M My wife and I went out today for a nice leisurely daysail in a Catalina Capri 22. The weather was perfect (high 60's low 70's) the winds were from the west northwest between 6-10 knots with a light to moderate swell.
As we started out in the bay and proceeded seaward we noticed there was a very large amount of sailboats on the bay.
Proceeding out of the channel we were quickly engulfed in a maelstrom of of an impressive array of sailing vessels all sporting beautiful spinnakers and teams of mostly serious crew.
To be honest, my wife and I felt a little intimidated sailing within this large bulk of boats, but we did not know ahead of time of the regatta and the prevailing winds and the narrowness of the channel left us no choice than to sail within the regatta headed out to sea.
Everything worked out just fine and there were no close calls and the sight of a hundred plus boats sporting their sail inventory was quite impressive and beautiful.
I have the following question however: When "injected" into a regatta while not competing, are there any specific rules or etiquette that one should observe? We seemed kind of out of place sailing with the "big boys" (Dennis Conner and the Stars and Stripes were sailing in this particular regatta today). Has anyone else had similar experience and are there any particulars one has to observe with regard to the rules of the road in navigation. Wish I had pictures, because it was truly a beautiful sight.