Guys, I hate to dangle a carrot, only to pull it back, but I’ve had to cancel the WoodenBoat regatta in Mystic that was sheduled for 6/26.
I was hoping for a 10-2 time slot for our combination racing and hands-on spectator event. Because of things already committed at the show, I agreed to their initial proposal of 1-4. That changed almost before I posted it, and I reluctantly agreed to 2-4:30. Yesterday, they said it had to change to 3-5.
I reponded that 2 hours was not enough time to get people to travel, that 3-5 was not prime time for spectators, and that if you came, it would mean too late a drive home.
So although it was fun last year, it’s just not going to work this year, so I’ve cancelled the event.
I appreciate Robin’s attempt to work with us to organize the event, and she did her best, but it just didn’t work out.
Maybe next year.
Sorry to those who were (as I was) looking forward to this event, and especially to those who (like I did) built a boat specifically for the event. I’ll try to get another regatta organized in the Northeast where we can better control the situation.
Do the organisers mind if we bring footies anyway? I mean if we all know the time and place, and we happen to be there anyway, why not? I suppose we need a chase boat in case of radio problems but hey, its the woodden boat show, I’d be willing to take the risk. Its not like we have to be wedded to an ending time, as long as we begin at the same time, and naturally racing can be informal to the point of not racing if you know what I mean. I was looking foward to it too.
I don’t know, John…but finding a spot would be the issue. The reason they couldn’t give us more time is that there are so many other events going on. By the time I found out the coordinators had dropped the ball, it was too late to make major scheduling changes.
I know you have good reasons to be interested in the WoodenBoat event…and it’s a good publicity oppportunity for the class…but I don’t care to do that much driving to put my Footy on a table. Nor do I think a static display would generate nearly as much interest…people got excited last year because they saw the cute little boats in action. Perhaps John and a couple of the Connecticut guys might be interested?
I’m going to be in Mystic that day anyway so I might as well bring my new footy and see what happens?
I might be the only footy there though so it would be usefull to know if there might be one or two more?
my apologizes, my post was too short and not detailed enough :
my proposal ( about a footy show ) was looking to have a small fleet of footies sailing under the noses of people ( not on table top ! ) giving to the spectators the opportunity to use their thumbs on the sticks, having close to them a footy senior to offer advices and to control the model in case of need.
I feel that many persons are open to change their attitude to model yacht activity even after only one minute of “hand on” test.
Only 60 seconds are necessary to understand that " this is funny , simple, and easy "
And the chance to enjoy this experience could be the difference between a model dreamer and a model addicted
Flavio, that’s what we had last year, and it was very successful for introducing Footys to spectators. Because it went well and was fun, I was pleased to be invited again. The only criticism I heard from Footy skippers was that they’d like a bit more racing, in addition to the spectator participation, so I hoped we could do that this year. Unfortunately, the ball was dropped by some people, and by the time we recovered it was too late to get a good spot on the active schedule for the event. If John, and anyone else attending the show can take their Footys and find a place to drop them in the water, it’s fine with me…but I can’t ask people to spend hours on the road and the fairly high entry price to sail Footys for only 2 hours at the end of the day.
You are disappointed, as am I. Hopefully, lessons were learned and next year can be better.
" I have checked with the show organizes and the footies are still welcome to sail from 3-5 pm on saturday for a demo…there would be no formal table or display space and WB is not organizing anything but it would be fun if there were a bunch of boats or even a couple"
I can understand that without the competition emotional booster, many skippers will not enter the event, but - at same time - I hope that many spectators will be able to enjoy the show.
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