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Havasu Pocket Cruiser Convention

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csmcg
1st Mate

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96 Posts

Initially Posted - 03/06/2012 : 00:48:44

A couple of weeks ago, the stars aligned and we had an opportunity to attend a sailing event in Lake Havasu City AZ. With ten days notice, we threw together an expedition in the spirit of Shackleton and headed south.

[URL="http://www.sailhavasu.com"]Sail Havasu[/URL] is the brainchild of Havasu City FF/Medic Sean Mulligan. He started this mess four years ago with an open invitation to trailerable sailboats. He got fifteen the first year. Every year since, the numbers have roughly doubled. It is a week long event with activities and presentations every day.

The trip would cover about 1200 miles one way.

With the help of my wife and two daughters, we threw everything in the boat and tow vehicle.

Two and a half days of driving later, we arrived. The boats are berthed at several marinas in the area. We were in a marina with 1000 slips which is 950 more than we are used to... The parking lot was full of folks setting up boats with friendly people chipping in to help everywhere.

We helped where we could, and got launched ourselves. The next day, we motored up the canal to the London Bridge Resort which serves as the base for most of the event's activities.

The resort sits next to the actual WWII era London Bridge which was moved, rock by rock, to this location by the site developers. During the event, there is a "Parade of Sail" where the participants sail under the bridge. A beautiful procession.

Over the next several days we sailed, attended seminars, got our first taste of racing a sailboat, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The start for the long distance race had sixty four boats all starting at the same time.

We motored out, looked at the starting line chaos, and decided to let everyone go. There were two collisions and some gelcoat swapping while we watched. When everyone had cleared, we went through the start of a sailboat race for the first time. In light air, we chased the pack around the main island.

Keith, one of the competitors and organizers, was nice enough to share this photo from the main downwind leg. Many of the shots were shared by event participants. There is a flickr site set up for participants to create collections and share photos and video. Links at the bottom.

We ended up 34th out of 64 which got the girls pretty enthused. There were some grins from the crew every time that we passed someone.

The next days race saw stronger winds so we put in a reef to keep the heeling and crew squeaking to a minimum. We mixed in more at the start, but I still kept us out of the main crush of the fifty plus participants. There was more bump-and-grind at this start as well. We started roughly in the middle of the pack without scaring anyone. (Sail #487 in the photo).

All the way around the course, there was another boat that seemed always near. It was great fun jousting with these folks.

As we got close to the upwind buoy, the lake narrows and the winds got even more gusty and confused. The hours that my wife and I have spent competing on sailboards came in very handy when it came to reading the water for impending strength and direction of the fickle winds. We got lucky with a couple of gust predictions and gained a few positions at the upwind mark.

This is us finishing. We were in the middle of the pack for our class and in the top fifteen overall.

One of the highlights of the trip was for my oldest daughter to be able to interview Howard Rice for her research paper. Howard was attending as a presenter. He was gracious, thoughtful, and attentive while being interviewed.

If you have never heard of Howard, give google or [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Rice"]wikipedia[/URL] a shot. You will learn that among other achievements, Howard was the first person to double Cape Horn solo in a sailing canoe.

Sean and his cast of volunteers do an awesome job. We had a great time, made many friends, learned a lot, saw lots of boats, relaxed, sailed, and given that memories of the drive will fade, will probably do this again next year if possible. Getting there a couple of days early, helping with the event setup, and attending the pre-event barbecue at Steamboat Cove are our goals. Highly recommended.

Stats from the event (from the HPCC site):

Geography:
States - 26
Canadian Provinces - 4
Countries - 5
Boats:
Total Boats - 195
Total Attendees - 389 (Skippers, crew, and hopeful crew)
Boat Brands - 56
Most of a Brand - Montgomery with 32 boats
Boat Models - 78
Most of a model - MacGregor 26 with 23
Singletons - 49 - Models w/only one boat

Driving distances one way towing a boat:
Driving Average - 659 Miles
Thousand Mile Club - 33 Yes, 33 Boats towing over 1000 miles one way!
2000 Mile Club - 6 - And Yes, 6 Boats towing over 2000 miles one way!

Most Miles - 2,833 Miles!!!

Lots of photos and some video at: [URL="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sailhavasu/collections/72157629240797431/"]HPCC 2012 Flickr[/URL]

One particular collection has consistently wonderful (magazine quality) images: [URL="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sailhavasu/sets/72157629449207007/"]Dere[/URL]

Several videos (including one of a starting line crash) at facebook. Search for "Sail Havasu"

Thanks for watching...

Regards

Edited by - on

TCurran
Admiral

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USA
588 Posts

Response Posted - 03/06/2012 : 04:15:33

Looks like fun...great pictures, thanks for posting.

Edited by - on

dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 03/06/2012 : 08:12:04

Wonderful pics, especially your boat with the sunset behind you. Interesting stats. Thanks for posting.

Edited by - on

zeil
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
1297 Posts

Response Posted - 03/06/2012 : 11:02:18

Many thanks for sharing and providing pictures of this wonderful event... We're hopeful to see all of you in Havasu 2013

Did you take your bikes? What were your accommodations? Did the girls enjoy the seminars, speakers and competition sailing? Would your daughter be willing to write a short article of her interview with Howard Rice and post it on this forum?

Edited by - on

csmcg
1st Mate

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96 Posts

Response Posted - 03/06/2012 : 23:18:41

Hello Henk,

Yes we did take bicycles and they did come in handy.

My wife's parents surprised us with wonderful accomdations in a condo. They winter in Havasu, but due to the short notice of our trip, we were planning to camp on the boat.

My family enjoyed a lot of the activities. They glazed over during some of the more esoteric topics, but we felt that there was a great deal of good information presented.

The sailing and racing was wonderful. It was February, just being on the water was a joy.

My daughters interview had to with stereotypes regarding sailors from various cultures. Howard was definitely an experienced person and was a great resource. I will ask her if she is willing to write something for the site.

We hope to see you there in 2013 as well.

Regards

Edited by - on

Sam001
Vice Commodore

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USA
441 Posts

Response Posted - 03/07/2012 : 08:03:50

Many thanks for the great report!

Edited by - Sam001 on 03/07/2012 08:04:13

sailing2
Deckhand

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USA
23 Posts

Response Posted - 03/09/2012 : 12:47:17

We attended too. WOW, it was one of the best, if not the best, sailing event I have ever been involved with. Friendly folks, lots of activities, fantastic seminars, great vendors, no pressures, warm weather, sailboats, water, parties and most important tons of fun. We made a presentation to our club last night and the event will be our first cruise of next year. Six boats have already committed.

Edited by - on

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