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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Racing minimum length requirements

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Don B
Captain

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USA
317 Posts

Initially Posted - 08/17/2005 : 11:45:29

Oscare and Bruce (or anyone else), not wanting to hijack your other thread, what is the reasoning behind having a 27' minimum length for some of theses races? I also heard of the minimum length requirement (27') for the Chicago to Mackinaw race. Is it that the powers that be don't believe a vessel shorter than 27' can handle certain conditions or is it just a way to limit the number of vessels that are allowed to participate...or a combination there of? Not that I'm ready to race in one of these, but having read of the experiences of some of the veterans on this site, it seems that a Catalina 25 in the hands of the right person would be very competitive.

Don B
86FK/SR #5216 "Mighty M"
Southwest Florida

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takokichi
Captain

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USA
321 Posts

Response Posted - 08/17/2005 : 12:05:13

Minimum length requirements are often a function of limiting the duration of a race by ensuring boats are capable of maintaining a minimum speed. Its bad science, though, since with modern boat design a small planing design (Mini 6.1 is 20 feet long) can out run much larger displacement designs. The clubs will tell you its a safety thing in terms of structural design, but that's nonsense.

jwa

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aeckhart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1709 Posts

Response Posted - 08/17/2005 : 13:38:49

An Example:

I raced a 30 mile (rum line) race on Lake Superior this past weekdend. I was the only 25 foot boat in the race. The other racers consisted of: Santa Cruz 40, North American 40, J-105, 30' C&C Red Wing, Laser 28, Morgan 36, Hunter 34, S-2 9.2. These all finished the race at or before 5 pm. I on the other hand finished at 8:00 pm. I may still place because of handicap since they give me 2 minutes and 38 seconds per mile. You can imagine though, if this were a regatta consisting of three races. The big boats and committee would be waiting most of the day for the smaller, slower boats to finish. It makes everyone irritable and eats up the sailing day. On a longer race such as Chicago to Mac or Port Huron to Mac, the committee boat could be waiting days after the last big boat finished for a Catalina 25 to cross the line.

Another aspect is that big boats cost more in time and money to measure. The sponsoring clubs make money doing this. The last time I checked a few years ago, Chicago to Mac cost $1500 for a Santa Cruz 40. This does not include the entrence fee, which is considerable. More than the average C25 owner can afford.

So that's my take on the subject.

Edited by - aeckhart on 08/17/2005 13:40:30

Champipple
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
6855 Posts

Response Posted - 08/17/2005 : 13:53:43

For some of the longer races, it is definitely a factor of Speed and Safety. The Mac for example requires you to have an inflatable life boat – which requires space, you’d need space for the crew and gear etc. Some of the smaller boats become a huge risk in bad weather (some not all).

Additionally, nobody wants to wait at the finish line for an extra 18 hours so that a smaller boat can finish.

Key West Race Week, which is a regatta and not a long distance race, puts their cutoff at 175 for 2006. Typically, rules such as this are to eliminate slow pokes like us getting out there in a cruising boat.

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Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.