An interview with Greg Raybon about the 2024 Sandy Hook Regatta
by David Schmidt 14 Aug 2024 16:00 BST
August 17-18, 2024
Hobie 16 racecourse action © Thomas Gardner
If your idea of a good time involves flying a hull, hanging out on a wire, and tearing around racecourses, check out the 2024 Sandy Hook Regatta. The event (August 17-18) serves as the New Jersey Yacht Racing Association's Hobie 16 and A Class 2024 championship, and it's being organized by the Sandy Hook Bay Catamaran Club and Hobie Fleet 250.
Eligibility is open to class-legal Hobie 14s, Hobie 16s, Hobie 17s, Hobie 18s, Hobie 20s, and Hobie Waves, as well as A Class cats and open-class multihulls.
Racing will take place on Sandy Hook Bay, off Atlantic Highlands, and—weather depending—race organizers hope to score between three and five races each day.
I checked in with Greg Raybon, event chair of the 2024 Sandy Hook Regatta, via email, to learn more about this exciting multihull event.
Can you please tell us a bit about Hobie 16 and A Class Cat racing in the greater New Jersey area? Is it fair to say that there's been a strong Hobie 16 and A Class Cat tradition going on in the Garden State for a long time? Also, what about the other eligible Hobie classes and open-class multihulls?
Hobie Racing has been going on in NJ since the introduction of the boat back in 70s and Hobie fleets popped up [across] all of the greater NJ area. We currently still have ten active fleets in Division 11, eight of which are in NJ.
A Hobie fleet is basically a group of Hobie sailors sailing out of a particular location. The fleet size varies from as small as five to [around] 100. The Sandy Hook Bay Catamaran club, my home club in Atlantic Highlands, is home to Hobie Fleet 250 and we have one of the largest mast-up storage catamaran club in the world. It is a mix of all kinds of beach catamarans.
The travel racing scene has declined in its attendance for quite some time.
In the heyday, you would routinely see 60-100 boats competing, but now we are happy to get 30 [and] the average is closer to 20-25. The decline is similar to what we see in other sailboat classes in that we do not see growth in new, younger sailors.
Because of that, we have seen a shift in what class boats are being raced the most.
The Hobie 16 is still one of the strongest classes among the Hobie racing scene, but the Hobie Wave has been taking over. As our demographic gets older, the Wave is a simpler and safer boat to sail and you do not need a crew. The speed of the Wave is slower than a Hobie 16, and, as a result, the racing is also much closer and tactics becomes more important.
The A-Class cat class has grown in the area in recent years in some part due to sailors who used to sail the Hobie 17. The A-Class cat and the Hobie 17 are both singlehanded boats, and as the H17 class seemed to fade the A-Class cat class has grown as a higher-performing option for those H17 sailors. The A Class group has a similar vibe to the Hobie class and thus is a perfect pairing for our mixed regattas.
The Sandy Hook regatta includes other cats as well. At SHBCC, we have a mix of boats and the regatta gives them a chance to compete against other classes in a handicap fleet. In the past, when attendance was high, the Hobie regattas were strictly Hobie-only events and now it makes more sense to invite all types of cats to participate and increase the overall attendance.
I could launch into this whole saga as well, but the old Hobie edict of Hobie-only participation still reverberates with people unfortunately. Hopefully, we are slowly changing this perception, and can get more people to participate.
What kinds of sailors does the Sandy Hook Regatta tend to attract? Also, roughly speaking, what percentage of sailors are racing Hobie 16s, A Class Cats, and other designs, respectively?
The participants typically are all traveling to the event with their boats on trailers. Each host regatta tends to have a handful of participants from the club, some of which are regular races in Division 11 and some who only race this one event. We are seeing about eight to ten Hobie 16's, 10-12 Hobie Waves, three to five Hobie 14's and eight to ten A Class cats.
Weather-wise, what kind of conditions can sailors expect to encounter on Sandy Hook Bay in mid-August? What are the best-case and worst-case weather scenarios?
Sandy Hook Bay typically offers a late afternoon south-southeast seabreeze. The Sandy Hook Peninsula separates the Atlantic from the bay, so we have reasonably flat water (depending on boat traffic) and benefit from close proximity to the ocean.
Of course, weather fronts disrupt the general conditions, and we can get some windy conditions from the southwest (gusty) pre-front and gusty northwest winds post frontal. The sea state is quite flat in a southwest breeze but can get pretty bumpy with a northwesterly. Typically, our race day will start in light winds early and end in a 15-knot seabreeze.
What kind of a role, if any, do you see local knowledge playing in the regatta's outcome? Also, if you could offer one piece of racecourse advice to visiting (and local) sailors, what would it be?
Local knowledge is certainly helpful here. For one, look at the forecast to anticipate the seabreeze filling in. When it does, there is a big hill (Mt Mitchell, highest headlands south of Maine) to the south of the racecourse and the south-southeast wind has to wrap around that often leading to what generally is a right shift on the right side of the course, but can be lighter pressure.
So, it often pays to go right upwind depending on the location of the course.
I note that the NOR states that boats and equipment will not be measured, weighed, or inspected for rules compliance prior to racing. Has that always been the case at the Sandy Hook Regatta? Also, generally speaking, has this strategy been successful? I realize that boats can be inspected and weighed and measured during the event, but is it fair to say that the Sandy Hook Regatta relies fairly heavily on the honor system? If so, do you think there are teachable moments in there for other regattas?
Generally, the Hobie class does not weigh boats at local events but [it] does at North American Championships. Also, even at those events, there are no other inspections of equipment. Since it is a one design class with nearly all components coming from one manufacturer (depending on which Hobie class we are talking about) there is not much to inspect.
It is safe to say that if someone does something fishy, they will be called out on it. It is an honor system.
Probably, the most common problem in the class is when a new person comes with a very old boat that might not strictly meet the class rules. They typically get a pass because it is way more important to bring in the new people to the class and not immediately discourage them.
Crew weight on the Hobie 16 is typically the most controversial and occasionally there will be a scale at the registration table. Often, it's not mandatory to step on it but it is a reminder that you need to be class-legal.
Certainly, at North Americans, you will be weighed but not typically at the local events.
What's the regatta's onshore scene like? Can you please give us some local color, based on your experience at previous Sandy Hook Regattas?
As our group has gotten smaller and a bit older (and maybe wiser) the onshore scene has tamed down a bit from past years.
At the Sandy Hook Regatta though, we have Shipwreck Rum as a sponsor, and we host a Rum Squall after racing on Saturday from our Hobie Bar. We converted an old Hobie 16 hull into a bar. We can't take credit for the idea—I first saw one up at a regatta near Rochester years ago.
The Rum Squall is typically followed by a catered dinner or some years we let people wander into town to sample some of our local restaurants. This year, the dinner is hosted by Mark Modderman at his home nearby as a thank you to the support from Division11 and SHBCC toward his Worrell 1000 campaign. Mark, who is a member of SHBCC, recently competed in the Worrell 1000 and many people in our group supported that effort financially and in person.
After racing on Sunday, SHBCC always supplies hamburgers and hot dogs prior to the award presentation. Many of the Hobie sailors bring RVs to stay in while at the regatta, and [they] form a little RV city where some of the social gathering occurs. Our club has recently lost a large part of our parking lot to a new housing development next door, which has seriously impacted our parking and the number of RVs we can handle.
Can you tell us about any efforts that you and the other regatta organizers have made to try to lower the regatta's environmental footprint or otherwise green-up the regatta?
For the most part, our sailors try to use refillable water bottles as much as possible. Other than that, sailing small boats without engines is certainly a great hobby in terms of environmental footprint. We typically only have three RC boats on the water, and they typically can have engines off most of the day.
Is there anything else that you'd like to add about this year's Sandy Hook Regatta, for the record?
This year will mark the 44th running of the Hobie Regatta at Hobie Fleet 250, and some of the people participating in it were there for the first event in 1980.
The regional regattas used to be ladder events to qualify for North American championships. Today, they still count toward North American rankings, but are not required to attend a North Americans. We are fortunate to have two of the top race officials in our regional Hobie division.
Mark Santorelli and Lynn Myers always bring high level race management to our regattas that mimics what sailors can expect at bigger events.
In addition, all of the classes are sprinkled with some rockstar sailors that typically place in the Top 10 at North Americans and several North American champions across multiple classes. Thus, racing can be very competitive but also provides an incredible resource for those wanting to learn more.
As a group, we take pride in sharing knowledge amongst each in effort to improve skills for everyone.