Category: Announcement

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.

Fun in the Sun and a Shot at a Watch. Highlighting the Caribbean racing calendar with its unique blend of island-style hospitality, competition and camaraderie, the St. Thomas Yacht Club's International Rolex Regatta will celebrate its 33rd edition on Friday, March 24, through Sunday, March 26, 2006. The event features handicap and one-design racing in a beautiful setting, professional race management, and dependable Caribbean tradewinds. On the social agenda are festive shoreside events and the Rolex Prize Giving partnered with a not-to-be-forgotten beach party at the Yacht Club. With over three decades of history, the tradition of a Rolex watch awarded to every class winner still stands.

"Last year we really raised the bar, by adding some intriguing new twists on the water and back onshore," said Tracy Roberts, who co-directs the regatta with fellow St. Thomas Yacht Club member Colin Probyn. "There was near-perfect harmony between exciting competition and extreme fun." Roberts explained that on one of the competition days, short-course buoy racing was traded in for a coastal romp that took the fleet from Cowpet Bay, where the St. Thomas Yacht Club is located, to a finish line just inside the harbor of Charlotte Amalie, formerly plied by privateers and now the island's cruise ship port. The fleet then reversed course to beat back home, where reggae, rum and barbecue awaited the tired but happy competitors. Added Probyn: "This year the race will be repeated but augmented by some IC-24 windward-leeward racing in the harbor. This will show the racers St. Thomas's beautiful capital and afford the islanders and visitors alike a flavor of competitive sailing."

The IC-24s are indigenous to the area having been developed from J/24s by a group of St. Thomas sailors and attracting the very best in inter-island talent. In size (24 feet) they are the same as J/24s, which had their own class last year and a strong Puerto Rican contingent including six-time watch winner Fraito Lugo. A little smaller but a lot faster are the Beach Cats, which always arrive in full force with plenty of Hobie and Nacra class stars competing, including Puerto Rico's multiple world champion and Olympian Enrique Figueroa. At the other end of the scale is the 2005 winner Titan XII, an awe-inspiring 75-footer with Puerto Rico's Tom Hill at the helm and America's Cup veteran Peter Isler (San Diego, Calif.) serving as tactician, a fine example of the top-notch competition that is always on hand. Titan will compete in the Over-50 Foot Class for the biggest boats; there are other classes for boats ranging from 30 to 50 feet that also include the hottest Caribbean sailors as well as visiting professinal and semi-pro racers.

Reynolds Sailing and SailMax headline live web cast for Formula 18 North Americans and then some during The F18 North Americans at Buckroe Beach, Hampton, Virginia from August 8th through the 12th, 2005.

If watching some of the top Formula 18 catamaran sailors compete for the North American title isn’t enough to fulfill your need for fast thrills, then how about a duo of high-performance, spinnaker donning, 33 foot catamarans tearing it up on the race course?

That’s exactly what it’s in store when R33.com and SailMax host a seven day Reynolds 33 land and water exhibition to surpass all expectations.

On-line sailing enthusiast will be able to follow the action of the 2005 Formula 18 North Americans when they log on to www.F18NAOnline.com Live updates, frequent video clips of on and off the water action, sailor interviews and more are all courtesy of R33.com and SailMax.

Rockledge Engineering Inc Multimedia Services and the organizers of the 2005 Formula 18 North Americans are pleased to announce the addition of live webcasting to the event’s growing list of exciting news. The F18 North Americans will take place at Buckroe Beach, Hampton, Virginia from August 8th through the 12th, 2005.

Real-time updates including video, audio,, photos, results, text updates, and interviews will be hosted on the multimedia website www.F18NAOnline.com. Don’t miss the exiting Formula 18 sailing preview already posted to the site.

The Formula 18 North American Championships will be the qualifying event to select the US Multihull representative to the 2006 ISAF World Games taking place on Lake Neusiedl, Austria.

“We are truly excited to have live coverage of the event”, said Tracie Van Houten, event chairman for the F18NA.’s. “This is exciting news for those who are interested in following the F18 North Americans and the ISAF Qualifiers. We hope that the exposure generated from the high-tech coverage will provide considerable exposure to Formula 18 Catamaran Racing in North America.”