Havasu Update! Three weeks out! Feb 13th thru 21st WHY AREN’T YOU COMING? (Register up to opening day but event merchandise orders cut-off in 4 days) 212 crews (over 400 people) AND 182 boats registered SO FAR….AND…We can handle more! OK we are in the final stretch now. We have three weeks to go as of tomorrow. The event continues to develop, and in fact believe it or not we are still announcing more seminars. Boats and crews are already arriving in Lake Havasu in preparation for not only Opening day, but for the “early bird’s ” pre-event that has taken off to become its own event. Thirty five to forty boats and crews will head southbound on the lake for the two days prior to the event. They will rendezvous at a spectacular secluded cove called Steamboat where they will start their party two days early. The famous BBQ Dave will be there on his Santana, but more importantly he’ll be cooking up his world famous Pocket Cruiser BBQ! Sounds like there is an impromptu Jam session coming about with everything from guitars to trumpets showing up! (I’m wondering who will be the first to bring a piano at this rate!) On Monday the group will head on back up to town to join all the friends showing up from all across the country. Monday we’ll spend the entire day getting the boats rigged, launched, and to their respective lodging options. We’ll have a shuttle running from the Marina to the resorts to help crews shuttle boats and trailers and plenty of help at the ramp to get everyone rigged and launched. Monday night there’ s a huge Meet and Greet at the London Bridge Resort Convention Center. The bar will be open and we’ll have our own Gary “The Castaway” Peaslee providing live music as everyone renews old friendships and starts making new ones! Right out of the chute we’ll get the Seminars started with Jerry Montgomery providing a “Racing Primer” designed to help out those new to racing and get them a head start before the first fun race Tuesday. Tuesday Morning is the Opening Ceremony and …we’re off! Seminars, Fun Racing, Social Events, Friends, Sailing, etc.etc.etc. If you haven’t been able to follow along too close, let me bring you up to speed on what will be going on throughout the week. Seminars: “Racing Primer” – Jerry Montgomery -Find out how that start thing works and how to get around the course faster! “Cape Horn Solo – An Evening with Howard Rice” – Small boat adventurer Howard Rice all the way from Micronesia will attend the entire week, sail with you, and provide this great seminar on his incredible journey doubling Cape Horn in a sailing canoe! “10 Reasons Multi-Hull Sailors Have More Fun” – British Multi Hull Designer Richard Woods will convince you that Two Hulls are Twice the Fun of One! In fact, he’ll be here all week on one of his Trailerable Multi Hull designs you can build! “Sail Trim Around The Race Course” Dave Bacon, revered WWP sailor out of Northern CA will show you how to get the most out of your boat with a Seminar on sail trim that has received fantastic reviews! We’re thrilled he offered to present it for us too! “You CAN Build This Boat” Famous SCAMP sailor and small boat builder Mike Monies will be working with John Owens of J.O. Woodworks all week to build a John Welsford designed Sherpa Sailing Dinghy right here on site. He will provide a seminar on the construction techniques used to create a boat right before your eyes! “Sailing the Big Lake – Guitchigummi” Karen Larsen and Jerry Powlas, of Good Old Boat Magazine will present a seminar on sailing their home waters, Lake Superior. Jerry and Karen are currently restoring one of the Biggest trailerables out there, a Mega 30! We’re thrilled to have them and GOB Magazine aboard! “Your Favorite Sailing Gem” organized by Mark Wilson and starring 6 of our own participants. Over an hour and half to 2 hour period each on will present you with 15 to 20 minute presentation about their favorite sailing spot, in the hopes, that is soon will become one of yours! “Sailing the Southern Inside Passage” – Dennis O’Hanlan Dennis attended our event last year, and then set off of a mission to prepare himself and his boat for a stunning trip up the Southern Inside Passage. He’ll tell you about his incredible trip, and how he got himself and his boat ready to do it. “Outboard Maintenance and Troubleshooting” - Pete McCardle. Pete presented this seminar last year and it got such great reviews we twisted his arm into presenting again. He will service an outboard right in front of the group , share his expertise, and answer questions on that beast we all know… the temperamental outboard! “The Health of our Oceans – Are we Overfishing?” Dr. Bruce Heath, a veterinarian and researcher has spent a lot of time on commercial fishing vessels in the Bering Sea studying feeding habit of the resident Sea Lion populations to find the answer. He’s share with you what he’s found about where our marine environment is headed. “Electrical Power from the SUN” TSBB’er Nelson Amen is joining us this year and we are thrilled that he has offered to present this seminar. This presentation provides the foundation, concepts and tools needed to start designing a stand-alone electrical system powered by photovoltaics (solar panels). A common sense approach is best for understanding the limitations and high cost of installing solar power, and for considering simple steps for increasing efficiencies and minimizing equipment. “A Simplified Introduction to Celestial Navigation” – Jon Olenick Jon’s nautical background is extensive both in types of vessels and areas he has cruised. Three years ago he offered to present this seminar. It was a hit! This year Jon is returning and has offered to present it again! No, you can’t learn celestial navigation in 2 hours, but you sure can gain an understanding about the principles involved and find out if it’ something you would like to pursue. Jon does a fabulous job of breaking down the mystery of traveling by the stars and showing you that the ability to do it is within your grasp! “Multiple Rigging Seminars” Mark Chandler is the OEM Rigging Manager and Grand Prix Specialist for West Marine out of San Francisco. Mark will be here all week doing custom rigging on site, and also providing seminars on Splicing Double Braid Line, Using High Tech Rope for Standing Rigging, Furling Systems, and Lazy Jacks. He will be onsite the whole week and available to walk right down to the docks and help you on your boat! WOW….take a deep breath ..That’s a lot of stuff going on in one week right? HA! Don’t breathe yet!!! There’s more! We’ll have a plethora of FUN racing. Easy low key racing for everyone of any skill level. Some of the races already have 90+ boats registered for them! Others like the fleet specific races are much smaller fleets. ALL OF THE RACING IS LOW KEY FUN RACING. WE ONLY USE THE REGULAR RULES OF THE ROAD. THIS IS GENTLEMAN’S RACING AT ITS BEST! Aggressive tactics, shouting, and winning are not what this is all about. FUN IS! ( A HUGE THANK YOU goes out the the folks who over the years have organized, run, and developed the Monterey Cruiser Challenge for showing us the light. The participation numbers in this fun racing speaks for itself. This is a winning recipe of racing and fun and friendship, and they were the pioneers! ) Ruddercraft is again sponsoring the “Ruddercraft Long Distance Challenge” where we will set a course that we can adjust for wind to give you the longest sail we can, yet still get you home for dinner! Sage Marine is Sponsoring the “Pocket Cruiser Cup”, a race run in the same format as the awesome Monterey Cruiser Challenge. A fleet for Big Boats and a second fleet for Small Boats in a run what ya brung format. No handicapping. And, We will have three “Manufacturer Cups” sponsored by International Marine Specifically for Potter 19’s and 15’s….another one by Montgomery Boats for Montgomery 17’s and 15’s, and also a MacGregor Fleet race with all different models of Macs racing together and handicapped by the Portsmouth Yardstick handicap system. But what about Social gatherings, you ask??? Yep! Of course we talked about the Monday Meet and Greet! Open Bar and live music. But that’s nothing! On Thursday evening the activities move down the street to the Mudshark Brewing Company! YEP…It’s the North VS South Grudge Match Night! Sponsored by Joel and the gang at RUDDERCRAFT!!! It’s gonna be awesome! Great Atmosphere, Great Food, Great Beer, Great Friends, Live Music with Gary “The Castaway”, AND…The South once again will try to rid itself of the Shame of owning that UGLY GRUDGE MATCH TROPHY!!! (The Loser gets the trophy!) Last year ended up in a 200 person conga line! Hahaha Let’s see, we’ve got a great FREE Buffet Breakfast for you all on Wednesday Morning… Don’t forget the Photographic Poker Run going on Tues /Wed /Thurs…. Dick Herman will be doing a book signing of his book Caly’s Island……and we suspect that we know all the characters since they seem suspiciously similar to some people we hang out with! Wed/Thus /Fri we have a three day trade show planned in the convention center for 4 hours each day. Our sponsors will be there with booths set-up to show you their latest products and interact with you 1 on 1! This year’s event is being attended by Small Craft Advisor’s Josh Colvin and family, Good Old Boat’s Karen Larsen and Jerry Powlas, and Sail Magazine ’s Kimball Livingston. Yes, we’ve grown up a bit the last few years and you guys have started attracting attention! Holy Cow!! People are wondering…. “Why on earth would folks hook up to their boats in the dead of winter, drive literally thousands of miles, to the middle of AZ the dessert to Sail??? LOL Answer???? Heck If I Know???!!! You guys are CRAZY and I LOVE IT! FUN?, FRIENDS? , Water that’s Still liquid? Warm Temps?, or maybe you just have “the sickness”!!! What ever it is…it seems to be working. What? You haven’t signed up yet? Are you kidding me? How many years in a row do you think we can keep doing this before the FUN POLICE shut us down??!! Get signed up, Get down here, and be part of HPCC History! We are going to break all FUN RECORDS! YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE!!! DO IT!! OH….Yes, I forgot one detail……the HUGE registration fee…… .FREEEEEEEEE!!!!! $0.00 !!!!!! This undoubtedly will be either the biggest and best HPCC YET or the BIGGEST TRAIN WRECK YOU”VE EVER SEEN! Either way…YOU WON”T BE ABLE TO LOOK AWAY!!! But you gotta be here to see it! Do ya feel lucky?? Do ya?…..Then Come on…….MAKE MY DAY! Join us!!! _www.sailhavasu.com_ (http://www.sailhavasu.com/) Follow us on Twitter! @sailhavasu J