Florida 300 May 19-May 22

that may inspire a new rashy...southern superman.

The preliminary hotel list posted. We are still working on Cocoa Beach and I will have a second option for Palm Beach Shores (Singer Island).
www.Florida300.com/hotels

Will the race be posting lat. /lon. for the finishes or will it be like the stupid way Chuck did it a few times and make everyone guess?

I will post some waypoints that will be in close proximity to the finishes. How is that for layer talk?

Jesus Todd,

I know you're a bit behind the times, but there's this new fangled contraption called

Google Earth

that will let you search for the hotel, and if you go and drop a Pin on the beach next to the hotel, it will give you the lat/long.

What ever happened to navigation being a valued skill of seamanship??? Next, you'll be asking for a preprogrammed GPS to be part of the entry fee, and since it came from the OA, you'll want redress when the batteries die...

Mike

Tad... don't take this the wrong way.. but I have to ask... why is it that you've been one of the biggest supporters of a race like this happening and as soon as it's announced you put your boat up for sale?!

man, you guys are tough! It used to be the norm to get the finish line coordinates. It was a source of error for a few teams that didn't do the google earthing correctly in the last couple of years. If the Race committee is visiting each site (I presume that is still the case), it's not that much effort to ping a waypoint on the beach in front of the hotel on a GPS (or phone) and share it.

Fair question indeed.

I put it up for sale because I have to move this coming summer, and proceeds from the boat sale are paying for moving expenses. I'm moving to a place where I don't foresee myself doing too much sailing, and we will only be staying there for only a year likely. Once the wife is done with her fellowship, we want to move to the NC Coast where I'll likely be getting a new boat.

In short, I had decided a long time ago to sell the boat. The timing of it was just bad.

(Plus I hadn't been doing much sailing, and I'm not in any way in physical shape enough to do a race like this with any degree of success whatsoever)

It's really not about the

effort

by the RC, I'm more than happy to give whatever amount of info will help more boats show up and have a good time.

I'm just lamenting a more pure time, when we would do distance races with nothing more than the charts and compasses the OA would

force

us to buy.

It does drive me bonkers to hear stories about boats and coaches (not necessarily in cat classes, BTW) who make a stink at buoy races if the marks aren't in an exact location, on clear weather in broad daylight, etc...

Again, not because of the work for the RC, but for the seamanship and common sense that seems to have disappeared from our sport.

And yes, I am aware that picking out the

right

hotel on some of those beaches is tough, especially in fading/ no sunlight; but again, isn't that part of the race???

Mike

WHAT?? How long have they had this...

Google Earth

thing you speak of??

Your strange and modern ways confuse and frighten me!

how do I get that on my Marconi set?

Dit dot dot dot dit dit dot

Or for you geeks:

...---...

;^)

For you I guess that's fine, all you have to do is look for the boats on the beach and then neglect to pay your bet debts to everyone that beat you. Has anyone even said the finishes are in front of the listed hotels (don't believe they are). So tell me how Google Earth shows you where the RC MIGHT put the finish, I missed that option.

Since when have you ever been in any shape to finish with some degree of success? I missed that too.

Geriatric doc must have cut down on the Wellbutrin eh? Cranky one he is.

As for the first comment you made about the finishes perhaps not being near the hotels... thats very possible but is hasn't been the case for as many T500's as I've been a part of. The only one was Jupiter where we had to land about a half mile down the beach from the hotel. The GPS coordinate to the hotel gave us something close enough to where we could see the finish. I made an assumption based on past experience here Todd. No need to get all cranky about it.

As for me being in shape. For me

any degree of success

has to do with actually finishing without going to the hospital. As you know I've had problems with that in the past. But thats for bringing that up Todd. Really appreciate it buddy.

Me cranky...you know better. All typed with a smile on my face. This isn't the t-500 and you know what they say about assuming...Seriously though some of the hotels listed are not on the beach.I don't think it's unreasonable to expect an RC to give finish coordinates as that's part of the gig. I'm sure they've got it covered.

As for me being in shape. For me

any degree of success

has to do with actually finishing without going to the hospital. As you know I've had problems with that in the past. But thanks for bringing that up Todd. Really appreciate it buddy.

Hey, ROUND is a shape!

I wish you two would just kiss already and be done with it. You make a cute couple... for a couple of old white guys.

old guys rule

yeah, if you're into being invisible. aarp discounts and early bird specials are the worst consolation prizes EVER! thank goodness the single moms still take my money.

It also doesn't hurt that you hang out in tranny clubs. Those aren't really single moms,Ding.

Tad, If you want to mouth up and raise your hand, don't get all butthurt and play the victim when you get called on.

They are innies I checked. Thanks for looking out for me though.

I've always got your back,bud.

Alright boys, lets take it down a notch.

I took the wife and kids to the Islander Resort/Islander Watersports to do get some promotional video and had a great time.

It was not all work though, we took out one of Islander Watersports rental catamarans and sailed out to the sand bar. Too bad the tide was not low enough to beach the boat. The boat was in great shape and easy enough to sail that my kids did most of the sailing. Now my wife is asking about getting sailing racks for my boat.

If you are doing the race you should come up early to take advantage of all of the facilities. Dennis and his crew at Islander Watersports took great care of us with the water trike, kayaking and sailing.

Let me know if you can't view the images.

Ha! Clearly little bro is trying to issue a skipper directive and big sis is thinking... put that away before I pull it off and feed it to you. Typical skipper and crew dynamic.

I like the mainsheet control with the foot. I'll give away the tiller or the jib sheet to just about anyone, but I always keep the mainsheet close at hand (or foot). Conditions looked pretty tame though.

Takes a huge leap of faith, but the fast boats tend to have the crews trimming the main.

Mike

Given the tone of that thread, I'd be seriously concerned with that last comment <img src="<>/smile.gif" alt="smile" title="smile" height="15" width="15" />

As long as the skipper does exactly as they are told everything is fine and boat goes around the course efficently. It's only when the skipper starts to believe they have it figured out is when the wheels come off.