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.

A month prior to the start of the 6th Hobie Tiger and 3rd Hobie Dragoon Worlds in 2008, the South African organization received 74 pre-entries representing fourteen countries. Seventeen youth teams (soon 25 in total) will battle it out on the Hobie Dragoons. The rest of the fleet will line up on Hobie Tiger catamarans (F18). Among them are top ranked sailors, like multiple Tornado World Champion and current F18 World Champion Darren Bundock (AUS) and silver medallist of the 2007 Tornado Worlds Carolijn Brouwer (BEL). The local youth squad is well prepared for an exciting competition in the Langebaan Lagoon on the West Coast of South Africa. The championships will start on Monday March 3rd and finish on Saturday March 9th. For both classes, a maximum of ten races are scheduled.

Langebaan is well-known for its strong winds and flat water. These are not only perfect conditions for the performance of Hobie Tigers and Hobie Dragoons, but also a pleasure for the competitors. Heavy weather specialist Mitch Booth (NED), Olympic medallist and Hobie Tiger World Champion 2003, will be eager to win the title again. But the competition will be full on, as current F18 European Champions Mischa Heemskerk and Bastiaan Tentij (NED) returned to the Hobie Tiger class in which also the local Hobie 16 heroes will try their luck. Among them are three past Hobie 16 Worlds Champions: Blaine Dodds (1998 and current Master World Champion), Shaun Ferry (1993, 1998 and 2005) and Colin Whitehead (1978). And South African most adventurous cat sailor Duncan Ross, he crossed the Drake Passage on a 20-foot multihull, grabs the opportunity to race once more on the highest level. Mixed crew Allan Lawrence (past Hobie 14 World Champ and placed 2nd at the inaugural Tiger Worlds in Italy) and Inge Schabort (past ISAF Ladies World Champ) will join forces in their attempt to win the event.

March 21-23 2008, Milltown Campground, Hartwell Lake, GA

Update from Mr. Ernie
This afternoon, I received a call from my friends at the Army Corps of Engineers with a proposal for me to consider. They said they would give me the key to the gate, turn on the water, and the electricity. IF --- I, personally, would take care of everything else: Including, but not limited to, cleaning the entire park before and after the regatta, cleaning and repairing all bath house facilities, removing all trash and garbage, killing another gazillion fire ants, and raising the lake back up a few feet from it's present less than full pool level.

Obviously, I agreed to all of it although I sure hope we get a few inches of rain in the next two months.

So, in short, Spring Fever is back on for this year and if we take care of the campground, as we always have done in the past, I'm pretty sure we won't have to go through this exercise again in future years - I'm just getting too old for this foolishness.

A frontal system passed over the Florida Keys last night and the breeze picked up to over 25 knots just after 0300EST.  This strong breeze refused to abate throughout the morning.  Buoy and land station reports were coming in at 22-29 knots, with gusts in the 30+ range for most of the morning.  The Organizing Authority requested a postponement at around 0900 and the PRO, Billy Richnow, flew the AP.  The RC, International Jury and competitors closely monitored the wind strengths throughout the morning watching the winds with strong hopes of getting racing in today. Winds at water level continued in the 19-22 knot range with gusts to 28.  There was also a fairly severe and square chop setting up with standard waves at 4 feet with frequent sets of 3 waves in the 6 foot range.  In the end the decision was based upon keeping the racers and their boats safe.  Even though this was a real blow to all of the competitors who had raced each other hard all week, keeping themselves in contention throughout the regatta, the OA made and outstanding call putting the safety of the sailors, their boats and all of the officials first and preventing the possible carnage that racing might have incurred.

Congratulations to Glenn Ashby, Lars Guck, Pete Melvin, Luc DuBois, Mitch Booth, Charlie Ogletree, Scotty Anderson, Murray Philpott, Andrew Landenberger, and Eugenio Calabria who were the Top 10 finishers in this event.  Congratulations also to Carla Sheifer for her efforts on the course to rescue another competitor in Thursday’s racing.

Final day preview - The 2007 Ronstan A-Cat Worlds is shaping up to be the clash of champions that it was built up to be.  The top three competitors in the event have between them won national, continental and World Championships.  Lars has dominated the US A-Class scene, winning the last 2 North American championships with straight bullets.  Pete Melvin has won the 1997 & 2005 A-Cat Worlds along with many other A-class national or continental championships.  Glen Ashby is the defending A-class world champion with many other national and international titles including the 2007 tornado class championship.  Down, but not out are three more championship competitors, Luc du Bois, Mitch Booth and Charlie Ogletree, but to win, these three would need a major stumble of the top three.  This all leads up to a 2 race shown-down on Friday in what is building up to be a real blow. 

See hundreds of photos at
http://www.thebeachcats.com/index.php?module=pictures&g2_itemId=36401

The forecast is calling for the winds to build overnight to 20-25 knots, out of the North with gusts to 30 knots.  By 6:00PM tonight, one could see all of the competitors out checking and securing their boats to the ground (A’s weigh 75kg fully rigged and are easily picked up if not secured).  In addition the schedule of racing has been changed to add a second race to make up for Wednesday’s cancellation, pushing the start to 10:30AM EST.  As the “Cat Fight” continues, we will see who makes the starting line in the morning.

Day 4 (Thursday) Report - Racing began this morning in 11-13 knots out of the North, steady and solid.  The course was set for six 1.3 nm legs and got off on time.  The course was clear of kelp with a light chop, just a perfect day for sailing.  Glen got away cleanly with Lars close on him through the first leg.  Scott Anderson got in the mix and Pete Melvin had a difficult leg.  After the first leg, Lars faded a little and at the finish it was Ashby, Guck, Hoekstra, Beike and Calabria for the top five.

The Race Committee drove around the racing area trying to find the most grass free zone and settled in for the first race.  Before the start of the second race , the RC sent out a scout boat to try and find a different location to move the course.  Unfortunately, the entire area had floating grass in varying thickness – from clear and weed free to floating palm fronds in clumps with entangled weed.  Some competitors had rudder assemblies that enabled them to yank a line to raise one or both to easily clear.  Most though had rudders that had to be raised manually and individually which made clearing the grass more problematic.  There were some boats with “short boards” that could be easily pulled up to clear the weed, and some that had a more difficult time raising daggerboards to clear them.  Overall, the grass was equitably challenging to all competitors. 

The first race got off, surprisingly with a clean start.  Nobody was OCS and Glen Ashby (AUS1) and Lars Guck (USA 250) had it dialed in from the start.  The course was pretty even and over the 6 legs the fleet had an opportunity to spread out, look for clean air or shifts and get down to racing.  Some went left, some right, but in the end the first race came down to boat speed and Glen Ashby took a large lead with Lars Guck 2nd and Sjoerd Hoekstra (NED 3) 3rd.

The first day of the 17th Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta showed tough racing. Not only in terms of sailing conditions, but the competition was also full on. The shifty and gusty wind challenged the 45 competing teams, representing five countries. The Dutchmen Wouter Samama and Sam Frank, sailing a F18 Hobie Tiger, lead the fleet. They are tied on points with their fellow countrymen Eduard Zanen and Mischa Heemskerk on a F18 Nacra Infusion. Gunnar Larsen and Bastiaan Tentij are in third position, also tied on points with James and Gillian Power (GBR).

This morning, the sailors were welcomed by a strong trade wind force five. That was exactly what most competitors were hoping for. They enjoyed the tropical conditions and participated in the practise race. Others decided to save their equipment and body. They stayed ashore, which was maybe not a bad idea, as the first damages were a fact. After a lunch break, the official regatta started off with the first race. Meanwhile, the unstable wind had dropped to force three/four.

The stage is set and the 2007 Ronstan A-Cat Worlds gets under way today with a field that is deep in talent, experience and are proven winners.  Sitting around the Tiki Bar last night at the Islander Resort, reflecting on the Blue Water classic regatta, the ISAF decision to remove multihulls from the Olympics and the talented pool of competitors at the regatta, Brian Hawboldt began a tally.  He was tallying the Olympic medals, World Championships and National & Continental championships that this class of sailors represents.  Present at the 2007 Ronstan A-Cat Worlds are the winners of 16 Olympic medals and over 50 World championships, not just from multihull classes, but from 505’s, I14, DN class iceboats, Lasers and a diversity of other sailing disciplines including around the world maxi-cat racers (Cam Lewis & Randy Smyth).  While the results from the last day of racing in which Glen Ashby took three bullets to win the event, it would be a folly to predict the outcome of the regatta.

It is clear in looking at the final results of the Blue Water classic Regatta that the top sailors in the A-Class all are in competition for the World title.  The final results are Glen Ashby in 1st, fellow Australian Scott Anderson 2nd, Swiss competitor Luc du Bois & Lars guck tied in points for 3rd and Pete Melvin in 5th.  Though this was a tuning regatta, all the competitors sailed hard and the racing was close.  The top thirty boats in the fleet finished within 30 seconds of each other over the course of a 45 minute race.  The real test begins today.

The 2007 Ronstan A-Class catamaran Worldsin the Florida Keys, Islamorada, FL, USA November 9-16, 2007. With a record setting 100 boats pre-registered, the 2007 Ronstan A-Class catamaran Worlds sponsored by Ronstan, FSE Robline, Corum, and West Marine is now only weeks away. The regatta will take place at The Islander resort hotel in Islamorada, FL. The Islander has been hosting the US A-Class for its last two midwinter race weeks and was the unanimous choice by the US class as the best venue to host this world championship. The race site is a 9 square mile area of the Atlantic ocean protected by an offshore reef. Sailors will enjoy clear aqua water and hopefully warm and consistent easterly winds of 8-15 knots.

The international contingent includes Glenn Ashby from Australia who will be racing to defend his 2006 title. Glenn is a multiple world champion in the class and is regarded as the best A-Class sailor ever. In addition, Glenn is regarded as a favorite to medal in the 2008 Tornado Olympic event in Qingdao, China with his teammate Darren Bundock. In addition to Ashby, other top international sailors racing will include past world champions Scott Anderson and Nils Bunkenberg, Olympic medalists Andrew Landenberger and Goran Marstrom, New Zealand champion Murray Philpott, top Dutch sailors Sjoerd Hoekstra, Pieterjan Dwarshuis, and Piet Saarberg, Alinghi designer Mike Drummond (New Zealand), and top Swiss sailors Dieter Melcher and Luc De Bois.