WOOD Regatta

The WOOD Regatta is approaching fast. It will be sailed on 20-22 May at the  Rock Hall Yacht Club in Maryland, just across Chesapeake Bay from Annapolis.

This looks like being a memorable racing and social event. A wide range of wooden boat types have already entered and the Rock Hall Yacht Club has a reputation for laying on excellent racing, with good facilities both on and off the water. Organisation is by Carl Cramer and his able staff at Wooden Boat Magazine.

You can read more about the regatta at http://www.woodenboat.com/woodregatta.php and keep up to date on developments through the WOOD Regatta thread on the Wooden Boat Forum .

Wooden sailboats up to 30ft on deck are eligible, so whether you have an Argie 10 or a Didi 26, you are able to sail in the regatta.  I have entered my Paper Jet #001 and hope to meet owners of some of our other wooden boats there as well.

Don't wait too long, entries close on May 5th.

Wooden Boat Regatta 2011

Wooden Boat Magazine is organising a sailing regatta for wooden boats for next year. Details are still being firmed up but it looks like it will happen in May 2011, with May 20-22 as the provisional dates. The planned venue is Rock Hall Yacht Club on the Eastern side of Chesapeake Bay, across from Annapolis MD.

This will be a good opportunity to show off your wooden boat, whether it is newly constructed, original classic or has been rebuilt. Logistics of hosting a wide range of boats and running races for all types dictate that there have to be limits on type and size of boats that will be eligible. This issue is being discussed on the Wooden Boat Forum, at http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?t=111790, where you can watch and participate in the development of this worthwhile event. The maximum size is likely to be set at 30ft length overall, including boswprit but excluding rudder.

I have not visited Rock Hall Yacht Club but it looks like a really nice venue. Sailing waters are good, with excellent facilities and on-site camping space available. The club has much experience running regattas, so they should be able to host a great event.

I plan to take my Paper Jet #1 to the regatta and hope that we will get many other Paper Jet owners to join us as well. The prototype of the Paper Jet's big sister should also be ready to join us by then.

If you don't own a wooden boat but want to, you have ample time to build a plywood sailing dinghy and have it in the water by May 2011. There are many plywood sailing designs of all concepts that you can choose from. To see what we have in our design range that may be suitable, go to our budget projects page 
or our stock plan pricelist.

If you already have one of our wooden designs, please try to join us at Rock Hall Yacht Club for this event. Your boat does not have to be an established one-design racing class to participate. As long as your boat fits into the basic parameters of the regatta you will fit into a class under the handicap system that will be applied.

We look forward to seeing you there.