As an occasional poster (but avid reader) on this forum, I'd like to add my .02 There are a lot of us who lurk in the shadows, so to speak, on this forum but don't post often because we're intimidated by you guys who are, by comparison, experts on sailing cats. I know there are many who are heavily into racing, design, etc., and I do enjoy gleaning info (sometimes what little I can understand from my limited experience!) from their posts.

But as for me, I'm just a once-a-week recreational sailor. I've never raced (at least not formally, though we all race any time we encounter another cat going the same direction, don't we?), I wouldn't know where to start on the engineering side of things to design a cat, I've never owned a boat w/ a spin, etc. But I do love zooming along on a reach when it's really blowing, flying a hull, etc.--in short, I enjoy the classic "beach cat" experience. In that limited realm, however, I do still sometimes have questions that arise regarding equipment, technique, "what should I have done" to troubleshoot experiences, or whatever. However, for us less-than-expert sailors, it's a tad intimidating to post our elementary questions when well aware that we're on a different level than the people who post most frequently. Hey, I've posted anyway at times and gotten great help and info over the past couple of years, but I'd still like to make a case to those who are indeed experts to be careful not to stifle the input of newbies. I'm not trying to bust Robi's chops, either--in fact, I've enjoyed his posts very much--but this seems a good opportunity to address a recurring theme on this forum, which is "how to attract new people to the sport." One aspect of that is to keep a "welcome mat" attitude toward the less-than-knowledgeable who dip their toes in to test the waters, so the speak. A little encouragement goes a long way, but so does a little discouragement!

'Nuff said on my rant. Boy, do I feel better now! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />