Rally?

You need to read the story about the Hobie sailors that crossed the Atlantic. Check here: http://users.tpg.com.au/kkmiller/hobie/across_atlantic.html

Sounds good. When will you begin organizing it?

Texel Round the Island race? That's 100km long and often has in the neighborhood of 1000 beach cats participating.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knY08LrNyHg

I read about it in Cruising World once or twice. Sounded like a good group to join if you're just starting out blue water cruising. There are other types of similarly situated organizations which set up for various routes (NE USA to Carribean, Panama Canal, etc.)

No beachcat is rated for blue water sailing that I'm aware of. Not so much for their lack of durability, but rather the crew's inability to seek shelter from the elements (exposure is probably the biggest killer out there)

Trade your Tiki in for a good used Raider 302 or Stilleto and you could feasibly consider the Bahamas for a week or so of crusing

I wasn't thinking about racing beach cats in blue water. What I meant was; has anyone tried organizing a beach cat get together NOT centered on a racing event? Just a schmooze and sail...

Wasn't that Cuba run something akin to what you're looking for?

Everglades Challenge is also something you can

race

in or just sail/paddle to complete

Not at all. The rally thing caught my eye because it attracted a lot of people. I was thinking

Round Sanibel

or some such; Hiram's with a cruising fleet.

Racing is a lot of work, it isn't for lazing and relaxing. With the average age increasing among beach cat sailors, I was just wondering if there was an interest.

EC seems like a lot of work no matter how you approach it.

We tried that a few times at our club but a race usually breaks out.

You need to find a way to to provide incentive so people chill out and

cruise

....which isn't in some of our blood. Stops for food, etc. Poker Run....these things aren't that attractive to me but it's an observation.

Get together with some sailing buds that cruise their Farrier and Corsair trimarans and organize a

Rendezvous Island Hop.

Just curious! Lot's of things like this for monohulls and bigger multis but it just doesn't seem to be a beach cat thing.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I think Round Texel comes close, sure there is some serious racing but also a lot of sailors who do the round just for fun and have a good time.

I thought the definition of

cruising

was to have no set agenda/destination/timeframe...

I agree that there are several crusing divisions in most yacht/sail clubs (paper and traditional) which may have a similar schedule to which you could participate.

I recall the GCSC has several Naples/Ft. Myers overnighters where they anchor out near that pass we sailed to the first time... BBQ at the park, sunset drinks, easy sailing...

I participated in the ARC several years ago on a 52' cruising cat. It was a fantastic experience, 16 days at sea with almost nothing in sight. But make no mistake, 2 boats are a race, 225 are a big race, even if it's called a rally.

We have an annual event in Israel whch combines distance racing with

cruising

. About 40 cats of all kinds, from getaways to f20Cs, race North about 40 miles on Friday. Since many of the participants are not racers, we have 2 escort ribs, a medic, a standby tow vehicle and a couple of gates to ensure people don't stray too far from shore. We are greeted with beers, have a big barbecue and sleep in tents on the beach after the prizegiving ceremony. Saturday is a more relaxed sail back, mostly because we don't have an official start - boats head out as the wind fills in. Some families join in for the evening, and many have kids sail along on the way back. It is always a fantastic event, not too difficult for the casual sailors, a full on race for the racers

I was just curious why it doesn't seem to work for beach cats. I guess rum would help...

I think Opher's comment was the key. No fixed start, no start line. Just tell everybody to gather at point A, leave at about X o'clock and dinner will be ready at point B when they get there. Sure some people will push to stay ahead of their buddies, but few will want to stray too far away from the pack when there is no incentive to do so.

One idea I had was a kite procession. Everybody who enters is given a cheep kite that they must fly while sailing. The course would be along a public beach or something to make it interesting for bystanders, and the boats would be expected to stay in a line ahead formation. I think it would be fun and generate a lot of interest among non-sailers. A recruiting tool.

Going 40 miles north from Sdot Yam it's close to be an international race. Why not Tel-Aviv to Haifa? The name certainly sounds more atractive for sponsors.

We do indeed sail to Achziv, which is a couple of miles south of the Lebanese border. There is a good beach there for landing and camping with all the facilities. We leave from Sdot Yam since that is the largest cat club in Israel, about 130 boats mast up, great beach reasonably protected from the waves and good facilities. The Tel Aviv cats usually sail up a week or 2 earlier and join us for the rally north.
Another element that encourages more sailors to join in is that we take care of logistics, for example a van takes peoples bags and tents back and forth while we sail, all food is purchased by th organizers etc. We have a safety and preparation seminar for new participants, post checklists for boat preparation, provide each boat with a laminated list of phone numbers and a map, coordinate passage through a restricted naval area etc. The combination of a fun happening, good organization and increased safety measures encourages many sailors to join what would normally be beyond their comfort zone - which is, by the way, exactly what the ARC does so very well

Just out of curiosity, how much does a normal house cost in Sdot Yam?

Literally priceless - It is a Kibbutz, a communal community, you have to be a member of the kibbutz to live there, can't just buy a house. Plenty of nice small towns nearby, I live 15 minutes away on the southern edge of the Carmel hills

If preparations are made and the winds don't show, then what? Rum is boring.

Black tie croquet.

http://www.cmcs-sail.org/ These folks have a raft up, picnic, and black tie croquet party every year. The black tie is made from garbage bags and the accoutrements are about what you would expect. Sometimes a coconut gets substituted for a ball...

If one buys a nearby house, can he have his boat at the club you mentioned or is the club a kibutz? How much for a house nearby?

Sacrilege !!!!!!!!!!!!!

We set the rally at the begining of summer, when winds are reasonably predictable, and have never yet had to cancel because of weather. In fact, we have had more trouble with strong winds than no wind...
Luiz, are you planning on coming to Israel? The club is open to all cats for a fee. There are also wind surfing, kiting and kayaking clubs, as well as a dinghy racing club which consistently puts out world class sailors.
House prices vary, of course, but several hundred thousand $ is normal

You're doing it wrong.

No sh!t. If you need lessons we can help. We are here to help you help yourself.

Back on topic.

One year a group sailed to a campground, drank all night (Rum). They left at noon the next day to return to the start.

Another time we had three cats go from Muskegon to Ludington on Lake Michigan. Made it to Silver Lake before the wind and waves flipped one guy, he said enough. Rule was, one person stops, the others stop and the sailing is done, for reasons of safety. We want to do that again. The biggest problem is ground crew for most people.

We used to start in Ft. Liquordale and finish in Va. beach. That was a fun

rally

.

I need space, as most people in America (the continent). Claustrophoby hits hard when opposing borders of a country are visible from the same point.

I always check prices everywhere, one never knows where will be the best place to live in the future. Looks like housing and land prices did not raise that much, I expected higher prices by the sea. Is it due to the kibutz or what?

Fair winds,
Luiz