All hands-- The Del Rey Yacht Club 2007 Powerboat Rally to Baja will take a fleet of powerboats from San Diego to La Paz, escorted by vessels manned by experienced skippers and with key support people aboard such as mechanics, doctors, etc. Safe routes will be pre-planned, and a weather routing service will be employed to ensure calm seas for the entire trip. The rally, which starts November 5, 2007, is open to powerboats capable of a minimum of 450 nautical miles at 8 knots. For more information, go <http://www.dryc.org/sail/powerboatrally.html>. --Georgs -- Georgs Kolesnikovs Your host at Trawlers & Trawlering, formerly Trawler World, since 1997 Our new site is being readied for launch at <http://www.trawlersandtrawlering.com>

> The Del Rey Yacht Club 2007 Powerboat > Rally to Baja will take a fleet > of powerboats from San Diego to La Paz, > escorted by vessels manned by > experienced skippers and with key support > people aboard such as mechanics, doctors, > etc. Safe routes will be pre-planned, and a > weather routing service will be employed I just returned from the Baja-ha-ha, a 'sailors' event that covers the same route. There were 165 boats in this thirteenth "Ha-Ha," including 4 powerboats. I was aboard Patrick & Eileen Gerety's Willard 40 (7.4 knots at 1.5 gph over the 1000 nms from Long Beach to La Paz) - the other 3 powerboats being an Ocean Alexander 50, an Offshore 54, and a Defever 38. I am not sure why a special powerboat rally is needed, but heck, anything that helps folks get on the water is a good thing. The primary difference in underlying philosophy between the two events (besides power versus sail) seems to be emphasis on self reliance: the volunteer organizers of the Ha-Ha stress "you must be totally self-sufficient. Assume there is no fuel or supplies between San Diego and Cabo." Indeed, at the skipper's meeting, one of the first questions was "should we go inside or outside the Benito's Islands?" (a small cluster off Baja's mid section). The response: "That's your call skipper." But it raises an interesting question - do we power cruisers who occasionally do 300+ nms legs have more in common with sailors or motoryachts? Incidentally, the 8-knot requirement would nix most displacement boats I have been aboard, though I doubt the DRYC would exclude a Nordhavn 47 (for example). Peter www.SeaSkills.com ======================= Peter Pisciotta 415-902-8439 Access over 1 million songs. http://music.yahoo.com/unlimited