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.
On my local water there are races every Wednesday. It's great to watch, and the other day I even slipped in to the pack for a bit. Question is: How out of line is it for a cruiser like me to slip in the field for a bit and then slip out? Don't want to get all wrapped up in the whole racing thing, but had a great time running with them for a ways.
Racers can be a pretty intense group while competing . . . they'd probably rather not have the distraction. My real concern would be to stay out of someone's way if they want to make a strategic tack that you're not anticipating. You certainly don't want to pull any right-of-way moves here but you most probably already knew that! Heck, it can be a lot of fun, maybe you should crew to get to know the sport.
At my lake, nobody would be upset if you slipped in and out of a race, but I don't know how racers might react at your venue. I think most racers would prefer that a beginner enter the race at the start, rather than have them slip in and out. If you don't know the rules, just sail the course and stay out of everyone's way until you learn the rules. (If someone yells at you, you might have violated a rule, but don't take it too seriously. It's just an amateur sport among friends. ) Usually there is a skippers' meeting on some dock before a race. Find out when and where the skippers' meetings are held, and attend the meeting and let them know you'd like to learn to race, and offer to crew. That's how most people learn to race.
"Beer Can" (weekday evening) races are usually pretty informal. However, the seriousness of the event depends on the venue and the people involved. You for sure wouldn't want to sail into the middle of a weekend regatta.
Our attitude is that we racers don't own the lake, and we don't have a right to exclude anyone from our race course or from any other part of the lake. We just have a right to use it, along with everyone else. Other sailors and power boaters have an absolute right to run through our racing fleet, and they do it all the time. We ask that they do us the courtesy of not interfering with the progress of the racing boats, and, for the most part, they are pretty good about it.
Some racers get much too serious about the sport, and their shouting and cursing totally turns other sailors off to the sport, and causes power boaters to think we are "uppity." We're all just friends having fun out there, and we shouldn't hurl personal insults at each other.
Steve has a point. However, there is a common courtesy in leaving each other room to do "their thing". Racers don't plow through anchorages with swimming women and children, cruisers give the racers room, and look from the side lines. At least that's the way I was brought up.
Don't steal anyone's wind, give the racers right of way whether they need it or not and don't be in there close at the buoys. Otherwise, we are always looking for racers on our lake, and the possibility of new boats just adds to the richness of our little club.
A racing membership with us costs about $235 a summer, with insurance, memberships and judges coming out of that. If you get the idea you like racing, you might want to visit the club and see what they offer.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">A racing membership with us costs about $235 a summer, with insurance, memberships and judges coming out of that. If you get the idea you like racing, you might want to visit the club and see what they offer. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">Wow! Our annual club dues are $40.00, including racing and all other club activities. Our club has family picnics about every other weekend, and a couple of off-season banquets each year. We pay for our own meals at the banquets. We don't pay judges. The club doesn't have insurance because it doesn't own any property. We all have liability and casualty insurance on our own boats. Our trophies are glassware, such as rocks glasses, etched with "BLSA Fall Series 2004 - First Place." They're inexpensive and can be used proudly, rather than just being hung on a wall or put on a shelf. I'm not sure we would have as many racers, or that they would all be such good sports, if it cost that much to race.
That's the way it used to be on the lake that we raced in Illinois. It was called Clinton lake and housed a Nuclear Power Plant. The Flying Scot Racers used to have an annual regatta called "The Glow in the Dark". In our series there, a winner one week was judge the next! The lake has had problems with access since 9/11, of course. On our lake now, Pelican in Minnesota, we have a basic $600 for summer slips which includes trailer storage as well as racing memberships, and the $235 is for membership for boats around the lake that wish to race. Some of that goes to the upkeep of the clubhouse, which has full kitchen and two bathrooms, one with hot shower, electrics, but no water on the docks, etc.
The sailing foundation offers children's opti lessons for the community as well as the club, 420's for lessons and racing, lasers for club members use, parties, and all sorts of stuff.
Great fun and worth the costs. I just wish we could get the CG auxiliary involved to give them hours with their district.
When dock fees are included, we only pay a little less than you, but we don't have a clubhouse with accompanying facilities. Actually, if given a choice, I'd rather pay the difference and have the clubhouse, like you guys.
On Canyon Lake our yacht club dues are $25 a month and we pay for each racing event individually - usually $15 - $20. The other Club on the lake charges $25 for a series (6 races over 3 months) and $50 for their big regatta in November. I probably pay around $200 - $250 a year to race. Derek
Our Club, GLKC(Geneva Lake Keelboat Club)dues are $350 a season. We hold 25 races. Every Wed. and every other Sat.We pay a Judge and the use of a power boat for a committe boat.We do not have any property. Check out our web site glkcsail.org
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.