(left, Greg Harrer, et al.'s J/24 "Giddy Up")

FOOD FOR THOUGHT...............an NPSA OD fleet??

First off, I love racing at NPSA.

I flat out love it. The folks who come out on Wednesdays and on "special-event" weekends are tops. Our whole membership is just an outstanding collection of folks who share a passion and know how to have fun on the water and treat each other respectfully.

Also, the location is super-convenient and the facilities we all use feel more like friendly communities than they do businesses.

But: I am sort of getting tired of the whole big-boat-PHRF-thing. Honestly, as much fun as we have on Wednesday nights, I still find myself wishing more and more frequently that we had some kind of "like-boat" racing.

I think Greg and his co-owners have the right idea about campaigning a J/24 and at the end of this season I'm thinking of giving some serious consideration to bailing from the larger phrf boat to race these guys One Design every Wednesday.

My question would be: anyone else willing to even remotely consider this as an option?

I know a lot of folks are interested in maintaining their larger cruising boats for use as a vacation platform, but if you are like most people I talk to, how many times a year do you take a cruising vacation?

With a critical mass of, say 4 or 5 J/24's, we could have an "internal OD" start and race boat for boat while still being scored for PHRF.

Later this summer I hope to get to out and race with a local "24" fleet and get a feel for both the boat and what the vibes are in the fleet. Maybe it is or maybe it isn't the boat I'd like to sail and race, but I definitely think it's worth considering. If you have any thoughts on this email me (webwolf@nbayracing.com) and I'll put your comments up after this sentence and see if a dialogue ensues. ---tf

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FROM RICK FRANZ OF "THIN FLOAT"

Dear Webwolf,
In an effort to support the concept of OD racing as a "purer" form of sailboat racing, I would remind your readers that there is an active, healthy J/22 / Sonar OD fleet racing every Thursday evening in the inner harbor. A joint effort of Downtown Sailing, BCYA, and with the help of Getaway Sailing, a number of these very competitive boats race closed courses in the turning basin in front of the Bay Cafe all season long. Since the SONAR rates the same as a J/22, there are a number of boats available for hire thru getaway, and a number of PHRF skippers have gotten their OD jones sated by chartering a boat for these OD series. I have participated a number of times and the short course, multileg, multiple race format is a hoot - a very athletic hoot! NPSA might consider an event that

BCYA has each year.......a single night of racing devoted to the OD format.

Each skipper selects one or two crew, and shows up to race in similarly prepared Sonar's and J/22s. The big boat PHRF drivers get a taste of OD racing while the laughing never quits - and you know what? The top big boat drivers RARELY top the list of winners of a OD regatta. Interesting!

Rick

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Thanks for the heads-up on that, Rick. Sounds like fun. The biggest problem I see, though, is that for most of us, we only get one night a week reserved for sailing, due to family and workplace commitments and I think we'd rather stay with the NPSA/Wednesday night format. Some of us are lucky to even get that one evening out a week!

In fact, I think Wednesday nights are the best choice for mid-week racing. Tuesdays you still have 3 more work days facing you, ugh!! Thursdays are okay, but Wednesday nights really break up the week nicely.--tf

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