It looks like a long-time catamaran regatta normally held at the Lake Charles Yacht Club in Lake Charles, LA has folded it's tents. I was told by a club officer that the regatta was cancelled by the yacht club board last week.

I had called to get a correct date since there were various reports that the regatta would be held the same weekend as the Hobie Midwinters East at Panama City and I was trying to decide which way to go. Now it seems there is no date conflicts on the gulf coast, so all Hobie sailors are free to head to Panama City for a great event.

Gulf Coast catamaran sailors will no doubt miss the Deep South regatta, which was well known for hospitality and a giant crawfish boil on Saturday night. reminisce about past Deep South Regattas in the Event Forum.

In 1928 Raymond "Frenchy" LaDreau arrived on West Anacapa Island and lived a hermit-like existence for the next 28 years. Frenchy's wife had died, it was said, and he'd come to the island in a state of mourning. As the years passed, Frenchy's sorrow over the loss of his wife did not lessen and his drinking increased. Despite this (or because of this), Frenchy LaDreau became the unofficial Park Service representative, reporting on acts of vandalism and island activities.

When he was 68, he suffered a fall and the Park Service decided to move him to the mainland. He was put on a bus in Port Hueneme. "His destination was not known," a Park representative says, "and that was the last they ever saw of him." Not a single scrap of wood, a nail, a stone, remains to suggest his curious, long tenancy. He was well-known among fisherman from Monterey to Ensenada; fishermen often stopped in to sample his bouillabaisse from the lobster he trapped, the fish he caught and the abalone he pried from the rocks below.

The above is fact, below is legend.

Frenchy's Rum Run NOR

What else did they come for? Could it be his secret supply of rum? Isolated as he was, Frenchy could have served as a supply depot for rum smugglers during the Prohibition. Therefore, we are having a race in his "honor".

De Koog, Texel / Netherlands, June 23 2007 - On Saturday June 23 2007, the Nissan Pro Team Bundock/Ashby won the 30th Zwitserleven Round Texel Race on handicap. The Aussies started with their F18 Hobie Tiger as the furthest boat on the right and grabbed immediately the lead on elapsed time. The experimental Dutch M20’s of Pols/Veenstra and Dercksen/Mcintosh battled for the line honours. Thanks to the bigger sail plan of Performance Sails, Xander Pols and Tjiddo Veenstra had a speed advantage. They were streets ahead when they crossed the finish line after 3 hours, 16 minutes and 34 seconds. The jubilee edition was sailed in favourable conditions with a south-westerly force three and a calm sea. At 13:00 hours local time, the fleet put up a great show with a spinnaker start. It was unexpectedly sunny and thousands of visitors enjoyed the spectacle.

“Finally, a dream comes true”, said a happy Xander Pols after hitting the beach. “I finished second twice and now we succeeded.” At the light house in the north of the island, the Repeat M20 of Jean-Louis Flier and Peter van Deventer was leading the pack. Pols: “They started low on the line and could sail straight to the gate at the light house. We had to jibe once, but Jean-Louis missed the second gate and had to sail back. That is where we caught up a little on them.” The front runners reached the Wadden Sea too early. Due to the shallow water, their rudders came up a couple of times. The Zwitserleven VX20 of Dercksen/Mcintosh was sixth at the light house. Mcintosh: “We had a slow start, because of a bad spinnaker hoist. We fought our way to the top and closed the gap with Xander several times.” That happened for the first time at the VC-mark before Oudeschild. At that point, the difference was only eight seconds. In the end, Pols and Veenstra extended their lead to six minutes. Pols: “The wind decreased on the Wadden Sea, so we could extend our lead on Herbert.” After the first celebrations on the Texel beach, Veenstra’s face beamed: “My first Round Texel Race was fifteen years ago. We had a collision and did not finish. This time we took the line honours.” The 20-foot Eagle of Jaap Straakenbroek and Menno Vercouteren finished third.

On Friday June 22 2007, the British Fatface-team Styles/Crawford won the Texel Dutch Open after an exciting conclusion. In the end, the gap to Dutchmen Heemskerk and Tentij was only half a point. The British F18 Capricorn duo Gummer/Burke were third. The Open Class I showed new leaders, as both F18 Nacra Infusion teams Huntelman/Van der Kamp and De Koning/Van Leeuwen took a bullet. Thanks to a moderate south-western wind, the course was laid out along the coast, which gave a good view for the people on the Texel beach. They witnessed the battle against the current while beating upwind. The consideration whether to choose for less current or more pressure, made it an exciting game. In the very last race, Hans Primowees was finally beaten once in the Open Class II. He finished second after the British Nacra 500 of Luke and Adam Butler, but he won the overall series. Later in the afternoon, Heemskerk and Tentij won the TNG Short Track Races.

De Koog / Texel, June 21 2007 - On the second day of the Texel Dutch Open in the Netherlands, Hugh Styles and Ryan Crawford (UK) consolidated their lead in the Open Class I. They finished third and first on handicap, racing a F18 Nacra Infusion. Mischa Heemskerk and Bastiaan Tentij scored a first and fifth, which left them in second position overall. The Frenchmen Jean-Christophe Mourniac and Frank Citeau climbed on the leader board and are third overall, followed by their Nissan team-mates Jörg and Arne Gosche (GER). Father and son Gosche had a good day with a fourth and a third. Hans Primowees still leads the nine small cats. The participants in the Open Class II have completed only one race this afternoon, since they were not in time at the first upwind mark of the second one. After almost two hours of postponement, the breeze was strong enough to start racing, but later the wind died due to a front that moved across the North Sea.

Race 1 - Duel experimental M20’s

In the first race, the two experimental M20’s of Pols/Veenstra and Dercksen/Mcintosh battled for the line honours. Herbert Dercksen and Aaron Mcintosh had a good start, while Xander Pols and Tjiddo Veen had more problems in the middle of the line. Pols: “We closed the gap to Herbert and we could pass him in the last downwind.” According to Pols, the speed difference had to do with their custom made rig: “Mischa Heemskerk and Peter Vink made a beast of our M20. They worked together on the development of the sails, made of PBO-cloth, which is also used in the America’s Cup. PBO loses strength due to UV-radiation, but the material is stiff and therefore fast. The cut looks like an A-cat mainsail, but flatter. We added a jib as well. The acceleration is awesome. I have never had this feeling on a boat before.” Mischa Heemskerk and Bastiaan Tentij, sailing a F18 Nacra Infusion, won on handicap. They were even leading at the first top mark, but had to give up that position under spinnaker, as the M20 was the faster cat.

On Sunday November 12 2006, the 16de Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta started off with a strong fleet. Former winners, national champions and double Olympic medallist Mitch Booth lined up for the annual Caribbean catamaran classic. The 46 participating teams representing the UK, Netherlands, Aruba, France, Belgium and Austria enjoyed today’s trade wind, the sun and the heavy competition. After the practice race in the morning, the first official starting gun was fired at about 2.30 pm local time. Mark Rijks en Brenda Liefhebber (NED) scored two bullets with their Dart 18 and are in the lead of the smaller boats. The British James and Gillian Power, sailing a F18 Capricorn, were unbeatable for the bigger catamarans.

It is Gillian Power’s third participation in the Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta and she is defending her title. Last year she took the victory with Stuart Gummer, who sails with Hannah Burke this week. Gillian Power was surprised by today’s success: “I can’t believe it. It was great to win the practice race, but I did not expect that we would win the next two as well.” Although they went fast, it was not an easy day. First they had to deal with Mitch Booth and Pim Nieuwenhuis (NED, F18 Hobie Tiger) and than they were chasing Peter Vink and Mark Pols (NED, F18 Nacra Infusion). Power: “If Peter and Mark did not have had a tingle in their spinnaker at the second hoist, the competition would have even been closer. There was also an extreme wind shift in that race. The boats that had gibed directly after the mark, were gone.” It was an exciting competition on the first day, which caused close results. Numbers two till four are tied on six points. The new combination Gummer/Burke (GRB, F18 Capricorn) finished fourth and second. Wouter Samama and Paul Buyse (NED, F18 Nacra Infusion) were consistent with two third positions.

Newport , R.I. (July 3, 2006) – “I never want to go out on the water and not be prepared.” That was the resounding sentiment expressed by 25 junior sailors after completing the Storm Trysail Club's Junior Safety-at-Sea Seminar in Newport, R.I. on June 28. The one-day program's mission was to arm juniors with the skills and confidence needed for an on-the-water emergency and instill in them the importance of safety on the water. Guest speakers included Volvo Ocean Race sailors Ken Read of Ericsson Racing Team and Jerry Kirby (both Newport ) of Pirates of the Caribbean , who together shared their first-hand stories of offshore racing and safety preparation.

“Our goal was to attract a group of kids ages 13-18 with advanced racing skills to the program and then give them the safety skills needed for big boat sailing or really anytime they go out on the water,” said Latimer Spinney (Newport) of STC's Newport Station, organizer of the day's program. “We have an incredible group of experienced sailors and marine industry companies within our community. All we had to do was ask and they willingly volunteered to give back to the juniors. Ida Lewis Yacht Club hosted the event and the local U.S. Coast Guard station at Castle Hill sent a team. Ralf Steitz came up from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and enthusiastically led the kids through the whole day from onshore talks to on-the-water drills.”

After a nail-biting final day in Rotterdam, the first Volvo Extreme 40 Grand Prix series has come to an end. Five brand-new 40-foot carbon multihulls competed worldwide on five locations during the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-06. The teams managed to convince the organization and the VO 70 sailors about the beauty and strength of the new class. The integration turned out to be an advantage for both sides and the Volvo Extreme 40 concept is to be continued. Mitch Booth, skipper of Team Holmatro and creator of the Volvo Extreme 40, talked in an interview about the first experiences and the future plans.

‘Not highly focused'
The American entry Tommy Hilfiger with Randy Smith on the helm took the overall victory, followed by the British crews Motorola-CHR and Basilica. Team Holmatro, representing the Netherlands, finished fourth. Booth: “We had some good racing and it was really close, but we were not highly focused on it.” As initiator of the VX 40 class, Mitch Booth and Herbert Dercksen also aimed at a smooth running of the events. Booth: “We changed crew members quit often for different reasons. That reflected on our results. We were not consistent enough.”

“It was absolutely an exciting battle”, said Remco Kenbeek, who won the 29th Zwitserleven Round Texel Race on handicap. And not only for the overall victory, but also for the line honours. The surf and waves were calm this year, but the conditions were tricky with a variabale wind. It was a matter of patience, endurance, concentration, tactics and luck. Favourite crews forfeited their chances and others became unexpected heroes. Meanwhile, the crowd onshore enjoyed the sun and the competition, which was broadcasted live on a television screen on the Texel beach at Paal 17. They witnessed a close fought finish of Göran Marström and Thomas Persson (SWE).

On June 17th 2006 at noon, 436 catamarans lined up for the 29th edition of the Zwitserleven Round Texel Race. Nothing could go wrong with a light westerly breeze and a pretty flat North Sea. Thanks to title sponsor Zwitserleven the beach was fitted with easy red beach chairs, so people onshore were ready for the race as well. Most of the top teams chose the favoured beach side of the starting line or a little bit above it. As the helicopter spit the smoke over the fleet, the competitors were off towards the light house. The high tech carbon boats in front, followed by a number of top Formula 18-teams and at a distance the rest of the participants.