Daggerboard Regatta Sails At Lake Tawakoni Oct. 10-11

The 2009 Daggerboard Divisional Championships Regatta is set for Saturday and Sunday at Lake Tawakoni’s Waco Bay.

This is the sixth annual Daggerboard Regatta to take place at Lake Tawakoni and is sponsored by the Arrowhead Property Owners Association, Lake Tawakoni Regional Chamber of Commerce, Hobie Cat Division 14 Fleet 23 and Bob and Sue Mimlitch.

The regatta unites the skill and expertise of Hobie Cat sailboat racers with the power of the wind.

This marks the sixth year that the 17-20 foot Hobie Cats will converge on Lake Tawakoni for a weekend of stiff competition, local cuisine and camaraderie. Hobie Cat veterans Bob and Sue Mimlitch will once again serve as hosts and organizers, offering their home at Arrowhead Estates and the Arrowhead Park as home base for race events.

In the past years there have been as many as 30 boats entered in the regatta. About 75 people will attend because of families, friends, the support group and the race committee.

Continental Champion, Phil Collins from Oklahoma City, will be on hand to race against other Division 14 and Division 6 entrants. Other racers come from as far away as Kansas and Oklahoma.

The event begins Friday evening with entrants’ registration and a welcoming party complete with hors d’oeuvres and beverages provided by the Lake Tawakoni Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber will provide donuts for participants as they gather for the skipper’s meeting on Saturday morning before the noon races begin. Saturday night, there will be a dinner. Members of the chamber of commerce and the Arrowhead Property Owners Association are invited to attend all events. Dinner will be at a nominal fee. Contact Sue Mimlitch, 903-447-4111, if wishing to attend the dinner.

Hobie Cats are specially designed sailboats named for inventor, Hobart Alter. Alter wanted to create a boat that could be easily launched directly off the beach.

His first 1967 design consisted of a 14-foot fiberglass singlehanded catamaran with asymmetrical hulls. Newer Hobie Cats have daggerboards that extend through the hulls and act as keels. Daggerboards keep the sailboat from sliding sideways in the water.

Hobie Cat racers range in age from 20 to 70.

Many local residents will be volunteering as race committee, chase boats and helpers.

On Sunday races will begin at approximately 10 a.m. and continue through 1 p.m.