Sailing Magazine
by Richard Crockett
I have always advocated a good mix of racing and fun sailing to boost numbers on the water as not everyone is in to racing week in and week out without a sniff of a good result.
Fun sailing can, and does, bring good participation – just look at the Mykonos Offshore Race last week, and the example I will use this morning of the West Coast Cruise of 2001 as I stumbled upon it while browsing the archives.
Sponsored by Goue Vallei Wines, 33 yachts and their enthusiastic crews too part.
There was a “cruiser’s race or racer’s cruise” – whichever way you viewed it. Now that’s a great way of getting the attention of everyone.
Much effort was made to maximise the fun aspects both on and off the water, and even included some match racing.
I do recall having recently read that one of the prizes Goue Vallei offered was a barrel of Port. Now that’s the sort of prize I would have personally enjoyed winning as I have always believed that “winning your weight in rum” prize was also my kind of prize!
READ IT ALL HERE: 2001 02 – SAILING Magazine – OCR
