Weston Cat open, Nacra Nationals+20ft Championship

 

Can't let you stand alone on that Asok... I have  reservations over attending due to the entry fee.

 

I am sure i shall end up going but feel that's the problem... that's what they're banking on.

 

Why does the double hander cost twice as much?  Must be some hell of a meal - Grafham was £28 + £9 for a meal on the Saturday but at least we had the option of not having the meal. 

 

Am i paying more because locals recieve a discount?

 

It's not like i dont mind spending money... i sail!

 

See you all there, no doubt!

I enjoyed the racing, I enjoyed the weekend as a whole. The race officer did a much better job than the one who officiated the regatta at the start of the year as that was a real disappointment.

 I feel that the price was a real stumbling block. It was not very obvious where the £60 entry fee gets swallowed up. 

1) The food

While it is nice having a communal meal with the rest of the sailors, it would also be nice to have an option to opt out. The club was put to shame by the spread put on by Grafham the week before, with different food options and to a much higher quality. The cost for the food at Grafham was £9. A bargain. I would be disappointed if the Weston food cost more than £5 budgeted/ head. I remember that they used to order takeaway but this has also disappeared.

The racing was finished before 3pm on both days and people who have a way to travel are effectively sacrificing their evening if they want to come back. There is nothing to do on a drizzly day in the vicinity in the hours between coming ashore and the food so many will simply do their own thing.

2) The Prizes

While there were a multitude of prizes of offer and they were very nice, I think if you had asked people when the weekend started if they would rather a reduction on entry fee than some hair gel you would have seen overwhelming support for even a £10 reduction. At the end of the day people are at the event for the sailing, not to be dazzled.

Many of the prizes were obviously from sponsors such as yourself, and while I understand that this is necessary for an event such as this, if you compare with classes such as the moths then their ideas are much more sailor oriented. They have a sponsor who undercuts the entry fee of the event, along with numerous others who add to the experience.

3) I understand that there are obviously costs relating to the hire of the additional field and safety boat support etc, but my concern is that this event will slowly go the way of the round the island event, with dwindling interest before finally fizzling out.

Please could you canvas the opinion of some of the sailors before next years event. We all know that in current times people are having to make sacrifices, lets not make Weston become one of them.

Cheers