Category: Regatta Notices

49 ENTRIES FOR HOBIE YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS 2004

Belgium / Duinbergen, July 22nd 2004 - Forty nine sailing teams, representing six countries, registered for the Hobie Youth Championships in Duinbergen/Belgium. Thirty two will participate in the Hobie 16 genaker Youth Europeans and seventeen in the first Hobie Dragoon Worlds, both from 27 until 30 July 2004. It is a competitive fleet with sailors like the Hobie 16 ISAF Youth World Champions 2004, Tom Phipps and Jon Cook (GBR). Hobie heros Alberto Sonino (ITA) and Gerard Loos (NED) will give a special clinic on Sunday July 25th and Monday 26th.

Other favourites in the Hobie 16 fleet are silver medalists of the ISAF World Youth Championships 2004, Julien Villion and Martin Bataille from France, the girls’ crew Laurancy Morgane and Estelle Rousseau from France and the Australians Taylor Booth and Jesse Dobie. Booth had a great personal teacher, since his father Mitch Booth is a successful olympic Tornado sailor (bronze in ’92 and silver in ’96). He will represent the Netherlands in Athens. The British teams Andrew and Richard Glover and Hannah Rowles/Stephanie Wall are likely winners in the Hobie Dragoon class.

This year a new venue was selected for Performance Race Week, the Nacra North American Championships. Tybee Island, Georgia was chosen for several reasons, the most impressive being the success of the Tybee 500 this past May. The organizers of the Tybee 500 have agreed to work with Performance Catamarans to bring new energy into Performance Race Week to be held October 4th though 7th.

"We anticipate this new location being a favorite for future championships," said Jack Young of Performance Catamaran "We¹ve already gotten positive feedback with regards to the weather, accommodations and island activities."

The race site is just off the Host Hotel The Beachside Colony. It¹s a great place to watch from the beach or the balcony of your room. The course is a triangle course using the US Sailing Multihull Courses.

The Broken Mast Regatta is one of the oldest continuous annual Hobie Regattas. This will be the 29th time that Hobie Fleet 134 of Memphis, Tennessee have celebrated the "Hobie Way of Life" by bringing catamaran sailors together for a weekend of fun, food, and racing.

The fun starts on Friday night, if you choose to arrive early and get setup, there will be a welcome party and something on the grill starting at 6:30pm June 4th. Breakfast Saturday and Sunday, lunch Saturday, and a sit down dinner Saturday featuring genuine Memphis Barbeque are all included in your entry fee. Also included are beautiful regatta t-shirts, door prizes, and the famous "broken mast" trophies.

Trophies will be awarded in four classes, Hobie 16, Hobie 17, Hobie 18, and open class. Lately the Broken Mast has been known as a major regatta for the Hobie 17 class, last year saw 15 Hobie 17's for some great one-design racing.

When you hear the term Catamaran Distance Racing you probably think of the "ironman" events like the former Worrell 1000 or the new Tybee 500, Great Texas Catamaran Race, Outer Banks 500, or the combined Atlantic 1000. These are events only available to the very best catamaran sailors who are also well funded and blessed with plenty of free time.

But what about the rest of us who love to get a chance to sail our cats in open water? There is an event in Ocean Springs Mississippi, organized by the Coast Catamaran Club (CCC) and hosted by the Ocean Springs Yacht Club (OSYC), that allows us to get a taste of sailing "out there" with just the dolphins for company, without breaking the bank or our boat. It's the Slip To Ship Regatta, May 29-30, Memorial Day weekend. Racing in an informal atmosphere from OSYC to Ship Island, a low barrier island about 14 miles offshore. The format gives you the feeling of a much longer race since it can be difficult to spot Ship Island until you have sailed straight out into the Gulf of Mexico 8 or 9 miles, but the reward of eating the "best chicken ever" will be waiting on the island as you swap stories about your crossing.

You probably will not find a regatta with the diversity of catamaran sailboats in one race, of course the latest cats and hotshots will be there, the I20's, 18HT's, I17's and FX-1's will be represented, but a lot of us will be there in our old Prindles and Hobies joining in the fun. It's also one of the best regattas to convince your non-sailing "significant other" to join you for the weekend, accommodations within 1/2 mile include everything from free camping on the grounds to 4 star hotels across the bridge at the Biloxi Casinos.

ST. THOMAS, USVI (January 27, 2004)--When it’s "off" season in other spots around the world, Caribbean racing will be in full swing at the start of the 31st International Rolex Regatta, hosted by St. Thomas Yacht Club in the U.S. Virgin Islands. From March 26-28, the three-day regatta is compact yet large in terms of offering dependable tropical trade winds, warm water and serious competition for everything from over-50 foot "Sleds" right down to beach catamarans.