2012 NA Dates?

[Dave Nickerson]

John - One place to start looking for a charter is posting here in the forums in the Charter section.  There are about 60 Vipers in the northeast US and I can't imagine everyone will be able to attend the Marblehead NAs.  Advantage Boating in Canada has chartered boats in the past at events like Charleston.  The new US Rondar team is in Marblehead and may have some good ideas.  Suggest starting with Paul Zimmerman there.

Not issue using AU# sails on a charter boat.  GBR, CAN, and NED are already on the race course.

[Tim Carter]

The 4 day NA's following a weekend regatta is the format that is being set-up for 2014 in Long Beach.  It will also be during the Labor Day week.  I think this format gives the travelers the most bang for the buck, and we have a couple of down days in between for that tourist stuff.  :)

And added bonus, the club is 20 min for the largest container port in the US.  Now we just have to figure out how to re-pack some of the Down Under snakes in their boxes and get them up here....   ;)

[Peter Beardsley]

For what it is worth, an inhibitor to people from WA getting to the 2012 na's was only 3 days racing and discussions have been around whether your program had a regatta the week before so we could make the trip worth 2 regattas. Do we have the answer in your labor day regatta being the weekend before your na's sailed from the same yacht club. If so the interest here will increase. I remain confident you will see some of us in the USA for the na's.

How would it be best to ascertain availabiliy of charter boats.

Will the rules allow us to use charter boats with AU# sails?

As a matter of interest the Vipers in 8 race sports boat regatta from south of Perth yc last weekend have positions 1, 2 and 3

To spell this out more clearly for everyone, here is what the schedule looks like for NAs:

Sept. 1-2: Marblehead Labor Day Regatta (NA tuneup for visiting teams who want to come in early -- non mandatory)

Sept 3-4: relax, go be a tourist in Boston or other parts of New England -- lots of interesting places to see within 2 hours or less (most much less).

Sept. 5 (Wednesday): registration, practice race (practice race is non mandatory -- just for those who happen to be around and who want to

Sept. 6-9 (Thurs-Sun) 4 days of racing with the largest congregation of Vipers on a single starting line in class history

No issues using AUS sails on charter boats -- in fact, we'd all hope/expect to see AUS sails, as long as you agree to drink whatever American beer is offered to you post racing for making the trip.  Definitely post an expression of interest looking for a charter boat.  I suspect that charters will be in high demand, so the earlier a boat can be lined up, the better.   

[David Furna]

So what is the going rate for a charter?

[Justin Scott]

Yeah I know that just wanted to see what everyone thought. There has been a trend downward over the last 10 years to 3 day events vs. 5 day events and we have seen the 3 day events do much better. I think it be awesome to race 4 days, but lets not let it keep boats off the line. Our class is great because we have always done things very efficiently so lets make sure we are keeping in line.

Hi Doug,

I like what the 2012 organizers have done. The 3 day regattas have been Thursday to Saturday, so its still 2 days away from the coal face for locals. Four days seem more appealing to the long distance travellers.
Anyway, its not a regatta, its a must attend industry conference which your employer would be crazy to let you miss. 

[Somers Kempe]

4 day regatta is key for making it worth the trip if a day is lost due to weather.

just my 2 cents

[Peter Beardsley]

So what is the going rate for a charter?

Usually depends on charter availability and demand.  If there are only a couple of boats that could be available and a lot of people interested, price could be higher.  Also depends on what is involved on getting the boats to/from the venue and who would be bearing that cost, etc.  I could throw out a number but it'd be pure speculation.  Think about it this way: how much money would it take for you to part with your boat for a week to someone you didn't know well, if they promised to use their own sails and had the proper insurance, and agreed to deal with transportation, boat set-up, etc.  I think that needs to be the starting point for the conversation, with a second set of parameters of "and they need to borrow sails."  Any charteror who also wants delivery to/from the site and owner time for setup is looking at a totally different rate, and charteror paying for charter insurance at whatever rate your insurer wants to charge needs to be baked into any deal. 

[David Furna]

Thanks Peter, I sent you an email.

[Justin Scott]

So what is the going rate for a charter?

If you use the class insurance package via Gowrie, then charter insurance can be added for a reasonable sum.

The going rate for charters has varied. We have seen from $1500 to $2000 for 3 day regattas between class members and from as little as $500 to a bottle of rum between friends. Advantage Boating actively chartered for a while....contact Harvey Barnes.

 

[Darren Gilbert]

Advantage Boating actively chartered for a while....contact Harvey Barnes.
 

if you can't reach Harvey, try Ron Schute at Advantage (http://www.boattraining.com/)

[David Furna]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm considering a 2nd boat to keep in New England during the season and chartering it when possible. $500/day on sight rigged without sails? Pocket change to the Melges 32 guys...probably expensive for others...

[Justin Scott]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm considering a 2nd boat to keep in New England during the season and chartering it when possible. $500/day on sight rigged without sails? Pocket change to the Melges 32 guys...probably expensive for others...

I think that Piet was paying more than that when Blixem was chartering a pair of Vipers for cross training ahead of the M32 worlds.....but then he wised up and just bought a boat.

The 2012 Viper NAs were moved a couple of weeks earlier this year to so that they are 3 weeks ahead of the M32 Worlds at Newport RI. Four North East M32 teams have bought Vipers and will be getting it on at Marblehead as a prelude to the M32 worlds. I would not be at all surprised to see other M32 teams looking for Viper charters as we get closer to the date.   

[John Park]

Thanks Peter for the program info.

We have 2 crews ready to come to the 2012 Na's and a third is a maybe.

It is now down to getting the boats.

On to the charter posts I go.