The Lake Havasu Yacht Club will host 200 catamaran racing teams during the Hobie Cat North American Championships on Lake Havasu Nov. 8-13 — a regatta that is considered a reincarnate in its return nearly 30 years ago.

Submitted photo courtesy of Lake Havasu Yacht Club. This is an undated aerial photo of London Bridge Regatta sometime in the early 1970s showing sailboats swarming Bridgewater Channel.

“This is a great opportunity here for Lake Havasu and Hobie Cat Racing Association,” said Jim Salscheider, executive director of Lake Havasu Marine Association and former company president of Hobie Cat. “It is perfect timing, we don’t have any events on the water in November, and we need more lake-based activities.”

The potential relationship between Havasu and Hobie could possibly attract two or three Hobie races per year, he said.

“This event is a reincarnation of what used to be the regattas,” said Bob Holzner, director of public relations for Lake Havasu Yacht Club. “We hope it to be the mother of all regattas.”

The London Bridge Regatta began in the ’60s at the hands of the city’s founder Robert P. McCulloch. The event peaked in 1975 with 408 catamaran race teams participating and making it the largest inland sailing event in North America, Holzner said.

The event morphed into a Hobie event in 1977 and went dormant in 1980 around the same time McCulloch was beginning to liquidate his assets around the city, Holzner said.

The return of the forgotten regatta is deemed HAVAMEGA Seven champions. About 200 team competitors will travel from Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, England and Australia, according to a press release issued by Lake Havasu Yacht Club.

HAVAMEGA will encompass all Hobie catamaran classes including Hobie 20s, Hobie Tigers, Hobie 18s, Hobie 16s, Hobie 16 Trapseats, Hobie 17s, Hobie FX Ones, Hobie Waves and Hobie 14s, according to www.havamega.com.

A trial run of the event occurred Feb. 7-8 of this year and included about 40 Hobie Cats at Crazy Horse Campground for the Havasu and Hobie Reunited Regatta.

“The Hobie (Racing) Association had to determine if they wanted Lake Havasu to be the permanent venue for Hobie sailing events,” Holzner said. The competition-like chance to draw the event to Lake Havasu prevailed over a Canadian location, he said.

Three racecourses will be staged in the water surrounding the Island. A special Trapseat race will be run on the course situated offshore of Windsor Beach No. 4 located near the north mouth of Bridgewater Channel. The race is a tribute to veterans that will be located there during a separate Wounded Warrior event.

Scheduled activities during the week of the event include a private beach party for participants Wednesday, a public meet-and-greet with Hobie racers 5 p.m. Thursday on the patio at Mudshark Brewing Co. featuring live music and a special Hobie menu, racing Monday through Friday.

The event plan as a whole will feature fewer classes of racing the next few years following HAVAMEGA then return every fifth year or so, Holzner said.

Local event sponsors created innovative ways to contribute during limited financial times.

“London Bridge Resort had no budget for donations, especially this late in the year. They did donate the use of 25 dock slips that will be used for event patrol boats,” Holzner said. The gesture is a savings in the arena of $2,000 — money that can now be used elsewhere in the event, he said.

Anderson car dealerships have donated the use of a shuttle van to transport racers and their guests from their hotel accommodations to a private party slotted Nov. 3 at London Bridge Beach.

The Sandbar & Grill has donated the open beach in front of their establishment to be used as a staging area for racers to assemble and disassemble their boats, Holzner said.

Other premium sponsors include Lake Havasu Marina, Mudshark Brewing Co. and Lake Havasu City Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. Several other businesses also contributed.

Lake Havasu Yacht Club was established in 1969 and currently encompasses about 180 members.

All event proceeds will benefit Hobie Youth Sailing Education Foundation. HYSEF offers programs that teach youngsters how to sail according to U.S. Coast Guard standards as well as how to stay safe on the water.

“This (HYSEF) is going to develop future racers for the very event that is coming here,” Holzner said.

You may contact the reporter at jhanson@havasunews.com.