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Catalina Ski Race Cancelled.....!

racektm

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Dear Ski Race Community,

It is will heavy heart, that we must inform you that the 2020 Catalina Ski Race has been canceled due to COVID19 governmental restrictions.

The Long Beach Boat & Ski Club remained optomistic about hosting the Worlds Greatest Ski Race. However, it was recently confirmed that the City of Long Beach is prohibiting large events and gatherings indefinitley.

We will continue to stay in touch with our faithful Catalina Ski Race Supporters. Additionally, the Long Beach Boat & Ski club is determined to take this time to promote and present the BEST CATALINA SKI RACE in 2021!!

All our very best,

The Long Beach Boat & Ski Club​


 

Hallett Dave

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Well that blows. Another father/son outing cancelled....

Fuck COVID19 governmental restrictions. !!!!!!

I have had the flew only one time in my life, 1964 when I was 14 years old.
I had mandatory vaccine injections when I was in the Air Force for 4 years 1976 to 1980.
No Vaccinations since then, 39 years working for the DoD/DAF.

The sky is falling for a lot of people, guess who they are. ;) ;)
 

Hallett Dave

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These cancellations in CA are getting out of control.

Fuck COVID19 governmental restrictions. !!!!!!

I have had the flew only one time in my life, 1964 when I was 14 years old.
I had mandatory vaccine injections when I was in the Air Force for 4 years 1976 to 1980.
No Vaccinations since then, 39 years working for the DoD/DAF.

The sky is falling for a lot of people, guess who they are. ;) ;)
 

Backlash

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Cancelling this particular sporting event, where there is almost zero chance that you'll be in close proximity with other athletes and almost zero chance of being in close proximity to ANY spectators? Seriously?? WAFJ. That's really too bad as I'm sure a lot of folks have been looking forward to this event.

I've said it before. This BS government overreach shit has got to stop.
 
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ONE-A-DAY

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Are the tandem skiers within 6 feet of each other? So fucking stupid to cancel this but it’s based in LA county unfortunately
 

twocents

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I hope the City of Long Beach is happy. Up until now, that Catalina Water Ski Race held the distinction of the being the oldest continuous boat/ski racing event in the world -- this year would have been the 72nd. Apparently the open ocean channel between the fantail of the Queen Mary in Long Beach and Avalon Harbor is just too congested to satisfy current 'social distancing' guidelines. What a shame. However, maybe this is not that surprising.....Long Beach City is known for making bad decisions for decades.
 

Jed-O

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Are the tandem skiers within 6 feet of each other? So fucking stupid to cancel this but it’s based in LA county unfortunately
So LA County thinks it's possible to sneeze on someone at 70+mph at six feet away. Obviously they haven't tried drinking a beer at that speed... 🤔🤣
 

Bobby V

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Yes, I will be making my run to the island at 9 am :cool: unofficially of course, and unofficially with some other racers.
What about the Aussies. Don’t they usually send a bunch of racers. Are they allowed to come to the states?
 

skiracr

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Some light on the situation...

I am more than bummed as this was going to be our first real outing since this bullshit started.

From what I understand this was the last week to pull out of th contract with the Hotel Maya without penalty and they were not helping with anything...I don’t know the truth to that. If something went sideways between now and then the Club would’ve been screwed.

About 1/3 of the competitors come over from Australia and there is no certainty international travel will be open. The club is barely breaking even with the small numbers now, this may put the club in the red. Again, just speculation.

The Greatest Ski Race in the world: The race is awesome and short in comparison to the weekend. We pack/sell out the Maya from Thursday-Sunday. This draws a couple thousand plus people to the hotel and the event. Friday, the pools and bars, and restaurants are packed. The walkways to and from are always clogged with people bench racing, talking shit, and catching up with each other from the past year. It’s the socializing aspect of the race that’s the problem, not hanging on to a rope 200 feet behind the boat. I’m guessing all this had a lot to do with the situation and decision as well.

Just means next year will be even better and bigger!
 

skiracr

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What about the Aussies. Don’t they usually send a bunch of racers. Are they allowed to come to the states?

I don’t think international travel has opened back up? Or will stay open?
 

Ragged Edge

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Brian (skiracr) has most of it correct.

1) I want to make it clear that the Hotel Maya was and is being very accommodating in this situation. We (LBBSC) spoke with them back in April on when would be best for them to know we could not run the race this year and their response was the sooner the better so they could try to resell the weekend for other smaller events/activities such as weddings that do not need a City of Long Beach Special Events Permit. They were not putting any pressure on us to make a decision but we (LBBSC) want to keep our good working relationship with the hotel and have the contract rolled over to next year, July 24th, 2021. Making the decision two months out is our choice.

2) Besides the socializing aspect of the event, the fact that if the City of Long Beach/County of LA/State of California get to the point where they would allow sporting events the size of the CSR to take place, would we (LBBSC) be able to accommodate the ridiculous social distancing rules that would be required for things like race registration, drivers/observers/navigators meeting and trophy presentation? The answer is no, there is not a space big enough at the Hotel Maya, we would need something the size of the LB Convention Center.

We (the LBBSC) felt we waited as long as we could to see if common sense would finally prevail at the state/county/city levels, unfortunately no such luck.
 

Terminal Velocity

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That really sucks. Wonder how August will play out, for the LB Sprint boat races?
 

monkeyswrench

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I've never been to that race, only heard about it in the late 90's when a guy I met mentioned it. He had some offshore thing, and his 12yo son skied behind it to the island. Impressed the hell out of me. I haven't been on a ski in 20 years, and was never very good...to me this race just seems pretty damn impressive.

As for the cancelation, I don't think any ill will should be held against the club or the hotel. For both parties to continue doing business, they have to play by the city's and the state's rules...

Even if those rules are complete BS, destroying businesses and lifestyles with no end in sight, driven by individuals that have nothing to lose by their choices.

...but that's just my opinion.
 

Ragged Edge

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From my contact with the city, it's not looking good, I did not ask specifically about the boat race though. Hopefully Ross can find a way to pull it off but the city tried hard to kill it last year so......
 

whiteworks

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I’d be willing to bet there will be water skiers racing to Catalina this summer.😉 I’d imagine it will go down something like the polar bear run. Just show up and do it. 👊 no liability or oversight for LBBSC, just some friends out boating.
 

HubbaHubbaLife

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For those interested in Catalina Islands present visitor status.... I just spoke with the Harbor Master at Avalon. They've opened [sort of] yesterday.... both harbors have moorings and water taxis open however the restaurants are to go only and you can't sit on any benches and eat. So its take the food and get back on your vessel stuff. I went on both harbor webcams and it looks as full as any holiday weekend... maybe even more full. Hardly any moorings unoccupied in main Avalon channel but did notice Desconso moorings are all empty. Not sure what that's about. Anyone interested can call Harbor Master 310.510.0535
 

steamin rice

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It's too bad that the official race had to be cancelled this year, but it doesn't sound like the club really had much choice. A lot of time and $$ goes into organizing events like this, and in my experience that are mostly a break even event for the host organization in terms of $$. Disappointing for sure, but I expect that there will be an increase in attendance and participation next year. Also, if a group of friends decide to take a skit ride to the island and back one morning that would be great to see.
 

obnoxious001

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I don’t think international travel has opened back up? Or will stay open?
I believe that is also a key point. I know of an American ex ski racer who made a trip to Australia to visit with her Australian husband for a few months and currently is "stuck" in Australia. With no Aussies, who would give Todd any competition?
 
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