Eligibility and Regatta Rules
This is a fun, laid-back regatta for cruising skippers who sail mini and pocket cruisers and don't race very often, not hard-core racers. We will be using ordinary "Rules of the Road," not racing rules, since most cruising skippers don't know all the racing rules.
This regatta is a "cruise lasting an hour or two" with prizes for the fastest boats to complete the course. It's not a "real race" with the usual racing rules. All participants in this event must agree to abide by the ordinary "Rules of the Road" for Inland and Coastal Waters (COLREGS). The number of races, starting sequence, and race courses will be determined the day of the race based on prevailing conditions.
It's a "friendly gentleman's regatta" - aggressive racing tactics would be inappropriate and potentially dangerous. Racing tactics that might increase the chances of collisions (such as aggressively "luffing up" another boat or crowding at the buoys) are strictly prohibited and will be grounds for being kicked out of the race. We've never had any serious collisions, and we've never had to kick anybody out for aggressive tactics in past years -- all the skippers have been careful and considerate sailors.
Mini and pocket-cruisers 25 feet LOA and under are eligible to compete. There are 3 divisions: Small Boats (15’0” or less LOA), Medium Boats (15’1” to 19’11” LOA), and big Boats (20.0 to 25.0 feet LOA). All boats must have a cabin suitable for accommodating at least two adults and have room to sleep inside the cabin. Stripping your boat would be violating the spirit of this event, but we're not going to inspect your boat.
All boats must be equipped with required Coast Guard safety equipment, an anchor and an outboard. All participants must wear a Coast Guard approved PFD at all times during the race.
The largest headsail permitted will be a 155% genoa. Not many mini-cruisers around here have spinnakers, gennikers, or drifters, so it wouldn't be a fair contest of skipper skill if we allowed spinnakers.
Since this is a non-handicapped event (for Small and Medium Boats), and we accommodate a wide range of boats. The regatta committee will assign your boat to a division on the basis of your boat's length overall, waterline length, displacement weight, sail area and/or Portsmouth Yardstick ratingor PHRF number, and suitability for the division. This means a hotrod (i.e. like a Catalina Capri 16), which meets the above criteria but was also designed for racing and not a pure cruiser, can be placed in a higher division to keep the classes competitive. The race committee has the final decision, but please remember, our goal is to have fun.I
f your boat doesn't exactly fit the eligibility requirements (for example, you've got an open-cockpit daysailor), you can still come to sail and join the party. You can even participate in the race, just to see how you'll do, but you won't be eligible to take home a trophy or race prize -- It just wouldn't be fair to have a Thistle sailing against a Pocket Cruiser. Fill out the Pre-Registration form and we'll be happy to assign your boat to a division, and if we get enough "odd-ball" boats to form their own "Odd-Ball" division, we'll do it!