The people. That is only reason, really.

First big regatta was Hobie 16 NAs in Wildwood NJ in 1993 - there were this really friendly couple of guys that helped my 250 lb. soon-to-be brother-in-law Josh and I set up the yellow 87179 - H16 racing had hooked Josh so hard, he'd gotten a VA vanity tag for his car - FRST RND A. Anyway, these two guys were funny, relaxed, and very helpful. One was named Wally and the other was named Mark.

The parties that week were incredible. I had a regatta fling with a college cheerleader that was on vacation, saw the boats and wanted to know what was going on. She had the cutest freckles...

After that event, I started crewing on anything I could beg my way onto, just so I could keep hanging out with the fun people. Soon after that, I moved to Pensacola Beach - I found a killer beach bar with good pool tables. Some skinny dude laid his quarters down and we started talking - he said he was a sailor too, and I dropped Wally's name. The guy laughed at me little for acting like such a noob, but he started taking me sailing and hooked me up with some other really cool people. His name was Kirk.

Definitley the people. All other aspects of sailing I can get in other pursuits, but nowhere else do I get the social experience of a regatta. Is it the salty air? Beer and rum? Sandy feet? Lots of skin? Dunno, don't care. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />