Will post new info here:

Florida 300: Hotels, Registration and More

F300 HOTELS:
We are down to five weeks before the Florida 300. The last day to get the reduced rate at Islander Resort in Islamorada is tomorrow:

The Islander Resort
80001 Overseas Highway
MM 82.1 US-1
Islamorada, FL ‎33036
Telephone: 305 664 2031 / 800753 6002
Use “Florida 300 Catamaran Race”for event rates
Rate: $209 +11% tax available till April 10, 2015
Islander Water Sports will direct Boat locations and trailer positioning

We are committed to 10 rooms at the Best Western Cocoa Beach but will lose them if not booked by April 16th:

Best Western
Second building north of The Cocoa Beach Pier.
5600 N Atlantic Ave,
Cocoa Beach, FL 32931
Telephone: 321.783.7621
Use “Florida 300 Catamaran Race” for event rates
Rates: $105.95

For a full list of hotels:www.Florida300.com/hotels

REGISTRATION:
We have several teams that haven't filled out the official registration form and sent in deposit yet. Please register online so we have an accurate count on who's coming.
Florida 300: www.Florida300.com/registration
Dog Fight: www.Florida300.com/dogfight

CREW NEEDED:
Knot2Slow: looking for sailing crew on the F18. Competed last year and looking to compete again this year. Boat is ready to go.

We have another new team that is looking for ground crew. If they don't find ground crew, they will not be racing.

Contact: info@sailseries.com if you are interested in either crew option.

For more information on the Florida 300, please check out www.Florida300.com and "Like" www.Facebook.com/Florida300. For more information on Sail Series Promotions, please check out www.SailSeries.com.

The "Sailing Instructions" for the Florida 300 is posted:
www.Florida300.com/downloads/15_Florida300_SI.pdf

Tracking is mandatory on all boats including “Dogfight” boats. Either a SPOT Satellite Tracker or a smartphone with Kattack Mobile app (free) are acceptable transmitters. See paragraph 8.3 of Sailing Instructions for details.

Looks great. You guys have done a nice job with the SIs and we appreciate it.

I wish Florida wasn't a 22 million miles away.

Thanks, Warren put it together and I spent a day making it a little friendlier and figuring out the tracking.

It's nice to have an option other than Spots, too. I've been incredibly impressed with the Kattack tracking and we intend to run that (in fact, I have included a top-mounted storage pouch for the phone tracker in our new trampoline bag).

How long will the phones last running the app?

I have been doing a lot of testing with the smartphone app. I did an overnight sail on a 40' Trimaran from Jacksonville to Daytona and stayed about 3-4 miles offshore. I had decent cellphone coverage the whole time and did not see any times where it was not transmitting.

I had both a SPOT and smartphone running at the same time. Below is the link:
http://kws.kattack.com/GEPlayer/GMPosDisplay.aspx?FeedID=1388

During the Steeplechase last year, all boats were tracking without gaps in updating and so far, I have not had anyone reporting excessive battery consumption. Other than me when I was tracking, checking the track online and navigating with my phone all at the same time.

Would depend on the phone. I never had anyone mention battery life being an issue. Mine lasts at least 24 hours if it is only being used for tracking. I would not recommend using it for both navigation and tracking. The navigation eats up a ton of battery.

I ran Katack during the Steeplechase and finished each day with at least 70% battery remaining on a Samsung S5. We raced every day at the F18NA's and I think I had 80% battery remaining when we came off the water (without putting it into a power saving mode). It's really easy on the battery.

I'll probably pack a small backup battery/charger for the phone just in case.

We are working on separate "Sailing Instructions" for the Dogfight. We have five so far for the Dogfight and Hans Geisler (G-Cat designer/builder) is trying to get some more G-Cats. Anyone planning to go please register as soon as possible to bring up interest. No deposit is required and no penalty for not being able to do it.
http://florida300.com/dogfight

we're closer to the sun that way.... In August, I think we're only about 3 miles from the sun it seems.

on the cell phone thing, just remember to turn off all the non-essential apps and you'll save a lot of battery life.

I can do it in "settings / Application manager", but i don't know how you do it in Apple phones.

E-mail, messaging, app store, music service, etc. all run in the background and probably sap your battery life. "Close all" and then just open Kattack.

Normally, I'd switch to "Airplane Mode" as well, but I suspect you need the cell transmission to continuously track the boats, right?

I go in airplane mode when I'm using the Navionics app since it uses the GPS (which still works), and won't kill the battery looking for a cell signal when I'm more than 2-3 miles offshore...

I don't think it's even that far from the sun in August.

The best way to do this is go to settings->Accounts and go to all of your accounts and turn off sync for all the services. This means you won't get any emails while you're on the water but I'd imagine you have more pressing matters to take care of.

New Foiling Class for the Florida 300:
We have two foiling entries for the Florida 300. The GT 300 winners John Tomko and Ian Billings will be competing on a "Flying Phantom" and John Casey and Colin Page will be competing on a Nacra 20 FCS.

We haven't sorted out the details yet but they will probably have their own water start after the rest of the fleet starts and finish using a plane perpendicular to the finish line. Because they are not using the same start and finish lines, they will probably not count for overall awards.

You should make them start after us so we can at least see them sail for about 3 minutes before they are out of sight!

They will be. Sort of a pursuit.

So they can just start around, say, noon-ish? And fly by you somewhere mid-course?

I would rather get it over with quickly / early in the day...like ripping off a bandaid. I discussed this with our ground crew last week and they pointed out that it's sometimes really tough for them to get to the next checkpoint before we do (in our "normal" boats) after checking out of the hotel and getting through traffic (I think that was the year of the brush fires too, though). The foilers might need two ground crew units and two dollies!