10 Local Tips for F18 Nationals in Corpus Christi (Oct 20-24th)
Last weekend, we had a warm-up race in Corpus Christi at the site of the F18 Nationals. Based upon the warm up race, we have some tips to help you out with the event in October.
1) Reserve Now for Best Hotel Rooms! The host hotel, the Emerald Beach, is right on the beach near downtown Corpus and if you make your reservations right now, you will be able to have your boat literally right outside of your room for the week! We have reserved a block of rooms for the week. You have two options, a beach side room for a bit more money (around $119) and a regular room for a little less. I recommend that you get a beach side room on the first floor. You want to be in the two story building on the north side of the property. My team has reserved rooms 105 and 106 for the week. The closer to these rooms the better. If you can’t get on the first floor, head to the second floor. There are about 30 rooms in this building so we should be able to get many of the teams in these rooms. Reserve now – call 361-883-5731 and use code F18. Information on the rooms is at usf18.com in the nationals events tab.
2) Corpus Christi Yacht Club: We are very lucky to have the Corpus Christi Yacht Club (CCYC) as the host for this event. The CCYC is located about half a mile north of the host hotel. Between the host hotel and the CCYC is a wide open beach. It is a nice walk (skateboard or bike) from the hotel to the CCYC. (You can also drive up to the CCYC if the half mile walk is too far.) The CCYC has great facilities – full bar, restaurant, swimming pool and upstairs banquet area. We will be having the open and closing ceremonies at the club along with registration.
3) Setting up the Boats: There is a very large parking lot on the south side of the hotel where you can set your boat up and keep your trailer for the week. We will be weighing the boats in this parking lot. Once you are done with weigh in, you can wheel your boat down to the beach. There is a ramp to wheel the boats from the parking lot down to the beach. Once on the beach, it will probably be easiest to keep most of your equipment in your room or on your patio for the week especially if you reserved a good room on the beach. (Trailers will be on the far side of the property so you will not want to use them to store stuff as it will be a long walk.)
4) Breeze: The wind in Corpus is very consistent – it almost always blows out of the southeast (140) unless we get a cold front. The wind tends to build throughout the day and we can expect to be sailing in good strong breeze by the end of the day of racing. Because the bay is quite large, as the wind builds, the waves can build adding to the challenge of sailing at the venue. It is quite likely that we will see good breeze all week long so I would recommend spending a bit more time in the gym getting ready for the physical challenges of the conditions. Back in 2002, we sailed Performance Nationals in Corpus in October and it blew a perfect 15 knots every day – it was beautiful. We do have about a 50% chance of a cold front during this week. If a cold front rolls through, it can be quite breezy the day before. After the cold front goes through, the bay will be flat because it is on the north side so it can be fun to sail in the north breeze.
5) Tie those Boats Down: We strongly recommend that you bring something along to tie your boats down at night. If you don’t tie them down, you will probably lose your boat at some point during the week at night. We will be using buried 4 by 4’s in the sand or high quality sand screws. Your boat will be on an exposed beach and F18’s like to try to sail with those wing masts. Tie them down!
6) More on the Hotel: The Emerald Beach hotel is an old, large Holiday Inn. It attracts a very large crowd during the summer. It was packed last weekend even though the cost of the rooms was over $200. (We got a discount for regular rooms.) The hotel has an indoor pool, full restaurant with buffet in the morning for $10.95, an indoor bar, and an outdoor bar which will be used for one of our social events. We expect that it will not be very busy during Nationals. We also expect that the beach will be pretty much ours for the week.
7) Everybody Loves Martha and Rich: We have really good support from the people at the CCYC. Martha Avery from the CCYC will serve as the regatta chair for the event. She has been organizing the volunteers for the week, putting together social events and greasing the wheels at the club to make this a great event. She has been helped by Rich McIntyre who has been very supportive of this event from day 1. If you have a question while in Corpus, you can always ask Martha and/or Rich – your go to people!
8) Downtown Corpus: We are very close to downtown and the associated many bars and restaurants. We will be having some social events in the bars and restaurants downtown. They are close enough to walk or if you are lazy, you can do the half mile drive to the downtown establishments.
9) Measurements: One of the biggest hassles for one of these events is measurement and certification of your boat. Please, please, please try to get this address before you come to the event. The more boats that we have certified the better for all. We will be getting out more information on this topic in the next month. Please try to take care of this issue as best you can before coming to Corpus.
10) Have Fun! We have a great sailing venue, a fantastic host organization (CCYC) and a fun host hotel. You can’t beat it. If you are not registered, please get registered as soon as possible! Again, check out usf18.com for information on the hotel and registration. Register on-line at https://www.regattanetwork.
See you in Corpus!
