I rigged my boat today for the NE100... I was the first there by several hours... I left as it was starting to rain and drove 45 minutes home... after getting home I got a call saying my boat had flipped over during the storm from a 50mphish gust pushed through the grass, down a 2 foot enbankment with the mast head first into the sand... the boat just missed a bunch of big rocks.
All I could think about was $11,000!
I drove up and people had already dug the mast out of the sand... all that was wrong was the mast track was a little scuffed up.
Everyone was amazed that it didn't break, myself included... I guess we're paying for some durability with these masts.
Todd,
You should carry a set of corkscrew tie downs or go to a tent rental company and get some big heavy metal tent stakes and tie your boat down if you are going to leave it over night.
Having your mast break is a pain in the a**.
I think the i20 class is in trouble right now, the NE100 saw a jump in F18's from one, two years ago to 6 this year. And only 3 i20's this year. 2/3 of the fleet was F18's.
Rick Bliss told me the new i20's would be in the 26k range. Global pressures on carbon, oil, and a weak dollar are going to push the costs up on anything sourced outside the US.
A 100% US built F18 is the next new thing.
