2014 Nor'Easter Regatta
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 3:33 pm
Hi All,
The thaw is just around the corner which means we are nearly ready again to have the first event in our New England Cup Series. The Nor'Easter has been one of those events that always has something in the bag that you might not be ready for.
Last year, we saw winds in the high teens into the low 20's both days but from different directions. NNE on Saturday all day and ENE on Sunday going to SE. As an RD, it always concerns me when the breeze is up for a host of reasons but the main one, will skippers enjoy sailing enough to return next year. In 2013, with breeze blowing nearly at the top of the B rig, this was at the forefront of my mind simply because of the number of boats that experienced gear failures. We had more than a few new skippers to this event and although their boats might have been perfectly suited for pond sailing with an A rig, this was a whole nother chapter in EC12 Sailing. We had wind, waves, current and other boats. Lots going on all at the same time.
During the first couple of races on Saturday, as I saw the crash boat make trip after trip after trip to go and collect the fallen, what was really amazing was how many fixed what ever was wrong and came back out for more. They did this over and over as the day wore on. Only one boat withdrew because all he had was an A rig and after 3-4 trips out there, he just could not fix it again. No complaints about it being too rough to race or too windy and no suggestions to call racing. They just loved it. Crazy I know but I can kinda see their point.
Check this out...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI3MLHoIg24
So as May is looming on the horizon and we look forward to warmer temps here in the North East, I would encourage you to join us for the Nor'Easter in Newport RI May 3rd and 4th and bring your B rig if you have one and a C rig if you have room in the car for it.
The thaw is just around the corner which means we are nearly ready again to have the first event in our New England Cup Series. The Nor'Easter has been one of those events that always has something in the bag that you might not be ready for.
Last year, we saw winds in the high teens into the low 20's both days but from different directions. NNE on Saturday all day and ENE on Sunday going to SE. As an RD, it always concerns me when the breeze is up for a host of reasons but the main one, will skippers enjoy sailing enough to return next year. In 2013, with breeze blowing nearly at the top of the B rig, this was at the forefront of my mind simply because of the number of boats that experienced gear failures. We had more than a few new skippers to this event and although their boats might have been perfectly suited for pond sailing with an A rig, this was a whole nother chapter in EC12 Sailing. We had wind, waves, current and other boats. Lots going on all at the same time.
During the first couple of races on Saturday, as I saw the crash boat make trip after trip after trip to go and collect the fallen, what was really amazing was how many fixed what ever was wrong and came back out for more. They did this over and over as the day wore on. Only one boat withdrew because all he had was an A rig and after 3-4 trips out there, he just could not fix it again. No complaints about it being too rough to race or too windy and no suggestions to call racing. They just loved it. Crazy I know but I can kinda see their point.
Check this out...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI3MLHoIg24
So as May is looming on the horizon and we look forward to warmer temps here in the North East, I would encourage you to join us for the Nor'Easter in Newport RI May 3rd and 4th and bring your B rig if you have one and a C rig if you have room in the car for it.