An interview with Ben Wells about the Formula Wave Class's inaugural Wave 100
by David Schmidt 7 Aug 2024 16:00 BST
August 12-15, 2024
Singlehanded Hobie Wave racecourse action © Hobie Wave Class
While racing windward-leeward courses or around the cans is fun, many sailors look for races with a greater sense of adventure imbued into their fabrics. If this sounds like your cup of tea, the Formula Wave Class's inaugural Wave 100 (August 12-15, 2024) is worth close consideration. The singlehanded event is being organized by the FWC and the Hobie Class Association of North America, and will be contested aboard Hobie Waves. The Wave 100 set to start in South Haven, Michigan, and will conclude in Michigan City, Indiana.
Getting from Port A to Port B involves roughly 60 nautical miles—or about 100 kilometers—of sailing that will be split into three days of racing and adventuring.
The first day will take the fleet from South Haven to St. Joseph, Michigan, where sailors will regroup and prepare for the next stage leg, which will run from St. Joseph to New Buffalo, Michigan. The final day will take the fleet to the Michigan City finishing line.
While the event is a singlehanded affair, sailors will need to arrange an onshore crew (see below), and they also need to be prepared for beach starts, and whatever Lake Michigan's weather gods decide to throw at them along the way.
I checked in with Ben Wells, who serves as the FWC's race chair of the inaugural Wave 100, to learn more about this exciting multi-stage multihull event.
Can you please tell us a bit about the Wave 100 regatta? Also, where did the idea for using Formula Wave Class cats for this kind of distance racing come from?
The Wave 100 is a first for the Formula Wave Class, and I think the first for Wave sailing in general. The idea came from a blend of wanting to do something different and unique, and some inspiration from the Worrell 1000: a distance race on Waves, but less scary and more accessible for Wave sailors, taking place along the Lake Michigan shoreline.
The Wave 100 name is a little tongue in cheek-our total distance will be around 60 miles, which is pretty close to 100 kilometers. Wave 100 rolls of the tongue more smoothly than Wave 60!
What kind of culture are you and the other event organizers envisioning for the Wave 100's culture? Also, is the Wave 100 a bit more like an adventure race than a typical FWC regatta?
Our goal for this event was to blend a few things together. It's most certainly an adventure race, but it's still a race. We want some level of endurance to be a factor, and the ability to handle a variety of conditions Lake Michigan could throw at us.
Beyond that, we want this to be accessible. We have spoken to a lot of people who watch the Worrell 1000 and say something like, "Gosh that would be wild to do, but it just seems like a lot..." Well—here's the opportunity to race in a similar format, but on a much more scaled-down level.
I note that the NOR stipulates that the Wave 100 is a private race and that interested FWC sailors should be prepared to submit a sailing resume to be granted entry. What kind of background and experience tends to earn the green light? Are we talking about Worrell 1000 and Race to Alaska veterns?
No, nothing that extreme. We just want you to be able to handle your boat and be confident on the water in a variety of conditions.
Any sailor can register for the event, but if it's someone that we as race organizers don't know and aren't familiar with their sailing experience, we may ask some of those questions. It's not meant to be a roadblock, but really a safety feature.
Lake Michigan has the potential to get wild—we don't want to greenlight a sailor [who] doesn't have the skillset to deal with that, and [who doesn't] know their own limits where they maybe shouldn't be in those conditions, or get lost on the lake, anything like that.
I also note that each entry consists of a sailor and an onshore crew. Can you please describe the role of the onshore crew? Also, am I correct that teams can have multiple shore crew, or is this limited to a single individual?
The onshore manager (OSM) has a couple of roles. First-understand what's going on that day, what the PRO is going to be doing, and be prepared to support the sailor. Second-moving equipment from location to location, and third, able to support the sailor in the event of a breakdown.
We want the sailors focused on the race, not dealing with everything else like "how is my tent or trailer getting to the next stop". If a sailor breaks down and ends up on the shore somewhere between stops, the OSM can bring a part and the sailor could theoretically repair and continue the race.
The OSM is NOT an onshore coach or anything like that - purely sailor support. Multiple sailors can use a single OSM if they choose, but we don't recommend too many people for a single OSM.
According to the SIs, all boats will start on land. Can you please walk us through what a typical Wave 100 beach start looks like?
The boats will be in a line, on the beach, partially in the water, behind a couple of markers that will designate the start line. A countdown will be given, just like any other race, and at the gun, sailors can push off. They must stay in a "lane" for a set length of time from the push-off as to not interfere with other sailors.
Once they get to a certain point, they can turn and head down shore towards the next waypoint. Should a sailor push off early, they are not subject to just going back and re-pushing off, but a time penalty will [also] be added to their overall accumulated time.
Generally speaking, what kind of conditions can sailors expect to encounter on Lake Michigan in mid-August? Also, do you expect that sailors will finish each leg before the sun sets (understanding, of course, that they are at the mercy of the wind)?
When we researched this event, August felt like the best time of year for the winds being favorable both in direction and in velocity. That said, any sailor knows that you get what you get. We hope for a moderate breeze, and nothing too wild.
When we planned it out, we hoped most sailors should be able to finish the longer legs in maybe five to six hours. We hope and expect that sailing past sunset isn't an issue. Could it be? I guess we will find out...
What will the overnight scenes in St. Joseph and New Buffalo be like? Are we talking about tents, RVs, and camper vans, or do you think sailors will tend to stay in hotels/motels/AirBnBs? Also, what kind of onshore entertainment do you and the other event organizers have planned?
There will be a mix of lodging options. We have provided options for overnight camping or hotels at each location (or centralized locations) sailors can choose from.
We are organizing social activities in the evenings, with some taking place at partner yacht clubs, and some that are catered in to an outdoor shelter. We don't think anyone will go hungry, and we do think everyone will be able to have a lot of fun in the evening reminiscing about the day.
Can you please tell us about any efforts that you and the other regatta organizers have made to try to lower the Wave 100's environmental footprint or otherwise green-up the event?
The Formula Wave Class is proud to be a Clean Class in partnership with Sailors for the Sea. We have committed to making sustainability a part of all our major events, the Wave 100 included.
The logistics of a distance race make this a unique challenge, as compared to a traditional regatta, however we will be doing beach clean-ups, focusing on reducing or eliminating any single-use plastics, and serving food [that's] sustainably and locally sourced throughout the event, among other things.
Is there anything else that you'd like to add about this year's Wave 100, for the record?
We have put a lot of time and thought into safety, and we hope this shows as we prepare for the regatta. That said, the second focus is fun, and we do believe everyone will be able to walk away from this raving about what a unique and great experience it was. For all those sailors who watch the Worrell and think "what if.." this is the opportunity.
It's our first time doing it, so we will probably have some reflections at the end that will lead to an even better Wave 100 the next time we do it.