Come on Rick...don't hold back! Give the when, where’s, and what’s. If it's the Jup to FTL event, I bet we get 75 plus racers.
It isn't looking too good for the Naples race this year. I just haven't seen too much NW wind, and when it does come, NW never lasts too long. This might have been too much to ask for. Are the organizers going to extent into December? This could work given that Jup to Ftl needs N to NE and Naples needs NW to W. I can't wait to hear.
Looking at the locations of these events, it seems as though locations like Tampa have a huge advantage given the potential to start from two different venues depending wind direction.
I personally would also like to see one event where the racers start in say...Ft. Lauderdale (Neil) and finish in say... Ft. Lauderdale (Neil). Racers would race upwind (about 7 miles) and then off the wind and finish through the original starting line. The total race would only be 14 miles, but given the upwind tacking the race would last about 1 hr for the winners. Given that we don't have the same relationships with the YC's here in FL as the guys do in SF Bay, this would be an easy way for organizers to give East coast riders course racing skills with out having to run the events like regattas.
In the long run, upwind races will help us to make equipment that is far more efficient. This will boad well for us S. Fla riders in the summer. With my current race equipment I can ride my 12 in winds under 11 mph and ride well up wind. There is going to be tons of development for this emerging race class in the coming season. We can't let the "left coasters" leave us behind.
Kent
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