bergsted is a GREAT person and a truely nice guy .... Trixie's in the fall is a lovely spot to sail when all the power boaters go home to watch football .... just not in the summer ....

Harry

HARRY....Put on your SEATBELT!

I will not read your reply, because there is not a reply worth reading...if your life isn't worth it your meatballs are. Are you not important to your niece?

Last year's area Cs'qualifier had a strong registration because it piggy-backed on an existing annual event at a club with +40 beachcats. Consequently, there was a core group that were going compete even though it usurped an OD/foruma event. Unfortunately, participation was hampered by

really ugly

weather.

One correction if I may...it was not a od/formuma event in the previous two or three years...it was a open class event with one start. It was a perfect fit.

About the whole Alter Cup entrance requirements, do they not already take National Champ. from each class, (F18's, Hobie 16, A Cat, etc.) and add to that list all the Area Qualifier winners?

If so, good. If not, why not? Or are the class champions the ones who are the

petition

entrants?

Seek and ye shall find.

Thanks John. Interesting that only two

rotating class champions...

are chosen yet the Tornado class is named explicitly. Now that the Tornado is not an Olympic class, do they still put on a

Tornado Nationals

?

Most of the former T guys are sailing F18's or something else now, right? No disrespect to the Tornado class, I was all for keeping them in the Olympics, but I have not heard/seen too much T Class racing since they were dropped.

The conditions are up for modification typically once per year - the last time they were edited, I think there was still some hope for the Tornado in the Olympics.

Jake's right - the Conditions change a bit year to year sometime before the first Qualifier is sailed. No mods this year, although several are under discussion for the 2011 sailing season. That's why this sort of discussion is vital. Thanks for the input, Tim.

That's why it should be initiated by USS.

Who do you think

USS

is, Pete?

A very few paid staffers, a larger number of volunteers and lastly the dues paying members.

So of those groups, who do you think should initiate the changes we're discussing?

Guys,

While I will stand by my feelings and actions about New Jersey ... I should apologize to Bob Bergsted, Mark Santorelli and

Rondo

whom all put alot of effort into trying to hold the Area

C

Alter Cup Eliminations at Trixie's .....

And yes I'm being stupid when I don't wear a seat belt which is a bad habit I picked-up from my past Chevy Pick-up's since the shoulder strap would pass directly over my neck and chin ... uncomfortable, unadjustable and very poorly designed (and deadly in my opinion since it could/would crush you trachia in an accident).

But the point was ... out-of-state residents are

profiled

and targeted by local law enforcement .... and you should hear some of the stories my

minority

friends tell about their experiences in NJ at the hands of

law enforcement

....

Hopefully some NJ businessmen and residents will speak up to their

leaders

and make a point that their behavior is not having a positive effect ... but a hugely negative one ....

Let's move on ....

This debate remined me that my US Sailing membership is up for renewal in August .... today is August 1st .... so I need to call Ms. Kate Daley/Membership Director at US Sailing tomorrow and renew my membership .... through the US Multihull Council!!!!!

Got to run now .... going to Rock Hall Yacht Club in Rock Hall Maryland for the afternoon to relax and do alittle sailing ....

And I'll make sure to wear my seatbelt ... in my F-150 Ford Pick-up .... (I solved Chevy's design problem .... I purchased a Ford ... my first and I really like it ....)

Harry

The only change I'm sure of is the need for better communication. I would hope that could be driven by the multihull committee though I don't see why it shouldn't be welcomed from any corner.

Specifically, I'd like to see the minutes of the meetings or a synopsis. If the general membership was made aware of the difficulties the committee face there might at least be some sympathy and perhaps even a modicum of understanding.

My experience in trying to fill a leadership role is that sailors are like a school of fish: they stick together, they know where they want to go, but not necessarily the best route, and they're startled by the least disturbance. They don't talk much either. That makes them a difficult group to lead.

Seek and ye shall find.