Navigator's Pursuit Race - Boatyard Promotion
John Baker
MSSA Members,
As many of you know, we are doing a new race series aimed at
getting new boats out on the race course. The Navigator's Pursuit
Race Series is a special series designed for give non-racers a
taste of the excitement of racing their boats. This event is open
to anyone, members and non-members. There is no registration fees,
and no obligation to join, or perform any race committee duties.
It is easy to reach MSSA members through this e-mail group, but getting the word out to non-members is a more complicated task. This weekend, I talked to a few boat owners in the boatyard, explained that we are doing this special event on Monday nights in June. They seemed interested, particularly when I told them how the pursuit race format:
'The Pursuit Race format provides a starting time for each competitor based on their handicap rating. Thus, the starting line is not crowded with boats trying to cross the line ahead of, or in an advantageous position to their competitors. This results in a more relaxed start line, where some boats are given a ‘head start’, and the other boats ‘pursue’ the one ahead. During the race, boats will converge, presumably near the finish line. Since the handicap was applied at the race start, the finish order is the final result. In a pursuit race, slower boats have a chance to lead the race. They will know how well they are doing by the rate in which the faster boats close on their lead. This provides a better sense of their performance and provides encouragement to keep their lead position.'
Remember,
this is about getting new racers out on the course and it only
takes a small effort by a few members to make this event a
success. And if successful, it can grow our racing fleet on on
other nights as well.
So,
this is my ask: Talk to your boat yard neighbors and tell them
about this event. Tell them about the pursuit race format, and
let them know they can find more info at: www.mssa.org.
Regards,
John Baker
S/V Lively Up