Catamaran Sailor Magazine

Come to the

First Major Regatta of the New Year

The Tradewinds Midwinter Open Catamaran National Championships

January 17-19, 2003

In the Fabulous Florida Keys

Headquarters at Rick's Place Motel and Sailing Resort

MM 104.3 on U.S. #1 (Bayside) in Key Largo, Florida

To Register Online (Pay On Arrival), Click Here!

Classes Expected (open to beach cats 21' and under):

• Hobie 16, 17, 18, 20, Wave, Rave, Nacra 6.0, Inter 20, A-Class, Prindle, Shark, Taipan, Formula 16, 18 & 20
• One-Design Classes with Minimum of Five boats
• Open Classes in grouped Portsmouth levels, or by Formula

Special Events for:

• Shark Midwinter National Championships
• Taipan National Championships?
• A-Class Midwinter National Championships
• Wave Class Series Championships

Entry Fees:

• To be Determined

To Register Online (Pay On Arrival), Click Here!

Included with Entry Fee:

• Beer, soda and free T-shirt for ALL sailors (skipper and crew) and more possibly to be determined

Accommodations:

• for Rick's Place Sailing Resort Motel (Headquarters) Call Mary Wells 305-451-3287, website http://www.floridakeysresort.com
• Contained RVs will need to find a campground. By law there is no camping allowed.
• Other Places to Stay:

We only have five rooms available at Rick's Place, which is the regatta headquarters, so the majority of the sailors will be staying at one of the neighboring motels. Amoray (305-451-3595) is immediately next door, right on the other side of our fence, only 30 feet away.
Kelly's Motel (305-451-1622) is right next to them, and they sort of adjoin with Amoray, so you can walk through Amoray's property from Kelly's to here. Those two motels share a swimming pool, too. But neither place has facilities for launching or keeping a boat..
Just to the south side of Kelly's Motel is Hobo's Restaurant, and just past Hobo's is Neptune's Hideaway Motel, (305-451-0357)(they have a small beach to keep your boat at night, but you will have to launch at Rowells Marina ($7 launching fee) or Rick's Place beach to get your boat there) so it is still a very very short walk from Rick's Place. (It took us three minutes to make the walk at a slowish pace.
Gilbert's Family Paradise Island (305-451-1133, or 800-274-6701) has tons of room for a lot of boats to launch off their beach and parking lot and ramp. They have newly remodeled rooms and feature a swimming pool, Tiki Bar, and a restaurant. They are under new, sailboat-welcoming management. They are located at MM 107.9 on US Rt. 1 about 3 miles drive from Rick's Place, but access by water to the race course is the same as from the other locations. They are located on the right side of the road before you get into Key Largo and just before the Jewfish Creek Bridge. We highly recommend staying and launching there.

When you make reservations be sure to tell them you are with the regatta. We will try to arrange for better prices during that time.

Remember, the regatta starts Saturday morning. I have told the motels that most of you will probably be arriving Friday night (unless you are coming earlier to play around).

• Amoray, 305-451-3595 (no launching)
• Gilbert's Family Paradise Island 305-451-1133, or 800-274-6701 (excellent launching facility)
• Kelly's, 305-451-1622 (no launching)
• Neptune's, 305-451-0357 (no launching, but has a beach for keeping the boat)

Camping Locations:

• America Outdoors (7 miles away) 852-8054
• Calusa Camp Resort (2-miles, but not sure if they are still open) 451.0232
• Campers Cove (2 miles)451-0561
• Florida Keys RV Resort (2 miles) 451-6090
• Key Largo Campground (2.5 miles) 451-1431
• Kings Kampground (.5 miles on the water) 451-0010
• Largo Park (2.5 miles) ?? 451-2911
• Pennekamp State Park (has camping, but I can't find a tel. no.)

To Register Online (Pay On Arrival), Click Here!

HOW TO FIND US:
Rick's Place is located right on U.S. 1 (which is called Overseas Highway down here). We are at mile marker 104.3, which is also 104300 Overseas Highway. Mile marker 104.3 means we are 104.3 miles north of Key West, which is where U.S. 1 starts. So as you are coming south from Miami, the mile marker numbers on U.S. 1 keep getting lower. We are an hour south of the Miami airport. We are on the Florida Bay side, which is the right-hand side as you come south from Miami.
Take the Florida Turnpike south to where it terminates and merges into U.S. 1 at Florida City. Just stay on U.S. 1 and watch the descending mile markers as you head south. After crossing about 18 miles of Everglades, you will come to the Jewfish Creek Bridge (a lift bridge with a motel (Gilbert's Family Island Paradise) on the near side and a condo on the other side). When you cross that bridge, you will be on the island of Key Largo and about 3 1/2 miles from Rick's Place. You will pass a Winn-Dixie supermarket on your right and then go through a school zone. When you pass the "End School Zone" sign, you will be at Rowell's Marina. Just up ahead is a four-story condo complex. We are the very first driveway past that condominium. The other three motels are just past us, and Island Style Watersports, which will be a primary launching area, is just beyond the motels.
(I'm very serious about taking the Florida Turnpike. If you are driving down I-95, you want to get over to the turnpike preferably before or when you get to Fort Lauderdale. We always switch over to the turnpike at Fort Pierce or Jupiter, where they are only a half mile apart. This will keep you out of most of the traffic in Dade and Broward Counties. And I-95 is bad news -- not only is the traffic really awful, it ends in Miami and dumps you onto U.S. 1 in downtown, meaning you have to drive for many miles in city traffic with endless traffic lights.)

THE SAILING AREA:
We will be sailing on Blackwater Sound, which is a subsection of Florida Bay, which is a subsection of the Gulf of Mexico. Blackwater Sound is a beautiful body of sailing water. It is in the shape of a square, 3 miles each way, giving nine square miles of unobstructed water about 6-8 feet in depth throughout and with no reefs, sandbars or rocks to worry about. On Blackwater Sound there is a dotted line showing the course of the Intracoastal Waterway. We will usually be racing over to the northwest of the Intracoastal.

WEATHER CONDITIONS:
Air temperature usually is in the 80's in the daytime and around 70 at night. Water temperature shouldn't be below the mid 70's. Wind is normally 10-15 out of the eastern quadrant. If we get a cold front, the air temperature could be as much as 10-15 degrees colder, and the wind would blow out of the west as much as 10 mph stronger than the norm.

To Register Online (Pay On Arrival), Click Here!

For more information contact:

Mary Wells/Rick White

• Tel 305-451-3287
• Fax 305-453-0255
• email rick@catsailor.com