Sail4Life plans 2013 Second Sol Regatta

Friend? Can we talk?

Is your romance with virtual sailing losing it’s lustre?
Are the usual griddy races depressing you,
leaving your bowsprint retracted
And your mainsail flapping aimlessly?

Well sailor, never fear.
Sail4Life is here to help.
We have a therapeutic intervention planned
to get you off that barstool, out of the doldrums,
and back on the raceline where you belong.

We’ve got a regatta that’s
certified to stiffen your spar
and sharpen your sailing skills…

All you need is an overwhelming desire
To sail, to laugh, to win,
And never to give quarter.

Friend? You need SECOND SOL.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The 2013 Second Sol Regatta

I’m excited to announce Second Sol 2013, a  Sail4Life competition for  the upcoming Trudeau Patchogue II.  Second Sol is open to a maximum of sixteen racing teams of 1-4 sailors each, and the event will run from Saturday June 15 to Sunday June 23. 

Second Sol is co-sponsored by more than eight Yacht Clubs and Sailing Groups grid-wide, and it’s dedicated to the memory of Francois Jacques. Second Sol will be Fran’s regatta, and it will support Sail4Life, the charity she loved and tirelessly supported for nearly a decade.

If Fran were here, I know she’d he running this regatta instead of me. Fran was a true icon of SL Sailing; she was an avid sailor, avisonary leader, and a true, dear friend to all she met. SL’s community of virtual sailors owes much to her memory and legacy.

As the new sailing season opens, Second Sol is a chance for us all to pay tribute to Fran once again, and to do it in a way she would want: a fleet full of friends, all bellied-up at a race line in support of cancer research, waiting for the  count-down to begin. 

Regatta Format

Sailors can sign up for Second Sol by filling out a simple entry form here.

The regatta series will begin with two qualifying rounds. Round One will kick-off on June 15, and Round Two will follow on June 22nd. For each round the sixteen boat fleet will be divided into four separate “timeslot groups” of approximately 4 boats each.

Each timeslot group will race four heats on June 15 and four more on June 22; each heat will take approximately 10-12 minutes to complete. That means the qualifying races will be serious fun, but no burden; sailors just need to compete in two 90 minute events spaced a week apart, and there will be several timeslots to choose from. Different clubs will host the timeslots on their home water, and the RD’s will post the charts and details well in advance of the races.

The Qualifying Rounds will be scored using a “standard, low-point” system for the eight heats, with four discards. The large number of discards should add to the excitement. A crash – or two – wont eliminate you, and the winners of the Qualifying Rounds won’t be decided until the very last boat crosses the finish line. 🙂

The top boats will then advance to a Finals Event on June 23, followed by an awards ceremony and closing party.

Second Sol Info

Major announcements about Second Sol will be posted on Metaversesailing.com and in-world; interested sailors are invited to join the S4L 2013 REGATTA group in Second Life.

Regatta details for racers and team discussion will be posted on SLSailing.net in the Official Second Sol Discussion Thread. Sailors are welcome to post their opinions and technical questions there.

Second Sol signup

To compete in Second Sol, each race team needs to complete a simple entry form, and agree to donate $L5,000 to any RFL kiosk prior to June 15.

2012 Solstice Challenge

Sponsors are most welcome too. In fact, for last year’s Solstice Challenge a dozen sponsors rather incredibly donated over $L30,000 in support of each team that entered.  Fifteen teams hit the water in June 2012, and in just two days of fun racing those sailors raised $L700,000-800,000 for cancer research. Woots!

Each team that completes a Second Sol entry form this year will receive a free Patchogue II raceboat, hand-delivered by Jacqueline Trudeau.

Patchogue II under construction (courtesy of Orca)

The Patch II is J. Trudeau’s latest creation, and she is donating all the boats for this S4L regatta in memory of Francois. The boat’s official launch date is still several weeks away, but Second Sol racers will get the first hulls before anyone else. Trudeau promises the pre-release boat will be competition-ready and delivered to the teams at least three weeks prior to the Regatta Opening on June 15.

This year all team members will also get a goodie bag full of wondrous nautical stuff donated by many SL merchants and boatwrights supporting the Regatta.

 Second Sol 2013 promises to be one of the major, fun sailing events of 2013. It will be full of great racing, good friends, and loud regatta parties. It’s exactly what Fran Jacques loved, and the event will be a fitting tribute to her, Sail4Life, and the whole SLSailing community as well.

The countdown’s started! Seven weeks to go before the first race! (You have a team name yet?) 🙂