Class Politics 25th Anniversary Bruce Cup NA Interdistrict Championships

[gouvernail]

This is a thread about holding the Bruce Cup again in 2009. The event would be held Thanksgiving weekend and the boats would probably be the Laser, Radial and 4.7.
However, I have no problem with and am leaning toward using the Opti as the 4.7 fleet is not yet sufficiently established in North America and I refuse to host an event that is a farce.

The host club would likely be Austin Yacht Club and I probably have to BE the regatta chair to make the event happen. Mary Helen Edgecomb lives just half a mile from Austin Yacht Club and the Bruce Cup was her brainchild. Mary heklen would certainly be invited to share in the festivities.

The format:

Each North American Laser Class district shall supply a minimum of six boats. There shall be two representatives in each fleet. Districts may enter more reprenentatives but all representatives beyond two per fleet must submit resumes of some sort and the host shall decide who may compete.

There shall be eight races scheduled in each of those three fleets. The regatta would be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday immediately following Thanksgiving. Camping at the site would be not just welcome but encouraged.

Depending on the available volunteer willingness, there may be a Thanksgiving dinner Thursday and even clinics during the week before Thanksgiving.

The Bruce Cup Interdistrict Championship would be awarded to the district with the best overall performance. The formula used would be a super secret impossible to decipher system with plenty of room for second guesing and whining about who wins. ...sorty like the NCAA college football BCS.

OK my goal here is to obtain responses from each of the North Amercian Laser Districts.

Can your district field a team?? Will you be the organizer of that team?

If there is sufficient response I will continue with all the planning necessary to actually host the event.

 

[gouvernail]

thud

 

[Eric_R]

Fred,

What's the history on this regatta? When was this last run? I don't think I've heard of this before.

 

[Merrily]

As much as I love TLF, I wouldn't post here if I wanted to get a response from the district secretaries. I would place a request to the ILCA-NA secretaries to post it on the DS listserve.

 

[gouvernail]

The district Secretaries may or may not be interested in setting up local teams. I also don't know if teh class wants to be involved. Tis and a post on sailing Anarchy were really fishing posts to see if any of teh old participants and fans of teh LYRA would be interested in holding a silver anniversary event. so far nada.

OK for those who don't know about the Bruce Cup.

The Bruce Cup was Mary Helen Edgecomb's brilliant idea back in 1984. She invited teams of Laser two, Radial and Laser from each district to come to a three day North American Interdistrict Championships to be held in Dallas at Chandler's Landing Yacht Club on Lake Ray Hubbard.

( three years later it moved to Rush Creek)

The event was a super success. The Radia and Laser two fleets were well stocked with future big names in Laser sailing. Suffice it to say Mark Mendelblatt was a kid on a Laser Two. Ian Lineberger brought the St Pete juniors with a couple huge trailers, chase boats, and coaches..

Fiona Kidd, the Laser NA secretary, came down with a team from Ontario. There were teams from california, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Orleans, Chicago, Minnesota, Alberta, Manitoba and we held qualifiers to see who would represent Texas.. I made that cut.....and even won a race.

As Mary Helen is a huge benefactor ( using her time not her money) of junior sailing she found housing for all the "kids in the Radials and Laser Twos" and let the Laser sailor adults fend for themselves.

Ian Bruce showed up and sailed. Bruce Kirby sent a letter to be read as a speech thanking the regatta hosts for the event.

Mark Salih prevailed in the Lasers over guys like Pimetal ( Snipe builder), Kern ( Soling silver medal), Forester ( 470 gold), Adamson ( first Laser US Olympic rep), Bourdow ( Silver in Dutchman and 2nd in laser worlds), Bakker ( the Lockpit), Cobb ( two time O'Day Champ), Draheim ( O'Day Champ), Romberg ( O'day Champ), Young ( Current NA masters Champ),

The event became famous for hot sunny days and mornings where we chipped ice from our cockpits.

I remember well a crossing with Bourdow where I yelled "tack or cross" and his simple reply was "It's (rymes with trucking) cold."

The event grew throughout the eighties and peaked in 1993 when it was used as a qualifier for the US sailing team and featured an epic battle between Bourdow and Adamson.

Perennial world Laser Two Champion Peter Katcha always sailed the event and that brought out the very best of the Laser Two teams. Most years we had a fabulous continginent from District 3 and usually even District five and six fielded teams. The event was serious business.

Then as Laser Twos were no longer supported by the manufacturer, the regatta lost a lot of its flavor as the team aspect was ruined by the lack of Laser Two teams

I also felt a lack of support for the event from key supporters as Vanguard and Ian Bruce's company became competitors in the nineties. I cannot and will not try to quantify that impact on the event.

In 1999 Rush Creek decided it was no longer an event worty of hosting and we looked around to find a new host.

I convinced Buffalo Canoe Club to give it a shot and we had one last very poorly attended event on the weekend after the CORK regatta. The stupid scheduling was entirely my fault. I didn't realize all the canadian kids had to start school the Monday after the event and parents had made everybody, excepot teh Ontario kids, come straight home from CORK...Wednesday to Sunday is already hurrying across Canada.... We had teams from District 3 and District 9 and me. Thart was our last try but

We all promised Mary Helen we would hold a 20th anniversary event. We blew that.

How about a 25th??

The trophy is sitting at Buffalo Canoe Club because District three won the last two events. at least I hope it is there.

Anyway. I think the event was based upon a great concept. In fact a whole bunch of great concepts.

It was held Thanksgicing weekend becuase there were available facilities and the long weekend allows for a great event.

The question. Does anybody think a regatta to honor the designer and production genius for the boat and to see which district should have bragging honors is a good idea??

My host no host decision will be based upon my personal un willingness to host anything less than a terriffic event. I will neither waste thousands of the competitors dollars getting to an event or hundreds of hours of my frends time making nothing great happen.

My two cents?? I really want to hold another terriffic Bruce Cup and I want to sail in it as well.