Wildcat Regatta in Central Florida

Coming to Lake Eustis, a short drive NW of Orlando, on October 2 - 4 will be the 11th annual Wildcat Regatta. This regatta is a fun gathering of catamaran sailors from all over Florida and this year there will be 3 days of racing. In past regattas, an eclectic mix of cats have attended: Hobie 16s and 18s, A Cats, F18. There was even a Getaway there last year (mine!). Classes are formed based on who shows up - the rest of us use our Portsmouth rating.

The event is run by the Eustis Sailing Club from their facility just north of the town of Eustis. There is a nice clubhouse that has showers for those that want to pitch their tent or park their camper on the club's grounds and there are several reasonably priced motels nearby.

The sailors that attend this event are some of the most welcoming folks that you've ever met. Go to http://www.teamloewen.com/ for more information and for a link to register.

I hope to see several Getaways there!

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JT Cole
Clermont, FL
'03 Getaway
'05 Wave

To those that weren't able to attend this regatta, you missed a great time. There were lots of A Cats, F18s and F16s, and a bunch of Hobie 16s. I was the only Getaway and raced Portsmouth against a couple of Hobie 18s, a Hobie 17, and a Hobie 14. After nine races over the three days my combined performance grabbed 2nd place! The 14 (our Portsmouth rating is the same) was sailed by an outstanding gentleman in his 70's. I learned a whole lot by sailing near him.

Many were surprised, and I was thrilled, by my Getaway's performance during the ninth race. We started the race along with the Hobie 16s and through a combination of having the boat dialed in and two lucky shifts of the wind I was the first to cross the line!

My favorite comment was what the organizer of the regatta, a long-time sailor of Nacra 20, said to me as he handed me my award. He said, "That Getaway is a fast boat!"

This is a very fun gathering of long-timers that are very welcoming to rookie cat sailors. Mark your calendars for the first weekend of October 2010. I'll hope to see you there.

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JT Cole
Clermont, FL
'03 Getaway
'05 Wave

Yes the Getaway is a fast boat. Slower than a H16, but still plenty fast.
What kills it, IMHO, is its inability to point, which put this boat at an unrecoverable disadvantage compared to other boats.

Of course, Hobie never said that the Getaway should compete against H16...
In casual sailing, it doesn't matter, and it is fast enough.