tonystott wrote:
Good luck with your event Sharris!
A few of us are contemplating an event next year, and are somewhat loathe to include competitive racing at a major event, as the only way we could avoid the majority of competitors being blown away by a hard-core cyclist (with some sailing skills) who is fit enough to seriously push those Miragedrive pedals throughout the race, adding to average speed. Alternatively, use of Miragedrives could be banned, but this is just crippling a major part of the versatility of Islands.
To avoid this dilemma, we are considering more of a fun event, with possible categories such as biggest fish caught, most modifications(!), greatest age difference between Tandem Island crews, oldest competitor, youngest competitor, best outfit, etc etc, plus random "door" prizes.
We would love to hear views from everybody as to possible formats for Island gatherings which would be inclusive and family friendly.
Tony,
We recently Held a "Summer Sailstice" event here in the bay area. Great event we had 8 boats and 12 people. We as a group sailed together to our destination and had a great time. Landed at Ayala Cove and had lunch together. A very family friendly events and I plan on organizing more. So now I would like to organize a race. I don't see you talking the EC Race to Alaska into having a family friendly portion of their events. I am working hard as a volunteer in these efforts and I am sorry you are so opposed to the idea of having a race only event? So please don't knock my idea or water it down because it does not have a family friendly element. BTW I am the cyclist/sailor you were worried about so I wont add you to the invite list for our first race. But I would love to attend your family friendly so let me know how it goes.