I experienced my first bit of cat racing this weekend at the Sail the Bay Regatta in Virginia Beach. My first impression was
When do I start? Where do I go after I start? Where do I finish? Adding to my confusion was the initial lack of wind and constant changing of direction. The first race I don't think I even finished (or maybe I did and won). Apparently there is common knowledge about sailboat racing that everyone had except me. Admittedly, I should have spent more time researching race rules and asking more questions before the race. I am used to mountain bike racing where its pretty self explanatory: follow the arrows on the trees. Anyways, once I finally got a handle on the course, thanks to many friendly fellow racers, and the wind finally picked up a little, I feel like we did OK in the next race and finished somewhere near the middle of my class. Instantly the frustration washed away and I realized how fun this sport really is.
Now for my question: I am new to cat sailing and live in an area (landlocked) where few people are interested in such sports which makes it difficult to find reliable and enthusiastic crew. I spend much of my time sailing my H16 single-handed which I have no problem with and really enjoy. But am I able to race this way? Can I enter a race in the open class? I don't see a Portsmouth rating for single handed H16. Should I just put more effort into finding crew?