First and foremost, BBR is a fun regatta for cruisers. The event was founded over thirty years ago by some cruisers in Banderas Bay who wanted to have a few days of parties, interspersed with the occasional yacht race. We take our partying very seriously. The racing? Well, not so much.
Our general process is to separate similarly performing boats into classes of 10 or less, while at the same time trying to avoid situations where we have a very small number of boats in a particular class. It can be a challenge! Over the years, there have been some who have arrived with boats that are more performance oriented (we call them "guys who think they are fast"). We have attempted to accommodate them as best we could by creating classes specifically for them.
We have a fairly long list of classes, but we rarely use them all. It really depends on the number and types of boats that register. Our goal is to maximize fun and minimize stress, particularly for cruisers who may not be experienced racers. When you register, you can choose one or more classes you would like to compete in. We'll do our best to accommodate your wishes.
Here is the list:
- Performance Monohulls ("Boats Who Think They Are Fast")
- Performance Multihulls
- Cruising boats over 45 feet
- Cruising boats under 45 feet
- Cruising Multihulls (if we have a lot, we'll divide them by size and rating)
- Twenty-somethings (boats under 30 ft)
- Jack & Jill (Double Handed)
- JAM (Jib and Main)
There are no maximum or minimum size requirements for the event - we've had boats as small as a Hobie 16 and as large as a 90 foot traditional schooner. Fast cruisers and much slower boats have raced in the event. In addition to starting the boats at different times, we try to make sure that the race courses are designed with the speed of the particular classes in mind.
Occasionally racing classes (e.g. Capri 37, J70, etc.) will ask to be part of the event. If they can come up with 5 or more boats we will try to accommodate them by either providing a separate start and course, or by integrating them into one of the existing classes.