fun when other fleets drift: Viperskiball? other ideas? viral concept anyone?

[Kay VanValkenburgh]

When the breeze goes light and other sailboats are stuck to the water, the Viper continues to sail and be fun. Nonetheless we join the other fleets in drifting around waiting for enough wind for everyone to race. In truth, drifting around discourages participation; some boats choose not to leave the dock on a light-air day because it's a waste. And of course it's really a drag for those who venture out to find the wind never fills in.

Seems like Vipers have a better alternative. We probably don't want to race if it's a crap shoot, but we can certainly sail, and compete in other ways, just for kicks.

Would folks mind writing up what they have done/seen for fun in light air in various parts of the country? The objective would be to have activities that are fun enough to help maintain participation, and that can easily be used by any Viper fleet.

I have an idea percolating that I'd appreciate others' improvements on, both concept and name. It would also be great to have as many new/existing ideas added to the mix as possible.

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First a few seed examples (please provide more examples in the thread; I'm sure youth programs have plenty):
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Infinite loop
In Marblehead while waiting for RC to give us a start, we'll sometimes pick two lobster pots about 200 yards apart and race an infinite windward-leeward around them.
- upsides
--pretty fun
--good for practicing hoists, douses, light-air jibes, roll tacks
--other fleets are envious....
- downsides
--less fun for the Vipers that don't take over the lead
--passing lanes still need 'marks' that are more-or-less windward-leeward (sometimes hard to find close to the starting area)
--'marks' may not exist at all in waters that don't have lobster/crab pots....

Good ole catch
Various fleets (including ours) sometimes bring out tennis balls or a nerf football (always in my gear bag, but I too often forget it ashore) and just toss them around.
- upside is it takes no organization and very little foresight (just remember a ball)
- downside is that usually the fun wears off fairly quickly; it's more often like a water fight: too vague an objective/motivation.

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Here's a rough idea with a silly working title, Viperskiball --and a call for other ideas
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Viperskiball gist (elements from Ultimate Frisbee and sprint relays):
- a team of 3-5 boats moves their skiball around a course more quickly than opposing teams by throwing the skiball to other boats on their team
- each boat on a team must receive the skiball at least once on each leg of the race
- the skiball rounds each mark in one teammember's boat; no other boats on that team need to round
- as many teams can play at the same time as there are boats for teams

- each team has its own skiball, which can be anything throwable that floats (probably most fun with something that can be thrown some distance with accuracy: tennisball, nerf football/bashball, or possibly a pfd flung with the handle of a paddle, lacross-style)
- a boat that receives a skiball must immediately stop forward propulsion, but can carry its momentum (to stop propulsion: flog sails, stop paddling/rocking, etc.)
- EXCEPTION on propulsion: when a boat gets the skiball within 3 boatlengths of a mark, they can continue their propulsion while within the 3 boatlength circle (e.g. to round the mark)
- a boat can carry whatever momentum it has upon receiving the skiball, but if to flog sails it must head up, it must change course in time for the sails to flog by the time the skiball is in possession
- any human/wind propulsion is permitted (paddling/rocking encouraged)
- propulsion sideways/astern is always permitted
- RRS Part 2 rules apply

Since not every boat on a team starts/rounds marks, all boats have a role, not just boats with top light air technique

Viperskiball course, and start/finish procedure:
- 1 boat on each team starts by throwing a skiball from within 3 boatlengths of a designated starting mark; they must pass the skiball to a teammate before leaving the 3-boatlength circle

- start is 1 min countdown
- 2 or more marks in any orientation, not just windward-leeward, can be used (I've not come up with a concept that gets rid of fixed marks)
- to finish, a boat carrying a skiball touches or rounds the designated finishing mark

Viperskiball teams
- 2 or more teams compete against each other or against the clock
- 1 team (if there's only a few boats) competes against the clock
teams of boats each have a ball

[Eddy Parker]

Beer floats.  Have someone run around in a launch dumping beer cans in the water.  Boat with the most empties at the end of the day wins.  Rubbin's Racin.

[Peter Beardsley]

There is always wind at Larchmont, so we do not have this issue. 

Seriously though, we entertain ourselves by sailing circles around the heavier, older one designs who are on the same circle.  If those guys are able to move, then Vipers are able to race.  If those guys aren't able to move, then nobody races and it's a moot point and odds are high no one leaves the dock since the RC APed everyone. 

Infinite loop can be improved by having lead boats spin a 720 before the bottom mark.  They will either get very good at spinning or will not be leading much longer.  Viper Skiball sounds like it could be fun but if the rules seem complicated to explain.  If we don't leave the dock, we get the cooler a bit earlier and team up around someone's boat to either talk or actively re-rig the person's boat if there are tuning or setup issues.  That way at least the next time is more fun for the next guy.

[Chris Ganne]

We used to do "wheelie competitions" in the I-14, not sure how this would work with the Viper, probably lose a crew or two in the process out the transom.

[Drew Harper]

We throw nerf footballs from boat to boat....really pisses off the other boats in mixed fleets with us sailing around all the other boats with the AP out, playing boat football :-D

[Peter Beardsley]

The boys on 175 yesterday in Charleston decided to climb the mast while postponed for a few hours.  They made it above the spreaders before the boat went over.  Probably not great for the rig but it was fun to watch.