+1 on the "B" fleet. Only been on my 20 twice. Is there a box to check when the NOR is released? Looks like there's gonna be a lot of boats and getting everyone in close proximity for a mass starting line sounds a little scary.
-- Tim Grover
1996 Hobie Miracle 20
Two Hobie 14's
1983 G-Cat Restored
Memphis TN / North Mississippi --
Damn, I knew this was coming. There's gonna be 30 guys in "B" class that have barely sailed a boat and 5 or 6 guys in "A" class on $15k boats that have only sailed "a few" times
Edited by fxloop on Apr 24, 2014 - 06:35 AM.
-- Tim Grover
1996 Hobie Miracle 20
Two Hobie 14's
1983 G-Cat Restored
Memphis TN / North Mississippi --
OK, just so all newbies young and old (and I hope there are a lot of them) understand. All this joking around about A, B, and C fleets based on abilities is just an "inside" joke about the old days of Hobie Fleet Regattas. When everyone raced one-design.
Back in the day when new sailors joined the fleet it wouldn't be that fun for the newbies or the top guys for the newbies to start in a fleet of 60 or more identical Hobie 16's where the only difference in the boats was the ability of the crew.
So to encourage new boats to race the boats were divided into three starts A, B, and occasionally C (total beginners) fleet, each fleet receiving it's own start and trophies. You were only supposed to stay in the lower fleets until you did well enough to trophy and then got "promoted".
Since being "promoted" from winning in B fleet to sucking ass in A fleet didn't sit well with some folks there was some sandbagging to continue sailing in B fleet.
Handicap racing like there will be at Slip To Ship and most regattas today is totally different in that boats are grouped into fleet by (historic) ability of the BOAT and not the crew. These fleets (groups of similar boats) can be called anything.
At the popular Juana Good Time Regatta in Navarre Beach they refer to the three main fleets as X, Y, and Z.
At Slip to Ship they usually list the fleets by straight forward descriptions like
OPEN CLASS FLEETS (any brand and model)
Spinnaker (high tech boats) note: could be two open class spin fleets if enough boats
non-spin low Portsmouth (no spinnaker and handicap number lower than 70)
non-spin high Porstmouth (no spinnaker and handicap number 70 and over) Portsmouth Handicap Numbers
ONE DESIGN FLEETS (specific brand and model)
Then if enough boats show up to "form a fleet" of five or more one-design boats they will allow them to race as a fleet. These days that is usually only the Hobie 16's but it could be any design that has five boats and the sailors agree that the boats are "one-design".
Hope this helps clear some things up, I know we have a LOT of new catamaran sailors (THAT'S AWESOME!) and also a lot of beachcat sailors who last sailed a regatta back in the Hobie Fleet days and don't know how it's done now.
Get to the site, get registered, early registration helps OSYC better plan the event (and you save a few $$$), Hoping to get all the boats we can, Great Sailing on the Miss. Sound, and even better fun on the beach with fellow sailors!!!
Question, what happens if we have 3 F18s in A fleet and 2 in B? Are they all placed in an F18 fleet or did we fail to make an F18 fleet?
I don't think that is a concern for the F18's, there may be 1 or 2 that think their B Fleet but we should still have 6-8 boats even if 2 are in B. Kenny and Andy have yet to register neither are B fleet.
-- Ron
Nacra F18
Reservoir Sailing Assn.
Brandon, Mississippi --
Bacho, that questioned has been asked and I am spreading the word in all the places I can, to get all the F18's we can, but we should have our own fleet!!! If you know of any your way, let them know planning an F18 fleet, and the sailing is worth the trip!!
Just registered! Everyone go ahead and get on the list. You help the club by giving them advance knowledge of paid attendance and you help yourself by reducing your stress level the morning of the regatta since you are already registered and paid.
Looks like they will have some nice long sleeve dry-shirts this year instead of another cotton t-shirt. Those things are expensive so register early and buy extra an extra shirt for your crew to make sure you get one!
Rob and Robbie, we need Joe to make a statement about how this "b" fleet will be run. I think there is some confusion between the "novice" fleet and the official "non-spin A" and "non-spin B" which are based on handicap numbers.
I'm assuming that there would be ONE novice fleet for absolute racing beginners that would cover all classes. These novices would then still compete with each other on a Portsmouth handicap basis.
In the case of a four boat fleet where there is a potential fifth boat in the novice fleet it would be up to the fleet members to "recruit" the novice to race with them instead of in the novice fleet.
The whole thing is simply to have more people have more fun, so don't stress too much.