2010 FS Midwinter Regatta at SYC

Keep it short and move it back to where its warm.... [:D] I know I am in the minority here on the shorter events, not sure why. I can say that none of the Fishing Bay folks went due to the extra distance and potential for cold weather.

I think the class should mix it up with longer and shorter events. Apparently they did a survey a few years back and it was "inconclusive" because nearly equal numbers of people wanted shorter formats for the NAC and MW compared to those who did not. That sounds like a good reason to offer both long and short events. Between the drive from PA, and the number of sailing days, I am out for both the NAC and MW this year. The long format is great for those who are retired. Phil Scheetz FS 4086

But Phil what about those of us that are not retired and have little kids....there needs to be a better medium and maybe mix it up like someone else mentioned.

If you look at the survey posted on the home page there are some interesting results: 65% Primarily use their Scot for racing 54% Race regularly 54% Never sail in a sanctioned event This may mean people are competing in localized events. May be the Class should look at sanctioning more localized events or perhaps some type of event spread out amongst a few clubs over a couple of weekends? Each one may be smaller in numbers but we you may see more people compete overall. Spend an hour or two driving to race for a weekend; I’d rather do that than take a week off. People just don’t have the time anymore - work, family there are a lot of obligations we need to meet before sailing. Taking a week off to travel & race just isn’t in the cards for many anymore; but taking a long weekend is. No more is it – “The Big eating the small” it’s “The Fast eating the slow”. J Mulle FS 4223

This is a good thread, as it points to factors that relate to class growth and event participation. First, Travis, I am not retired, I have two kids, 13 and 16, and my wife is an intermittent crew, so I have to recruit and develop crew regularly. I think it was me that mentioned that we should mix it up. I think 5257 is right on. I also think that the NAC at Fishing Bay, and Tom's River benefitted from the shorter format. The Atlantic Coast Champs is a good example of a competitive, short-format regatta. The Masters was discontinued, but maybe we should resurrect it as a regatta where the combined crew age has to be under 100, and have special prizes for under 80, under 60, under 40, etc. In PA and NJ, our fleet 163 from Lake Nockamixon, has a series with Fleet 184 at Spruce Run in NJ. The series encourages travel by having two races at each lake. We have also been welcomed by fleets along the NJ shore. We organize trips of our fleet to beef up the numbers at events run by new fleets. If the class wants to keep the long format for the NAC and MW, maybe the idea of doing more district level champs could be "sanctioned" by the class. I don't know what is involved in sanctioning a regatta, but it seems to me that creating awareness of the event is one of the primary drivers. Obviously a sanctioned regatta has to have good race management, but I think most host clubs aspire to that and can find it, especially if FSSA helps out. If we want to recruit more young sailors, then we need affordable events. At the Wife-Husband last year we brought our daughter, who offered babysitting for parents and grandparents who brought kids. The kids had a blast together and good memories. Maybe adding that to the template for how to run a regatta would be worthwhile. Phil Scheetz FS 4086

Good topic. For many, I think the issue is a variation of all of the issues discussed. I'm a weekend warrior as far as the sailing goes and not in the sailing business, so it becomes a balancing act between my job and my passion. For those of us not retired and with children still at home and involved in other activities, it becomes a matter of having to choose. Unfortunately only my son and I really enjoy racing our Scot. He's involved in several other activities that are important to him and therefore supported by us. Add to that other children and their activities, and the idea that we like to try to take some form of family vacation and our windows of opportunity to sail the "big regattas" is further reduced. To my dismay, a week at the NACs is not what my wife considers a vacation. I've attended one NAC (FBYC in 07) and one MW (St Pete in 08) and really enjoyed both. Both required me to take a little more than a week's leave which left only a week's leave to do other things with the rest of the family. The cost wasn't phenominal but it wasn't cheap either, approximately $1600 for the MW (07 NACs were "local"). Additionally those of us with kids usually have to take them out of school. MW would have meant my son missed at least a week of school. He'd of loved it, but you can't do that too often. We decided to skip MW this year for several reasons; the distance, the cost (couldn't find a "tent campground" close), kids in school, limited vacation time and the hope of attending the NACs in June/July. If the regattas were over a weekend (reducing the amount of vacation time one has to take) and within a days drive (Jacksonville is a 10 hour run from Richmond, VA/ Pensacola is about 14, but doable; going the other way Sharon, MA is about a 10 hour run too) I think we'd make a more serious effort to attend the national events. We are however, making plans to attend the ACC's in NJ in Sep. The event is over a weekend and is about a 6 hour drive from where we live, and there are affordable hotels close by. New Orleans and Bay Waveland are both two day drives from VA. That increases the cost (extra night in a hotel, more gas, more food) and more time off in order to attend. Bruce FS2777

Has anyone seen photos of the regatta? Was there a photographer capturing the action? Phil Scheetz FS 4086

This is a good topic and there are lots of good thoughts above. A couple of points I would like to add: 1. Making an FSSA national sanctioned event 3 days of racing versus four or five days does not necessarily mean less time away from work for those participants who have jobs. A three day national event still takes at least six days to attend for most participants: one day to get there (at least), one day to measure, three days racing and one day to get home (at least). Six days (at least) total means taking pretty much a whole week off of work, same as a five-day or four-day event. 2. A longer event means more chance that we will sail more days. Shortening events to three days creates a pretty high probability that at least one of those days won't have any racing because of weather. I would not want to drive two days each way from WI to the Midwinters and then only race two days once I am there. It's not so bad to travel two days to a regatta which has four or five days of racing, then only race three or four days. That I can live with. 3. What's "cold" is relative. I thought the weather in New Orleans in late March was delightful. But I am from northeast Wisconsin, and people from Florida or even Virginia might have a different take on the meaning of "cold". 4. The class is doing a good job keeping alive Sandy Douglass' vision of weekend sailing. It's pretty easy to find multiple weekend racing events within a few hours drive for most Scot owners. For example, from Wisconsin I could compete in a half-dozen weekend Scot regattas each summer -- leave Friday afternoon, race all weekend, get home Sunday night. It's just that those regattas are not sanctioned national events. If I want to race in a national championship event such as the Midwinters or the NAC, then most years that will mean a longer drive. That's inherent in the nature of a "national" event. If there were more than one NAC, more than one Midwinters, etc., then those events would no longer be national. They would be regional, like the ACC and the various District championship regattas. Nothing wrong with regional events, no reason not to have more of them, but they are not national events. It's nice that the class also offers all of its members the opportunity to race in a national event at least twice a year. 5. I don't see any benefit to the FSSA sanctioning more local events. How would that add to the quality of the racing or the fun of the event? Local events stand or fall depending on the quality of the event (location, weather, organization, race management, party quality) not on whether the FSSA sanctioned it. In fact participation in a local event might decline if FSSA membership was required in order to race. And with FSSA sanction would come the obligation to comply with the FSSA's requirements for sanctioned events, which can be considerable; this would create an additional burden for the organizers of the local event. 6. For the 2008 Midwinters in St. Pete, I spent well under $2000 for me and my crew -- including driving 22 hours each way from WI, meals, registration and a nice hotel. I didn't think that was excessive -- I'm sure I could have spent more on almost any other kind of vacation. (I'm sure the class welcomes suggestions of less expensive venues, particularly if those suggestions are from the club or fleet offering to host the event.) But the expense of bringing family -- if they are not crew -- is not a regatta expense, it's a family vacation expense. Next year's Midwinters will be in Sarasota, we'll see if that's less expensive. It's always challenging to find quality sailing venues with low lodging costs -- there is a tension between those two concepts. Jay Lott FS 5698