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Everyone interested in Multihull Sailing should take a look at this message from Mike Levesque, Chair, US Sailing Multihull Council.
Dear multihull sailor:
You have been recognized as a former Alter Cup competitor, or multihull sailor with another close affiliation to US Sailing and multihull racing, and you have been invited to help guide the event into the future! Hopefully, you will also receive this message through the normal Multihull Council channels (Area Reps, class chairs, etc.).
Please forward this to every multihull sailor in your network, class, fleet or club. We want literally every multihull sailor in the country to participate. Time is of the essence!!!
Here is your opportunity to weigh in on what many consider to be the most important "product" that US Sailing offers to multihull sailors, the US Multihull Championship for the Hobie Alter Trophy (aka the Alter Cup).
As you may know, I became Chair of the US Sailing Multihull Council in October 2011. Since then, lots of great things are happening. One of them is a renewed focus on ensuring that the US Multihull Championship is a relevant event with a strong future. The Multihull Council is working to rebuild the event with the US Multihull Championship Committee, which itself is being reconstituted.
The leadership of US Sailing wants to transform the US Multihull Championship into the most relevant multihull event in the United States, one that will attract new and upcoming sailors, who will form the nucleus of future US Olympic sailors.
To that end, Jack Gierhart, Executive Director of US Sailing, has directly asked me, "What do the multihull sailors want?" So, here is your opportunity to provide your opinions on the future of this championship.
Nothing is impossible, and nothing is off the table. However, the harsh reality is that the economic environment in which we currently operate is making it increasingly difficult to hold the event within the current format and funding structure. So, we either need to find additional revenue streams, change the format, or both.
The survey is composed of questions that are intended to get the creative juices flowing. We have been canvassing sailors all winter, and are really taking a long, hard look at all aspects of the event. We would like to hear from all multihull sailors around the country, even if you have never participated in this event.
As you know, there currently is no Alter Cup championship announced for 2012. A bid is in the works, and the intent of the survey is to come up with a long-term (5-year) plan, so we can return some stability to the planning of this event.
We are at an unprecedented moment in the history of the US Sailing Multihull Council. We are working hard and achieving a renwed cooperative relationship with the leadership at US Sailing. We are working on a number of things, including a revamp of our website, a new Youth multihull program, and of course, ensuring the success of the Alter Cup. We will be announcing a Spring meeting (teleconference) shortly to discuss further business for the 2012 season and beyond.
Mike Levesque
Chair, US Sailing Multihull Council
's Gravenzande / Netherlands - The Hobie 16 & Hobie Dragoon Europeans 2007 will be sailed off the Dutch coast of ‘s Gravenzande, close the The Hague and Scheveningen. From July 28 until August 4, about 150 teams will face the elements of the North Sea in their battle for European titles in five classes: Hobie 16 with spinnaker youth, master (from the age of 45), women, Hobie Dragoon youth and Hobie 16 Open. So far, the organization has received 33 pre-entries, representing 11 countries in the Open class. For the Dutch Hobie Cat community, it is definitely a revival of the more that thirty years old Hobie 16 competition. Twelve young crews with eight nationalities have registered for the Hobie 16 with spinnaker, the ISAF youth catamaran. This fleet is expected to increase up to thirty until fifty participants. Registration is open until July 1st.
It all starts with the two-day Women and Master (from the age of 45) championships on Saturday July 28th. Youth sailors in the Hobie 16 with spinnaker and Hobie Dragoon will race from July 28 until 31. The qualifications for the Open Class will start on July 30 and the finals on August 1st. “If you look at the pre-entries, it is obvious that many former Hobie 16-sailors use the opportunity as a come-back”, says Ute Vrijburg, Event Director on behalf of the European Hobie Cat Association (EHCA). “In that perspective, it is like a revival of the Hobie 16 in the Netherlands.” This most popular catamaran ever, was introduced to the American market in 1969 and it dominated the Dutch catamaran sport for years. The coastal sailing club ‘s Gravenzande (KZVG) and the EHCA may organize the 33rd edition of the Hobie Cat 16 European Championship, under the leadership of Race Director Rob Hoogstra. The challenge for competitors is about fighting the elements, such as current, tides, waves and surf. It is also about competition and socializing with fellow sailors from all over Europe.
We’re ready to celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Lake Hartwell Spring Fever Regatta.
The dates are firm, the food is ordered from the Honey Baked Ham Company, the sponsors are being lined up, the campsite's reserved, and several dozen other items are being finalized. In short, we are ready except for your preregistrations. Click here for The NOR, along with most of the details, and the on-line Preregistration pages are up and running at http://www.TwinHulls.com/springfever.
As in previous years, you do not need to send your money when you preregister. We will collect it upon your arrival. (Honest, we won't forget.) Once you have preregistered, we do ask that you notify us should something come up that would keep you from attending. Be sure and visit the "See Who Else is Coming" page and make sure your name is on the list. It will be updated every couple of days as time permits. Although we strongly encourage you to be active and support your class organizations and US Sailing as well, current membership in these organizations is not a requirement for this year's Spring Fever Regatta.
As always, we are open to all catamarans. All boats must carry appropriate insurance and all adults attending will be required to sign a Liability Release form before participating in any regatta events. Come join us for a guaranteed good time and we'll do our best to have enough wind available. See you in the spring! .....Nigel & Mr.Ernie
Middletown, R.I. (February 13, 2007) – Sailing World and Sperry Top-Sider have announced an inaugural partnership with Sailing for Miracles, an organization created to raise awareness within the sport of sailing and to encourage giving back to the local community. Participants in the Sperry Top-Sider National Offshore One Design (N.O.O.D.) Regatta in St. Petersburg, scheduled for February 16-18 at host St. Petersburg Yacht Club, will have the opportunity to support Sailing for Miracles through donations and fund-raising efforts at the event. All proceeds generated by Sailing for Miracles will benefit All Children’s Hospital, a leading center for pediatric treatment, education and research, in St. Petersburg. All NOOD sailors who make a donation of $50 or more will be given an exclusively designed Sailing for Miracles burgee, donated by Sperry Top-Sider and Sailing World. In addition daily raffles of gifts contributed by the regatta’s sponsors will be held as well.
US Sailing and the Canadian Yachting Association have selected the 2006 Hobie 16 North Americans as their respective Pan Am trials for sailing in the Open Multihull discipline. Brazil will host the 2007 Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro. This elite athletic event will include sailing in nine of the Americas most popular one-design classes. The Multihull discipline will be contested in Hobie 16s.
September 11-15, 2006, Narragansett Rhode Island - In September 2006 the thirty sixth Hobie 16 North Americans, aka: The Continentals, will land on the beach in Narragansett Rhode Island. For Hobie 16 racers from Guatemala to Canada this is the years main event. Year after year the 16 Continentals attracts the biggest one-design catamaran fleet on the continent with the competition and the parties to match.
Some come to measure their skills against the best and some for the parties but everyone comes to celebrate this simple one-design that started it all. This years host, Hobie Fleet 448, would like to extend an invitation to Hobie 16 sailors everywhere to come to Rhode Island and be part of the story.
Narragansett is truly one of the worlds best sailing sites. The venue offers a unique combination of open water racing and protected launching and beaching inside a man made harbor. The average wind speeds for September are consistently in the low teens with an average temperature of about 75F. You can't beat it so don't miss it.
Go to www.HCA-NA.org for registration information.
ST. THOMAS, USVI -The 34th International Rolex Regatta, hosted by St. Thomas Yacht Club, has been scheduled for Friday, March 23 through Sunday, March 25, 2007. An annual favorite on the Caribbean racing calendar, the three-day event features handicap and one-design racing benefiting from professional race management, dependable trade winds and a varied and challenging schedule of races -- including both windward-leeward and distance courses -- on the sapphire-blue waters surrounding the archipelago of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Beachside social activities blend St. Thomas Yacht Club's island-style hospitality with the outstanding camaraderie and competition that hundreds of participants have come to expect each year.
Yachts racing under the CSA (Caribbean Sailing Association Rating Rule, www.caribbean-sailing.com) will include Multihulls, CSA and One-Design classes of at least 24 feet as well as Beach Cats. Continuing over three decades of tradition, winners of qualifying classes will be awarded trophies for first through third places, and the winner of each class will take home a Rolex timepiece.