The organizers of the Wickford Regatta have invited the Viper class to their regatta. The Regatta is run by the Wickford yacht club in Wickford, RI. We can launch our boats at a nearby boat ramp at Wilson park and store them at Brewer's for the weekend. The storage fees will be included in the entry fees which have not been finalized, but should be around $150.
https://event-manager.compete-at.com/Manager/event/home.do?clubcntxt=wickfordyc&eventcntxt=WickfordReg2010
I was the first Viper to sign up for this. Don't let me down and only I turn up
and get laughed at by the cool kids
Skip Whyte runs really great events and has done a nice job of working out the local logistics for us to make it easy. Great body of water to sail in. #18 will be there. What else are you going to do in the middle of May?
I'm planning to go. Who else is in?!
$140 through May 16. Fee includes dinner on Sat. night, and a slip at Brewer's Marina. Concerning launching:
"Vipers will have two launching options. Ramp launching at Wilson Park will be free and Brewer's will offer a preferred rate for a hoist launch and haul which will be forwarded shortly. That fee will be paid directly to Brewer's for those that chose that option."
Cash bar for the rum?
-Olaf
How many boats do you expect to have? and are there any host homes at which we may crash at if we can make it?
There's some contact info for host homes on their website. Looks like 1-star rooms are $80ish in the area otherwise.
Here's an update from Skip:
Hi everyone,
Congratulations to your class for an awesome showing in Charleston! The Viper class certainly has lots of momentum.
We're getting closer to Wickford Regatta time and entries have started to come in. It would be a great time to send another friendly reminder to the faithful. I'm attaching the NoR again for your convenience.
Arrangements at Brewer's are moving along nicely and they have agreed to allow all trailers to be parked at Brewer's, including those belonging to boats that ramp launch at Wilson Park. Brewer's is offering to launch and haul Vipers for $80 round trip. There will be two launch windows, one Friday afternoon/evening and another Saturday morning. Wickford Yacht Club will provide tows on Friday afternoon/evening from Wilson Park to Brewer's. Times will be determined as we get closer.
We will be asking every class to nominate one competitor that will be the class liaison with the Race Committee. The PRO will be looking for input from the liaisons on course length, timing, etc. as well as any constructive suggestions. As we get closer, I would like the Viper class to nominate a representative ahead of time so that we can include this information with the Sailing Instructions.
Skip Whyte
1st Place Sailing
High Performance Coaching and Consulting
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
50 Pleasant Street Cell +1 401 481 2997
N. Kingstown, RI 02852 Tel +1 401 295 4370
USA Skype skipwhyte
Finally, I'd like to ask if the class could loan us a couple of Viper class flags. We'll come up with something generic if needed, but would like to use the real thing.
Thanks for your collective assistance,
No one has really signed up for this event other than Zach and I. If you plan on attending, show a little love and sign up early. Let the organisers know what level of interest there is for this event.
I'll come but not to sail against 3 other boats, who else is sitting on the fence thinking about it?
Rattler's a no. Too busy with work at this time. Will be at the Newport Regatta for sure though.
Is anyone who is not going to the Wickford Regatta interested in chartering out their boat for the weekend? This was just posted on SA:
"Since some one said it would be better to post this here. Here is my original post
"Hey guys my roommate is thinking about getting a Viper as the class is exploding and they look like a ton of run. Ideally he would like to try one out a bit first for a few regattas on a borrow or charter basis. I am sure there are a few of these boats out there just sitting on their trailers waiting to go sailing. Looking at the schedule we would like to do the following regattas this year: wickford, newport coastal living, Heineken regatta in NY, and I believe there may be one more that I am forgetting. We don't even care if the boat still has an aluminum rig. A little back ground on the crew the helm was team captain of URI sailing team, forward person was also a college sailor and summer sailing coach, and myself I have extensive sport boat sailing in melges 24, 32 and wairere. We as a team won the SB3 class last year in the Newport Coastal Living Regatta and after seeing the vipers out and the growth of the class we want to join in on the fun. If any one could point us in the direction of getting a boat that would be hugely appreciated."
Cheers
Nick "
http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=108061
I'm likely about to reg. Some other plans came up (sailing in BVI) but fell through, so it looks like Wickford its going to be after all! I'm psyched.
Anyone looking for housing? I have one email outstanding to someone about a place, but no details yet.
Looking for crew too...
-Olaf
Here's the latestfrom the organizers of the regatta:
"Hey there Viper Sailors,
We're getting close! Early registration (without registration penalty) ends on Sunday, May 16 so please get your registrations in this week. The online registration does require a Pal Pal account. We apologize for this inconvenience, but we did not have the option to use alternate methods. The early registration entry fee is $140, but were giving the Vipers the opportunity to save a few bucks by getting their fleet up to 10 boats. We will be passing out $25 to each registered team once your class reaches 10 entries and if you get your registration in before the 16th you'll avoid the late entry fee and save another $10! So why wait, get your registration in and get someone else to register, too, Save $35 for a better use.
All we need is YOU to make this a fantastic event.
Thanks and see you on the 22nd."
So far we have 4 boats signed up, and a fifth planning on registering.
anyone? anyone? bueller?
Hi everyone,
Thanks again to all of you who have registered already.
Today, May 16, is the last day for early Wickford Regatta 2010 registration. The entries have been coming in at an accelerated pace in all classes, but we still haven?t heard from many of your friends. Please spread the word and help us prepare for running the best event possible.
To make things easier, we have made online payment via Pay Pal optional. We have heard the complaints and are doing our best to make things easier. You may now register online without payment and pay at check in with a $5 penalty. Early registration still saves the late fee, so please tell your friends to register today.
See you in Wickford.
Skip Whyte
Regatta Chairman
Thanks Skip and crew for running a delightful, down-to-earth regatta! Folks, Wickford definitely puts on a worthy event.
Five Vipers made it out, all regional boats. Despite being unusually becalmed on Sunday, we got off four good races on Saturday in 8-12knots. The water was just short of flat, with tidal currents and land-influenced wind shifts making for some good tactical racing. (Too bad my boat keeps sinking... LOL still working on that keel trunk...)
In fact we caught a shift just right on the first race and were substantially leading the fleet back to the finish from the weather mark, when we and another boat did what one could only call a "failure to read the SI's" and thought we were finishing when we were expected to do another lap. Sigh... rookie mistake.
The RC kept things moving all day, with one start after the other. I think we had 4 fleets on the course, but there wasn't much interference.
What was particularly cool was a fleet of Moths zipping around the course, at perhaps 20knots+.
Of note also was the amply filling dinner provided at the Wickford Yacht Club: BBQ and/or bacon-baked chicken with all the trimmings, ice cream, and PILES of PERFECT home made cookies, the likes of which would amaze any cookie aficionado (thanks Claire, you're a pro!).
Other regatta features included generous tie up space at a local marina, and of course all the Viperers compared boats and shared stories in the usual sort of fleet camaraderie. The organizers also provided all manners of tow boats to get everyone to and from the course in varying conditions and a non-trivial harbor.
Numerous yacht club members also generously made their homes available to put up sailors. We of course got lucky and were treated to more of Claire's cooking in the morning: bacon and eggs got me out of bed, and as we headed out the door she handed us sandwiches with, yes, more cookies. Mmmm! Peter, thanks kindly as well.
In summary, kudos for all the Wickford home-town hospitality! All around thumbs up. To me that is such a relief to experience, especially coming from an uptight bustling city like Boston where upon my return I was treated to a letter from my condo association fining me $100 for quickly welding something on my trailer hitch before heading out. What an egregious crime.
See you in Wickford next year!
I wish I could of made it. I was two days late...
sounds like a nice event. Maybe I'll be able to make it next year!
I received this from Skip today:
Quote
Hi to all,
We at the Wickford Yacht Club were very psyched to have the Viper Class at the Wickford Regatta this year and are hoping that the Viper class will decide to include our event in its 2011 schedule. As the first keelboat at the regatta, we were apprehensive about the split venue and launching and hauling dynamics, but everything went smoothly and we are now confident that the Viper is a perfect fit. The mix of classes on the race course worked great and the camaraderie amongst the sailors was excellent. We apologize about the lack of wind on Sunday, but Saturday's racing was excellent. The party wasn't bad either!
The 2011 Wickford Regatta will again be held on the weekend before Memorial Day, May 21-22. I am not certain who speaks for the class, but all of you have your own voice and I would love to hear from you with any comments, suggestions, etc.
Thanks to all of you who were able to make it this year and we hope to see all of you and more in 2011.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how we can get more people to come to next year's regatta?
I think just getting the word out earlier and a bit more buzz ought to do it.
By the way, who's in charge of listing regattas on the site's event calendar?
Quote from: Olaf Bleck on October 25, 2010, 08:33:56 PM
By the way, who's in charge of listing regattas on the site's event calendar?
That would be me, for now. We need to talk Olaf! ;)
Is there an option of leaving the boats on a mooring? I was thinking of sailing over Friday from Newport and sailing back on Sunday or Monday.
Quote from: Matt Sole on October 26, 2010, 10:50:40 AM
Is there an option of leaving the boats on a mooring? I was thinking of sailing over Friday from Newport and sailing back on Sunday or Monday.
We all tied up at the local marina's docks as I recall, which was arranged by the regatta. Can't imagine it would be an issue, as they went to great effort to be totally accommodating.
Quote from: Matt Sole on October 26, 2010, 10:50:40 AM
Is there an option of leaving the boats on a mooring? I was thinking of sailing over Friday from Newport and sailing back on Sunday or Monday.
I don't know if Wickford YC has any transient moorings, but one of my crew for the regatta has a mooring right off the yacht club that we used. As Olaf said, dockspace at Brewer's was included in the entry fee. All the Vipers were left in the water for the weekend.
I thought if Newport boats sail over it would free up the ramp. Would be good to park at Brewers.
I am sure there will be a lot more boats next year.