Hi WCNA Weta Sailors,
Using our forum here to give you an update of what’s been happening this winter with North American Weta racing activity. We’ve had two events so far. The first was in January and was the Bluster on the Bay regatta. Originally scheduled to be sailed from the Magnusson Hotel on the bay in St. Petersburg, FL, it had to be moved to Gulfport Yacht Club just up the road.
Six boats sailed and here's a link to the results:
5th Annual Bluster On The Bay : Hobie Division 8 (regattanetwork.com)
This event was to be followed by the Charlotte Harbor Regatta in Port Charlotte in February but the regatta was cancelled due to COVID complications. So the next event was the Sarasota Bay Multihull Regatta sailed this past weekend. The Weta fleet shared the event with our bigger cousins in the Farrier/Corsair trimaran fleets. We got in 11 races over three days in winds ranging from 6 knots to 20 knots so a really good test of sailing skill. This regatta was notable with the participation of new Weta sailors Bill Swanson, Sean Fidler, and Chad Clavel, all very competitive racers. The racing was close and exciting. At the end of the first two days, the top three sailors were within two points of each other and the final score had a tie breaker for the overall win. Here’s the link to the results:
5th Annual Bluster On The Bay : Hobie Division 8 (regattanetwork.com)
Our next event is WetaFest in mid April in Fort Walton. You can get more information either on the class website here WETAFEST 2021 | wetanorthamerica or at the regatta registration link here WetaFest, Fort Walton Yacht Club - nextSailor. I believe most of the sailors who raced in Sarasota this past weekend are planning to be at WetaFest and we are anticipating a minimum of 12-15 boats, perhaps more. Fort Walton Yacht Club is very happy to be hosting WetaFest again and hope to see you all. As it was in Sarasota, COVID precautions will be in place with masks and distancing requirements. It certainly puts a slight damper on what we are used to but I believe everyone still has a great time as we saw in Sarasota last weekend.
A HUGE shoutout to WCNA District Chairman Cliff Peshek who has done an outstanding job getting this series together and working with the yacht clubs and organizers to make the events happen. I believe it’s been very safe to participate in these events if you follow the COVID rules with masks and distancing and hopefully by the North Americans this September in Muskegon, we’ll be back to normal.
For those of you who are currently paid up WCNA class members, you will be receiving an email in the next day from me asking for your Yes or No vote on approving the new self tacking jib configuration for Weta one design class racing in North America. Typically this would be an agenda item at our annual class meeting but many new boats are shipping in to the dealers with the self tacking jib hardware installed and we need to get a consensus on approving this change for class racing before WetaFest.
I hope you all have a nice spring and stay safe and healthy.
Cheers,
Bob Hodges
WCNA Class President