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Just in time for "Black Friday" shopping, I am pleased to announce the launch of "Shopping At TheBeachcats.com".
The plan for the new store is to offer catamaran sailors unique and usefull items related to our sport that are not available everywhere. In keeping with the gift giving season, the first items available are beautiful watercolor prints of catamarans, lighthouses, and nautical scenes. These have been created by the Maryland Watercolor Artist, William C. Gardner.
So if you happen to know any catamaran sailors who have been very very good this year (wink/wink) please let santa know that these are available, you will be sure to make that sailor happy, and support this site at the same time.
Catamaran classes build confidence for racing, improve sailors' safety on the water and get new sailors ready for racing. Community classes are great for people thinking about crewing, interested in buying their first boat and looking for social activities. Schools not only provide the boats, schools provide lockers, showers, wetsuits, lifejackets and harnesses are part of the class.
Two California based sailing schools have been successfully teaching community catamaran sailing for years, the University of California Los Angeles and in Mission Bay the University of California San Diego/San Diego State University. Students, faculty and staff at California State University Long Beach can access classes that are not yet open to the general public. Contact information is provided at the bottom of this article.
Classes range in price from $145 per class to $185 per class. An additional one-time fee for membership in the community program may be required. The membership is usually part of the school's insurance requirements. Students, faculty, staff and alumni are often eligible for discounted class fees.
A week prior to the start of the 30th Zwitserleven Round Texel Race, the organization has received 482 pre-entries. Among them the overall winners of 2006, Remco Kenbeek and Paul Brouwer with their F18 Capricorn (NED). The Swedish M20 duo Marström/Persson that took last year’s line honours after an exciting battle, will be back as well. The golden fleet is at full strength with over two hundred top teams from the Netherlands, Australia, France, Belgium, Germany and the UK. On Saturday June 23rd 2007 at 12:30 hours pm local time, hundreds of catamarans will start their race against the clock. From Wednesday June 20 until Friday June 22, golden fleet competitors have the opportunity to warm up by participating in the Texel Dutch Open, the official Dutch Championship Catamarans Sailing. 98 Teams have registrated so far.
A strong representation of home country the Netherlands will line up for world’s biggest catrace. Double former winner Mischa Heemskerk and his new crew Bastiaan Tentij are at full speed this season. Earlier this year, the Yamaha and Boskalis sponsored duo won Eurocat in Carnac (FRA) and the North Sea Regatta in Scheveningen (NED). They are part of the first one season Nacra Master Class ever, in which the 19-year old Tentij is supposed to learn as much as possible from his master Heemskerk. Tentij’s actual skipper Stefan Dubbeldam (19) will be coached and trained by Gunnar Larsen, who won the Round Texel Race in 1999. Team Zwitserleven Booth/Nieuwenhuis will be hard to beat in heavier conditions. At the F18 Worlds in Queensland (AUS) in February 2007, the Dutchmen showed their strength by winning silver with only one point deficit to Gold. Booth won the Zwitserleven Round Texel Race 2004 with crew Herbert Dercksen. Almost a year after their split, the two former mates will compete against each other, but this time both as skipper.
Prototype Volvo Extreme 20
Herbert Dercksen takes the helm of the prototype Volvo Extreme 20, with Aaron Mcintosh (NZL) crewing for him. Dercksen about his latest project, enabled by Zwitserleven: “This carbon cat is based on the M20, but has a different sail plan. You can consider it as a possible successor of the Tornado. Is carries a Tornado mast, the jib is smaller and the main a bit bigger. The VX 20 weighs 125 kilograms, which is 45kg less than the Tornado. I have learned a lot over the past years, so it is very exciting to helm by myself now. I look forward to the race.” At the moment, Dercksen is skippering the Extreme 40 in the Swiss Bol d’Or on Lake Geneva.
US SAILING, national governing for the sport, and Performance Catamaran, one of the top multihull boat builders in the U.S., have signed a two-year agreement to provide Nacra SL16s at the U.S. Youth Multihull Championship in 2007 and 2008. The selection of the SL16 is in line with the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), which has named the SL16 the multihull boat for its Youth World Championship. The 2007 U.S. Youth Multihull Championship will be held March 29 - April 1 and hosted by Alamitos Bay Yacht Club in Long Beach, Calif.
Under the new partnership, Performance Catamaran will provide ten new SL16s at the 2007 and 2008 U.S. Youth Multihull Championship for use by the competitors at the events. Registration for the 2007 U.S. Youth Multihull Championship will open by February 1, 2007. The U.S. Youth Multihull Championship, established in 2001, is an open event (no pre-qualification required) for young men and women who do not turn 19 in the year of competition. Winners of the event are presented with the Arthur J. Stevens Trophy. For more information on the Championship, please visit www.ussailing.org/championships/youth/multihull.
The Fort Worth Boat Club (FWBC) is pleased to announce that it is starting a beachcat race series on Eagle Mountain Lake, located northwest of Fort Worth, TX.
The racing will begin on April 15th and run through Dec. 9th. The season will consist of 5, six race series which run every Sunday at the FWBC (see calender for exact dates; http://www.fwbc.com ), first gun is at 2:00 pm. Fleet membership is required to participate in the series. For more information contact me at fwbccatsailor(AT)hotmail.com. I look forward to seeing all of you on the line in April.
Kevin Yeoman
FWBC Multihull Fleet Captain
The Hobie 16 Youth and Women's North Americans will be hosted by Fleet 250
in Sandy Hook, NJ on July 21-23. The event begins with a GEP clinic for
participants on Thursday followed by three days of racing. National Hull Flying
Championships Saturday after the racing. Fleet 250 web
site
Come race at one of the largest catamaran clubs in the world. Enjoy our hospitality
with free camping and dinner on the beach every night. No pre-registration
needed. See
NOR in the Calendar.
For ten years after the demise of the HOTLINE, the NAHCA News/HCA News kept plugging along, filling the void. In the last ten years, the HCA News has grown into a professionally produced magazine, comparable to the original HOTLINE. So, the Hobie Class Association has changed the name of its bi-monthly publication to the Hobie Class Association HOTLINE. For many the name change will bring back memories of "the good old days." Not to mention the fact that Hobie HOTLINE rolls off the tongue more easily than Hobie Class Association News.