Grass, grass, grass…  Recent storms that have rolled through the Florida Keys have washed a lot of shallow water sea grass up on shore and a change of wind carried the grass out into the Atlantic by way of the channels.  Well, guess what?  The A-Cats are racing both outside of a channel that cuts between a couple of the Key Islands and the racing area is located smack dab in the middle of the main Atlantic inshore channel that runs the length of the Keys.  So what we saw on the course today was a lot of grass drifting downwind through the course.  Oh it’s not as bad as it sounds, we could be sailing off of San Diego where the kelp will stop a boat cold dead in its tracks.  But for a fleet that was expecting beautiful tropical sailing in the Florida Keys in the late Fall, the floating grass was frustrating for everyone.  But, taken in the gestalt of everything, grass was fair and frustrating for everyone equally. 

The Race Committee drove around the racing area trying to find the most grass free zone and settled in for the first race.  Before the start of the second race , the RC sent out a scout boat to try and find a different location to move the course.  Unfortunately, the entire area had floating grass in varying thickness – from clear and weed free to floating palm fronds in clumps with entangled weed.  Some competitors had rudder assemblies that enabled them to yank a line to raise one or both to easily clear.  Most though had rudders that had to be raised manually and individually which made clearing the grass more problematic.  There were some boats with “short boards” that could be easily pulled up to clear the weed, and some that had a more difficult time raising daggerboards to clear them.  Overall, the grass was equitably challenging to all competitors. 

Monday 12, November 2007 - Today was just a spectacular day to begin racing.  Spirits among the competitors were high, the weather was fantastic and the event organizers had done a wonderful job getting the event under way.  The temperature was in the mid 70’s with winds clocking from 065° at 12014 knots.  The race area is protected inside the reef so the racers do not get that ocean swell, but there definitely was some leftover chop to contend with.  The speed and direction of the wind set up 2-3 foot chop with both left-over ocean influence and a .4 knot current running with the wind.

The first race got off, surprisingly with a clean start.  Nobody was OCS and Glen Ashby (AUS1) and Lars Guck (USA 250) had it dialed in from the start.  The course was pretty even and over the 6 legs the fleet had an opportunity to spread out, look for clean air or shifts and get down to racing.  Some went left, some right, but in the end the first race came down to boat speed and Glen Ashby took a large lead with Lars Guck 2nd and Sjoerd Hoekstra (NED 3) 3rd.

The first day of the 17th Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta showed tough racing. Not only in terms of sailing conditions, but the competition was also full on. The shifty and gusty wind challenged the 45 competing teams, representing five countries. The Dutchmen Wouter Samama and Sam Frank, sailing a F18 Hobie Tiger, lead the fleet. They are tied on points with their fellow countrymen Eduard Zanen and Mischa Heemskerk on a F18 Nacra Infusion. Gunnar Larsen and Bastiaan Tentij are in third position, also tied on points with James and Gillian Power (GBR).

This morning, the sailors were welcomed by a strong trade wind force five. That was exactly what most competitors were hoping for. They enjoyed the tropical conditions and participated in the practise race. Others decided to save their equipment and body. They stayed ashore, which was maybe not a bad idea, as the first damages were a fact. After a lunch break, the official regatta started off with the first race. Meanwhile, the unstable wind had dropped to force three/four.

The stage is set and the 2007 Ronstan A-Cat Worlds gets under way today with a field that is deep in talent, experience and are proven winners.  Sitting around the Tiki Bar last night at the Islander Resort, reflecting on the Blue Water classic regatta, the ISAF decision to remove multihulls from the Olympics and the talented pool of competitors at the regatta, Brian Hawboldt began a tally.  He was tallying the Olympic medals, World Championships and National & Continental championships that this class of sailors represents.  Present at the 2007 Ronstan A-Cat Worlds are the winners of 16 Olympic medals and over 50 World championships, not just from multihull classes, but from 505’s, I14, DN class iceboats, Lasers and a diversity of other sailing disciplines including around the world maxi-cat racers (Cam Lewis & Randy Smyth).  While the results from the last day of racing in which Glen Ashby took three bullets to win the event, it would be a folly to predict the outcome of the regatta.

It is clear in looking at the final results of the Blue Water classic Regatta that the top sailors in the A-Class all are in competition for the World title.  The final results are Glen Ashby in 1st, fellow Australian Scott Anderson 2nd, Swiss competitor Luc du Bois & Lars guck tied in points for 3rd and Pete Melvin in 5th.  Though this was a tuning regatta, all the competitors sailed hard and the racing was close.  The top thirty boats in the fleet finished within 30 seconds of each other over the course of a 45 minute race.  The real test begins today.

The 2007 Ronstan A-Class catamaran Worldsin the Florida Keys, Islamorada, FL, USA November 9-16, 2007. With a record setting 100 boats pre-registered, the 2007 Ronstan A-Class catamaran Worlds sponsored by Ronstan, FSE Robline, Corum, and West Marine is now only weeks away. The regatta will take place at The Islander resort hotel in Islamorada, FL. The Islander has been hosting the US A-Class for its last two midwinter race weeks and was the unanimous choice by the US class as the best venue to host this world championship. The race site is a 9 square mile area of the Atlantic ocean protected by an offshore reef. Sailors will enjoy clear aqua water and hopefully warm and consistent easterly winds of 8-15 knots.

The international contingent includes Glenn Ashby from Australia who will be racing to defend his 2006 title. Glenn is a multiple world champion in the class and is regarded as the best A-Class sailor ever. In addition, Glenn is regarded as a favorite to medal in the 2008 Tornado Olympic event in Qingdao, China with his teammate Darren Bundock. In addition to Ashby, other top international sailors racing will include past world champions Scott Anderson and Nils Bunkenberg, Olympic medalists Andrew Landenberger and Goran Marstrom, New Zealand champion Murray Philpott, top Dutch sailors Sjoerd Hoekstra, Pieterjan Dwarshuis, and Piet Saarberg, Alinghi designer Mike Drummond (New Zealand), and top Swiss sailors Dieter Melcher and Luc De Bois.