Just a note that some may find informative. While they call Michigan and
Illinois the Midwest, they are anything but in the middle of the country--let
alone the middle of the west. It is precisely like holding the west coast
regatta in Seattle and the east coast regatta in western Montana. What's
worse,
the majority of the boats have been from the Northwest both years. It is
further from Seattle to Huntington Lake than from NYC to nearly anywhere in
Michigan
After two consecutive years of driving to Florida, it would be a nice
gesture if those of you in the east would join with Christian and support
something
out west occasionally. I think you'd find Huntington to be quite nice with
moderate winds (between 8 and 15 knots 80% of the time) and good family
accommodations in both camp grounds and cabins. I think that families and
moderate winds should remain key considerations.
While joint regattas have some strong benefits, if you've been to one and in
the starting area with a mixture of large groups of slow boats and medium to
strong winds, you'll know that it does not work (the High Sierra Regatta is
a great example). The danger is simply too high in spite of the RC's
determined efforts to get these slow boats out of the starting area until
their
sequence. The problem comes from skiffs attempting to find a place to bear
off
during the sequence and having no rights over the boats to leeward that are
cruising just below the line 15 minutes before their start. Regattas that
typically see a lot of high performance skiffs and cats are less of a problem.
Remember, many new Swift sailors with be on the steep part of the learning
curve and we need to have a clinic again prior to the regatta.
Best regards,
Bram
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