The town of East Lyme has on-street parking regulations which are strictly enforced especially during the month of August, and particularly near McCook’s Park and the beach areas. Free regatta parking will be at 2 large fields near the Regatta site. On Sunday, August 6 NBYC will have volunteers to assist in unloading Optis, dollies and gear at the Hole in the Wall, and who will direct vehicles to parking at the adjacent Rogers Field.

While the vehicle is being parked another team of NBYC volunteers will guide the competitor with their Opti through the Hole in the Wall, past Hole in the Wall Beach and up to McCooks Park where there will be over 400 pre-marked 10’ x 10’ Opti parking spaces. Pick one out with a view you like and its yours.

Additional parking information useful to drivers will be provided on arrival. There is no access to the parking areas until 1PM on August 6.

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Trailers may be parked at Rogers Field in a special area reserved for them. If the trailer has a power boat that needs to be launched then the trailer needs to be brought to one of the public launch ramps nearby.

Arrangements have been made with the  Port Niantic and Boat’s Inc marinas to use their nearby winter storage areas as temporary, no charge, storage for power boat trailers. This is only for those boats who have registered as coach or support boats for this regatta.  More information regarding ramps, launching and trailer storage can be found at the Marinas section of the General Information, or click here.

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All competitors are requested to bring a dolly on which to move their boats and all dollies must be marked with the competitor’s sail number. On Sunday, August 6, registration day, it’s a fairly long walk along a mixture of walking path and beach into McCook Park from the Hole in the Wall drop off area - about 1000 feet - a bit more than 3 football fields. On racing days the average walk from the Opti parking spaces in McCook’s Park down to the launching beach is about ½ that distance.

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At Hole in the Wall Beach NBYC is installing a 200’ temporary dock for use by coach and support boats. This system has a capacity of 60-65 small power boats and will be reserved first for coach boats and then for support boats. USODA is providing numbered flags for these boats. Priority will be given to coach and support boats on a first pre-registered basis, and then on a registered basis. For more information and pre-registration forms go to the Coach and Support Boat tab or click here.

Use of the dock system is at the risk of the boat owner/driver and they should take care to have sufficient fenders to protect their boat. In the event of forecasted bad weather NBYC may require all coach and support boats leave the dock system. Such a decision will be announced at the Registration tent and posted on the Regatta Board.

Beaching of power boats is not permitted on Hole in the Wall Beach. Power boats approaching the dock system are to stay west of a line of safety buoys set up to protect the eastern area of Hole in the Wall Beach which is reserved for swimmers.

There is no commercial dockage available on Niantic Bay outside the bridges. While Niantic Bay YC occasionally has a few slips available for visitors, any such slips will be reserved as available for the 20-25 Race Committee boats, many of which are not normally berthed at NBYC.

There is commercial dockage, and 2 launch ramps for power boats, available inside the bridges. Information on marinas and launch ramps, as well as maps can be located elsewhere on this site.

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There is a special anchorage area with many private moorings located about ½ mile south of McCooks Park and Hole in the Wall Beach, and just north of Niantic Bay YC. This area is marked on the Regatta Site map. There are no commercial moorings available for rent but anchoring is permitted. While this is an anchorage that has protection in normal prevailing winds skippers should monitor weather conditions and plan their actions accordingly.

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NBYC will provide free launch service between the hours of 1:00 PM and 9:00 PM on Sunday, August 6, and 7:00 AM and 9:00 PM on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, August 7-9. This service will be from the anchorage area to the head of the Temporary Dock at Hole in the Wall Beach. The launch drivers will monitor VHF channel 78 and respond to "NBYC Opti Launch".

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Competitors wishing to practice on Niantic Bay may launch their boats off Hole in the Wall Beach on Sunday afternoon, August 6 after 1PM. There will be no NBYC Safety boats on Sunday so competitors are at their own risk. Teams wishing to practice sail on Niantic Bay before Sunday, August 6th will have to use the town and state launching ramps located on the maps provided elsewhere on this site. This will require towing the Optis under the Niantic River highway and RR bridges. Caution should be used as the currents run strongly in this area. The RR bridge in the closed position has a vertical clearance of 11 feet at high tide and a horizontal clearance of 45 feet. NBYC can provide additional information on this option to those interested by sending us an email note to opti2006 @ nbyc.org or click here.

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