Sailfest 2002 Offers Guest Crew and Instructors
by Nicholas Lemmer

Bayfield Race Week will once again be capped by the two-day SailFest event in Bayfield, Wisconsin on Friday July 5th and Saturday July 6th. SailFest 2002 is billed as a family-oriented event designed to help you learn to race your boat, if you are unfamiliar with any aspect of racing. Likewise experienced skippers and crew are encouraged to contact SailFest 2002 for information on participating.

If you own a sailboat you may have considered racing or you may have turned your nose up and said “I am strictly a cruiser.” But you have raced against another boat, if only in your mind, when you were out sailing on the bay. Or you have raced against time to get in before dark or before a storm or to be able to get to an appointment. Racing is cruising but with a different destination and objective.

If the case is “I have a boat and I’d like to try racing but where do I begin?”, SailFest on Saturday, July 6 is a chance for you to try sailboat racing and find out if it is right for you. Instead of telling you to figure it out for yourself, SailFest will provide you will a knowledgeable racer who will go with you as a Guest Instructor. Your Guest Instructor will help you through the rules and get the boat moving faster so you have a chance to win. Instead of sending you out short-handed, SailFest will provide extra crew, if you need them, to crank winches and hoist sails.

On the evening of Friday, July 5 Sailfest will have a party and some seminars to explain what sailboat racing is all about. Expert sailors will explain the rules of sailboat racing and will teach about trimming sails. At the same time SailFest will introduce you to the skipper of your boat. In some cases there will be a Guest Instructor to go along on the boat. The Guest Instructors have a lot of sailboat racing experience and will advise and teach the people on the boat about sailing and racing. For Saturday’s race boats will start at Bayfield, go around Basswood Island and return to Bayfield. It should take 4 to 6 hours depending upon the wind. Several prizes will be awarded based on the PHRF system, with special prizes for family sailors of all ages. SailFest caps off Bayfield Race Week, an increasingly popular series for competitive sailors. The Apostle Islands chapter of the Wayzata Yacht Club sponsors both events. 

For more information contact sailfest@earthlink.com, email: sailfest@earthlink.com, or www.wyc.org.