WATERSHIP DOWN SERIES

Last year’s Watership Down series was a huge success, so we are doing it again this year with, of course, your standard changes to make it bigger and better than last year!

From all the feedback we received from you, the aspect of the series you liked the most was the distance; each and every one of you reported back that you truly enjoyed racing straight for 3 (+/-) hours.  That was the main goal of our efforts and we are pleased that you all enjoyed it.  The other aspect you all seemed to like was the flexibility in the scoring.  A number of you changed from a spin to a non-spin declaration at the last moment because a crew member was not able to make it…, easy.  The rating system seemed to accurately reflect the crew and strategy of each boat, and actually produced some scoring upsets which we did not see while on the water, but the numbers don’t lie, so the idea seems to be working.

The wind in the afternoons also played a huge roll in making last year what it was.  If we get even 50% of some of those days again this year, it’s going to be fun.

As a start, mainly for everyone to get the dates on their calendars, the NORs are attached for your preview.  As we did last year, the first section is not an official part of the NORs, but rather an overview of what we are trying to do.  You’ll also be getting additional information via email leading up to the SIs being published on October 15th.  For those of you who are already lost because we have all been conditioned to lose focus after 140 characters, here are the highlights of what’s coming this year...

• Two starts each Saturday, PHRF and Portsmouth - we are on a big push to get Portsmouth boats back out on the lake.  You will see us (Tiller and Kites, Maricopa Youth Mariners, Victor and/or John) on anything from a C-37 to a 5o5 to a C-15, and everything in between.  To get this going, even if one Portsmouth boat shows, they’ll get a start on a shorter Portsmouth course.  How are we going to score this as a team, no idea…, but I’ll know by October 15th.
• Lat-Long coordinates of marks will be set in Navionics’ Boat App, mainly because I want to use my electronics, but also so everyone knows exactly where they will be.
• Daily first place glasses will be given.  Everyone is capable of winning these, even if you are not the designated boat for your team.  We want people out sailing, so come race.  Even those boats who show for just a race or two and pay for individual races, like our friends from Nevada, can win a daily first glass.
• By October 15th, there may be additional prizes to be won by promoting teams comprised of PHRF and Portsmouth boats.  We are working the logistics on that one, but the easiest way to get the Portsmouth boats back out there is to invite them, so be expecting this.
• The Start-Finish line will be where we had it the entire second half of last year.  There is a slope down there where we can set the hook at 65 (+/-) feet, which is nice…  🙂

That’s it for now.  First race is December 4th and we hope to see you all out there.

Any questions, contact us at any time.