Worrell 1000 Seminar
Oct
19-20, 2002, Virginia Beach, VA
There were fifteen teams represented at this very informative seminar.
While that is less than half of the registered teams, it was almost all
of the newer teams that were there to seek help and information. Also
present were eleven winners of the Worrell 1000 from whom to glean wisdom
of the race.
On Saturday there were meetings that lasted until nearly six in the evening,
with presentations by:
* Steve Piche of PI Sailing on just about all problems
one could encounter in organizing a team and raising funds.
* Rick White of Catamaran Sailor Magazine and Catsailor.com
on how to get the best media and Internet exposure for your team and for
your sponsors.
* Robert Feldman on how to get in the videos that he
captures of the event
* Randy Smyth of the Smyth Team Sails on all aspects
of the new boat for the Worrell 1000 – the F18HT by Bimare. He covered
such things as the new rudder design, crew weight, sails, snuffers, the
mast, and all the things he has corrected to make it more suitable for
the race.
* WF Oliver, who is in charge of the charter boats, added
more to what Smyth had to say.
* Jamie Livingston of Team Alexanders (the winning team
for the past two years) spoke on crewing during the race and how much
the sailors depend on good ground crew.
*
Michael Worrell, the founder and director of the Worrell 1000,
told a number of "old war stories" and concluded the day by
thoroughly going over the rules of the race.
Sunday morning was spent mulling over the boat with a fine-toothed comb.
Every detail of the boat was analyzed.
For the many doubters that this boat is durable enough, during his talk
while standing next to the boat, WF Oliver suddenly and violently kicked
the side of the boat with his heel and then pounded it with his fist.
He looked around and said, "Would any of you do that to your boat
without having a dent in it?" When asked why there was not dent,
Oliver replied, "Because it is built so well."
Regarding concerns about having such a light-weighted boat in such a demanding
event, Randy Smyth answered by saying, "... would be better to take
a light boat (like the A-Class) and make it heavier by beefing it up,
or would it be better to take a heavy boat and make it lighter?"
One only has to ponder for a moment and conclude that the Bimare will
be tougher than a heavy boat made light.
Still another concern was addressed by Smyth. On sailing the surf with
a uni-rig Smyth said, "We only have to look at history to know there
is no problem. What was the first surfing catamaran? A uni-rig! The Hobie
14!"
(Photos by Jeffrey Dingle, speedsail@attbi.com)