MIAMI 2013 POLL (pick a calendar for the circuit)

[Peter Beardsley]

I have been tasked by the Viper EC with being the "Regatta Coordinator", so I feel some obligation to try to sort out the threads and while I may regret this later, adding some degree of democracy into the equation. 

Bacardi is the anchor event.  I expect in 2013 it'd be March 7-9 if past patterns hold, so maybe people instead want to hang out there Mar. 4-9 if they want it to be a longer vacation. 

Mardi Gras is Feb. 15-17 or so in 2013.   Charleston is Apr. 18-20 in 2013 probably.

The consensus is a 3-regatta circuit, but there's no consensus yet on which 3 regattas we should do.  Bacardi is a no-brainer.  The early February event seems like a no-brainer based on timing and weather.  The question is do we have an event in December, or an event in late March?  The entire month of January is out of the question unfortunately -- there is way too much already happening down there thanks to the Miami OCR and the facilities and RCs do not have availability.  November is very inconsistent weather-wise, though people can always go down early on their own if they want. 

December Pros:
- Lots of spacing between events, which would likely maximize turnout
- Miami is warm in December
- Doesn't step on any other events

December Cons:
- A bit close between Thanksgiving and Christmas
- Wind can be suboptimal sometimes that time of year compared to March and April (though it's still generally good)

March Pros:
- Generally very good weather
- Boats will all already be there from Bacardi theoretically

March Cons:
- Spring break time of year raises cost of travel
- After Justin's week-long Viper extravaganza, makes it hard for the hall passes to be only 2 weeks post Bacardi and 3 weeks before Charleston
- Conflicts with existing Etchells event, which bothers Nye and Boston at minimum

For those who say "let's just do 4 events" -- that's not what I was hearing in the other thread, and also the goal here is to have quality events that are well attended -- it will be hard to build momentum for a circuit with 10-12 boat regattas -- much easier with 20-30 boat regattas. 

We need to lock these dates down sooner rather than later since we're competing with other classes for limited storage slots and limited RC resources.   Please only vote if you think you might attend one or more of these events in 2013 or 2014.  Thoughts?

[Matt Sole]

Lets do four events.... if we only get 10-15 boats for the first event I am happy with that.

[Dan Tucker]

Lets do four events.... if we only get 10-15 boats for the first event I am happy with that.

You really don't listen, do you?? Do I need to lock this thread an only allow answers on the poll?? Now go sit in the corner! Ah, never mind, we still love you Matt!  ;)

Seriously, four events have been ruled out as an option for 2013 by our friends who we're counting on down there to run racing. If we get 20-30 boats it could happen for 2014. This is why 3 well attended events matter for 2013.

[Brad Boston]

Those dates look like they are the Etchells Jag series... Do we really want to be at the same time? Can we not get different dates? There are people that sail both....

Brad

[Matt Sole]

for 3 events I would like the first event to be the 2nd or third weekend in February.
It would be wrong to compete with the Jaguar Cup.

[Peter Beardsley]

Dates changed ever so slightly -- Miami OCR ends on Feb. 2 this year, so we can't do the first weekend in February anyway -- it'd have to be the second weekend of February -- I reset poll votes to zero, time to start over, please revote everyone. 

As for the December regatta, I guess the Etchells have an event the 2nd weekend in December.  The dates on the December regatta are not yet set in stone -- we need to see whether they'll give us a date first, but it'd be either the first weekend or the second weekend. 

[David Chapman]

Brad your going to have to buy a house down there mate

[Justin Scott]

Any hard info re the dates of CRW? It swings around a 3 week window due to tide.

It might be useful to add a separate poll to asses the desire for the "Viper Week" in March described in the other thread.
The concept is take one additional day off work (compared to Bacardi) and you attend 2 regattas and get two vacation days, including a day of Viper clinic and a cruise to the end of Key Biscayne.
USSC has said they are willing to help organize this but we would need to know if there is a real committment/ desire 

That would provide 2 regattas. Then the choice is do you want one or two more dates ( 3  or 4 regattas).

It would be a lot easier if Bacardi was a week earlier.

[Peter Beardsley]

I haven't seen hard dates for 2013.  Here's the history:

2008: Apr. 17-20
2009: Apr. 16-19
2010: Apr. 8-11
2011: Apr. 14-17
2012: Apr. 18-20

I am not seeing a ton of variation there except for 2010 -- looks like they try to hit the third week in April pretty regularly. 

[Matt Sole]

I don't want Bacardi to be a week earlier, then it clashes with the Heineken regatta is St Maarten.

[Matt Sole]

I want to change my vote so I can do MGRW, so december event it is!