Hello Cat Sailors,

1. The next CABB event is this coming Sunday, March 19. The event is the Cat Fight Buoy Races. This will be a series of buoy races in Biscayne Bay just off the Rickenbacker Causeway. The crew meeting time is 10:30 AM. Please have your boat rigged and ready so we can get started on time. If you are sailing over from the Miami Yacht Club, the Olympic Training Center, or another location, please plan to arrive by 10:30 so you can attend the crew meeting at which I will explain the races for the day. Please bring one, and preferably two water resistant timing devices so that you can record your elapsed time for each race. I will have the waterproof slates there for you to write your times down between races. I hope to see you out enjoying the bay, the beach, and your boat this Sunday. We are fortunate to have one of the best sailing venues in the country in our front yard. Come on down and enjoy.

2. Jorge Alvarez advises that he has a Hobie 18 mast to giveaway to someone who needs one. He can be contacted at [email]JRA1357@bellsouth.net.[/email]

3. Naomi Sarasola has created a really awesome website that highlights all the neat places to sail your boat in Biscayne Bay. There is lots of information on the website about catamaran sailing. There are many great links and a live video cam of Biscayne Bay. There are some great pictures there as well. You can see it all at www.sandbarhopper.com.

4. Mary Wells sent the following email about the upcoming catamaran sailing seminar.

Hi, John,
I am wondering if you can do me a favor and send an e-mail to all the CABB
members regarding the catamaran seminar April 23-28. I think you already
sent something out, but this is more specific.

Most important, I am looking for a sailor to team up on a Nacra 6.0 that is
coming from Navarre, FL. It could be either as crew, or as partner sharing
time on the helm. The owner of the boat is a captain in the Air Force. If
someone is interested, have them contact me, and I will put him or her in
touch with the boat owner.

Secondly, people need to know that the price of the five-day seminar this
year is only $495 a person (the cost for the seminar itself), and everyone
is responsible for their own accommodations and meals. This could actually
work out to be more economical for people than the former package plan of
$895 a person.

Thirdly, the seminar site has been confirmed. It will be at Founders Park
(the former Plantation Yacht Harbor) in Islamorada. It will be on the
annexed section of property at the north side of the park. I think it is
going to be a perfect site. It has a natural sandy beach and enough rigging
area for a very large regatta, and we will have it all to ourselves.

Anybody interested should contact me at 305-451-3287 or mary@catsailor.com

5. The individual with the Nacra 6.0 has also made a post on the CABB forum which can be accessed with the link in my signature block below or by going to catsailor.com.

I highly recommend the sailing seminar. You would be amazed at how much you will learn about catamaran sailing.

6. Another way you can improve your sailing immensely is to come out and sail with the RC-27 group. We sail just about every Sunday afternoon at Baptist Hospital Lake in Kendall. We are racing 27" radio controlled sailboats. This is a real blast and a great way to improve your sailing skills. On a typical day we will get in 20 short races. This will help you with your timing for the starts. It will help you to know on which side of the line to start. It will help you see wind shifts. It will help you decide which side of the course is favored. It will help you learn the rules of sailing. Virtually everything you need to know to sail a real boat, you can learn using a radio controlled sailboat. It is sort of like the simulators used to teach flying, but is a lot more fun. Other than this next Sunday (because of the CABB races), stop by the lake and someone will be glad to lend you a boat to try it out. We start about 3:00 PM.

Some of the very best multihull sailors in Miami participate on a regular basis. Here is a list of some of the sailors who do this; John Sherry, a five time Shark National Champion, Raul Lopez, the current F-24 National Champion, Robert Onsgard, the current F-28 National Champion. Kenny Pierce, a two time Tybee 500 Champion and Inter 20 National Champion. You don't have to be a National Champion to sail RC-27s, but you can come out and learn from the best. Everyone is more than happy to share their knowledge. We have a heck of a good time. I keep an email list of those interested in RC-27 sailing. If you would like to be put on that list, let me know.

7. I would like to wish CABB member, Kenny Pierce, good luck in the Alter Cup this coming week. He will be representing the Inter 20 class in this year's US Sailing Multihull Championships. This is a big deal in catamaran sailing. You can follow the racing on the US Sailing website at http://www.ussailing.org. The racing starts next Sunday. The racing this year is on the Inter 20. Fortunately this is a boat that Kenny normally sails. We wish him well. Go Kenny go!

8. I received my registration form for the 2006 Miami Key Largo Race this week. This race is sponsored by the Miami Yacht Club. This will be the 51st running of this classic race. The race is April 22. This is a don't miss race each year. There are incremental registration costs. The fee for multihulls is $60 until April 6th then it goes up to $85. Then on April 17 it goes up to $100. No entries will be accepted after April 20 the registration form says. I looked on their website miamiyachtclub.net but did not see any information about this years race. If you need a registration form, I guess you would call them at 305 377-9877.

John McKnight