[:D]
hello poeple
a couple of us members have come up with an idea? and I for one would like to have your input. we have been thinking of setting up a open reggata. somewhere near the center of the us. maybe around chicago. in 2005. this reggata would allow us memebers who have been talking to actaly see each other, met each other , and it would be just for a weekend?. does anybody have any ideas? the idea came from a new member and there are 2 other members who started to help on this idea. i for one am willing to go to a event in chicago. late in july.
bring us you comment
yah or nah
cougar
long live the cup and cris dickson
Cougar - while planning is needed, I must caution you (and others) that my initial discussion with Rich Matt had some sticking points which may require a different location/venue.
Rich has indicated that the City of Chicgo Police Department and Parks Department tend to be most difficult in regards to getting special permissions to use City park ponds - especially the special request to use a boat (row or electric) as a chase/rescue boat. Seems a precident set for us would (perhaps) open the doors for even more similar requests for large boats on the ponds. Thus it is easier for them to deny “ALL” requests than to become selective in their requests.
If the request were to be granted, a uniformed officer would need to be dispatched to standby the boat and would be responsible for rescue/retrieval. This in turn means that the salary of the officer would be required to be covered by the event.
I was hoping to simply add on to the “Chicago Plus/Minus 1 Meter” event, but a large increase in attendees, might significantly change the scope of the project.
I am still waiting for response from the local club’s regatta planners, but perhaps an indication of those “INTERESTED” in attending might offer the planners some sense of possible numbers.
Alternate site locations being discussed were the Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo location or the Ann Arbor area - but nothing specific has been sent to any of the clubs in those locations as yet. Lower western Michigan, Upper eastern Illinois or Indiana or lower eastern Wisconsin are locations most central but other mid-west locations are also open for suggestion.
An alternative location within the harbo of an existing big boat yacht club could also prove possible.
Looking for possible participant numbers and location suggestions.
Just thought I better clarify, before we have 200 names and scare the bee-jesus out of the Chicago guys ![:D]
Speaking on behalf of Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo, I suspect we would be very happy to host such an event. Our site is in Grand Rapids (Jenison, really).
The Other Matt
Big open lake or sheltered bit of the sea would be cool, some of us will be bringing fast boats! Dont know If i would be able to get there, would cost a bomb for me for starters…
Luff 'em & leave 'em.
dick
i agree that this is an idea , that shows promise. i was just using chicago as an idea. this by no meens should be considered as the only site. with all of us talking . i thought it might be a good idea to nail down some rough ideas. just so that all the members could be aware that this was being TALKED about. it has NOT been planned.
any input form people would be nice though
cougar
long live the cup and cris dickson’
<center>[:-thumbu] CHECK ! </center>
How about Sydney harbour? no?
19 out of 7 people have trouble with statistics
or Nagano Prefecture? Lake Nojiriko?..any chances [;)]??
lol
Wis
_/ if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it! _
Brightlingsea sailing club, we have a pond and the sea! And a well stocked bar…
Luff 'em & leave 'em.
ok people
this was an idea for the members. we ahd decided on a central location. but there us nothing to stop you memebers in the uk . or australia to set up your own regattas, this is a good idea, we new to see each other. lets just keep it on the same weekend?
cougar
long live the cup and cris dickson
Chicago sounds good to me. Or just about anywhere as long as lots of notice as to the dates for the events I have to book hoildays before January 31 of each year. SO if dates where given in mid January 2005 I should be able to get the time off.
If Chicago is a go for the location I hope there are some really good directions for us out of towners to follow to get to the location for sailing and to hotels
To bad Winnipeg doesn’t have a sailing club it would be almost central for us Canadians.
Keep me informed as to developments for this
Jeff
Alberta
If you REALLY want to go ‘central US’, we’re located near the actualy geographical center of the US… here in Wichita, Kansas.
Depending on what you’re proposing, we might be interested in looking into things.
Andy
Air Capitol Model Sailing Club
www.acmsc.org
If you guys are serious about this, you need some sort of a “hook” to attract people. Don’t think a lot of people will travel to sail against a collection of unrelated boats. Think about a “race week” event where you have an open race coupled with some class races or a unique trophy or special race format or something that will excite people about going to your event.
You are correct Roy. Initially, my discussions with Rich, were thought to expand the Chicago area Plus/Minus 1 Meter event usually held in August.
This then moved me to thinking about including a multihull event in conjunction with the Chicago event, since most of our multihulls (with exceptions) are in Michigan/Ohio area. As noted, Rich explained the logistics of (trying to) work with the Chicago Parks Department and the Police Department. About the same time Peter Birch from Australia had been working on a similar multihull event, but in Australia.
Since he currently has more multihulls on the water than we do, it was easy for me to step back, so that he could continue with his plans.
I had envisioned an event similar to the left and right coast race weeks - but in the middle of the county. This is about as far as we got, other than that some potential attendees indicated a need to put in vacation request by January.
Rich was going to have some of his club people get in contact with me, but nothing yet. With both West Michigan Club and Kansas Club being possibilities, we could fall back on them.
Obviously, if in Chicago there would be plenty to do off the water, and most major airlines usually have direct routes. Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo both have airports. Of the two, G.R. is bigger as I recall and I would think Kansas also has an airport to deal with out of town travellers. That would cover the north end of the US, and I haven’t approached any of the Texas clubs as a possible south US venue.
Just were thoughts that were being kicked around, and obvioulsy we would have to count on the locals to help with ideas of interest. I think Chicago would be cool to watch the start of the Chicago/Mackinac Yacht Race, as some of the big west coast sleds usually show up, but trying to time an r/c event to coincide with the big boats might be a nightmare. Still would love to see Roy Disney’s boat under full sail - but in person !
Anyway - as you note, suggestions and ideas can help make this a reality so input is encouraged.
Perhaps the Detroit club could be a possibility. I bet lots of us would like to see the ACs race. They have a vic fleet too.
Could time it with the Port Huron - Mac start, or some other Detroit festival.
(Go Pistons!)
The Other Matt
Detroit Model Yacht Club is hosting both the AC Nationals and Victoria Nationals, in September of this year. Victoria’s are on September 10-12 and the AC’s are on September 24-26. Victoria Fleet Captain is hoping for 40-50 racers and the AC Fleet Captain is looking at 20-25 racers. US1M Region 4 Championship is in early August. Check AMYA schedule for the date.
Carl B.
J120mm
Hey Matt,
It is about an hour drive up to Port Huron from Detroit for the start of the Mac race, so it is really not a detroit festival… “Boat night” (the night before the start where people walk around and see all the cool boats tied up to the docks along the river) is a big event in Port Huron, but you will hear nothing about it in Detroit…
The Detroit NOOD might be a better event if you wanted some “tie-in”. I’ve never sailed on the pond down on Belle Isle, but I’ve heard that that pond is much like the NY Central park pond - it has been build specifically for model yacht races… I’m not sure which Detroit YC (there are about 6 or 8 YCs in the Detroit River Yachting Association) is hosting the 2005 detroit NOOD, but the Detroit YC is out on Belle Isle and is an amazing facility. I’m pretty sure the DMYC is somehow connected to the DYC as well…
There are some other big regattas you might want to tie in with as well such as the windsor overnight race, or even the Detroit Hydroplane regatta.
If you are really interested in doing this, contact someone at the DMYC and start talking with them about it…
There are also some other venues in southeast Michigan that we have been looking at for some “long distance” Model Yachting races. Gallup Park in Ann Arbor has a dammed river basin that offers about a 2 mile stretch for sailing where there are walking paths along the shoreline so that you can keep pace with your boat. I have worked with them on some other events and we could reserve a picnic shelter to use for the regatta headquarters…
Anyway, there are lots of ideas out there… If the open class secretary wants to help get the ball rolling on this, then I think we can accomidate…
- Will
Will Gorgen
Will -
please ask around if you will to determine if any of the “Metro Parks” are open to visitors without the need to purchase a “Pass”. I know in the Pontiac area, we always used to race at a park (can’t recall the name) until they started to require you purchase a Metro Parks Pass.
Would prefer to find a place that is receptive to r/c boats, and not looking to augment their entire Parks budget off the sale of 1-2 day passes.
The park I mentioned in my previous post - Gallup Park in Ann Arbor - has no entry fee. There would be a fee for renting the picnic shelter. 2 years ago we thought about having the Fairwind Nationals there, but decided on using our regular pond (in an industrial park) instead. Gallup has 2 bodies of water - a “fish pond” and the river basin. The fish pond is a nice small sailing area, but it gets weedy and the bank of the pond grows high with shrubs, so this site is only usable early in the spring before the weeds and shrubs have had a chance to grow. The river basin is much larger so it would be suitable for larger models that need more water. But becuase of the size, it is difficult to set suitable bouy and starting line positions for many wind directions. However, a long distance race on this basin would be a ton of fun.
There are some other parks around the SE Michigan area that are free, but I have not found any with the sort of sailing facilities we would be looking for. There are several metroparks with great sailing sites, but as you noted there would be an entry fee…
- Will
Will Gorgen
Will,
I know that PH is not Detroit. I meant PH Start, or a Detroit festival. You do hear about boat night in the suburbs at least. I work in Novi and non-sailing co-workers do it/talk about it.
Belle Isle sounds like a great idea…
The Other Matt