Matt,

I am going to take issue with several of your points.

You said
" It is a fact of business life that products reach the end of their sales cycle at some point."

I say every market you can name is somewhat cyclic. To make long term decisions based on sales figures during a down cycle is short sighted and irresponsible. To abandon all of the customers that have made your company what it is today is just plain arrogant. If it weren't for your loyal customers, your company would have never made it to the point of recovery. Now that the company is cutting the fat hog on the rotomold products to abandon virtually all of your other classes * is corporate arrogance at it's worst. Here's a question you might want to think about, what is HCC going to do when the Chinese or the Koreans start building better rotomold products at half the price of yours and you don't have anything else left in the wagon to sell ?
*(Excepting of course the H-16,and it is my understanding that just in the past few years started to sell enough units to save itself)

You said
"We cannot continue to build a product when that-product requires the purchase of large lots of materials where much of it would go unused."

I say your company is taking the easy way out and not looking very hard at options that would allow you to continue to build these boats and remain profitable. Reach out to the customers, many of them have ideas and resources that you haven't even yet considered. Talk to the Class Association, come clean about what it might take to keep these fleets alive. Think outside the box. Try to find ways to save the fleets that made your company great instead of focusing on the excuses for killing the class's

You said
"We will, of course, continue to support Hobie 20 replacement part needs through our Parts and Accessories department as we are the 14, 17, 18, 21"

In other words, you will continue to sell parts as long as it suits you AND is profitable. I wish I could just skim the cream in my business too.

You said
"I believe we will continue to be the leader in bringing new sailors into sailing in general... and high performance sailing specifically as these consumers progress in their sailing experience".

I believe you are rolling your smokes at both ends. Your Company doesn't bring anyone into sailing !
There are huge area's of the country that don't even have a Hobie dealer, and even larger area's where the Hobie dealer is all but invisible.
Here in Colorado, we only have ONE sailboat retailer left, and he is hanging on by a thread.
YOUR BEST SALES PEOPLE ARE THE PEOPLE SAILING YOUR PRODUCTS.
And you are systematically abandoning them
Oh, and if you look at the percentages of "performance sailors" compared to families and weekend warriors, your have a screwed up idea of what your target market should be.

You said
"This is a company run by excellent management and very intelligent engineers along with a staff that all get a say in product development.

I say, You may have good management but your marketing and customer relations department leaves a lot to be desired.
Intelligent engineers are great, one of the best engineers I ever knew was at the same time the poorest businessmen I ever knew. He spent most of his life broke until he hired someone to manufacture and market his product. Once he did that, he was financially successful as well. Point being if you are letting engineers have input to marketing and sales departments, you are fools. Let engineers do what engineers do and tell them to stay the heck out of marketing.
Market your strengths, you have strong stable great fleets out there full of great salespeople. Find a way to support them, they will support you back in ways you cannot even imagine. Oh yeah and while you are at it, keep the accountants in their place too.

You said
"A company that is now 10 times the size and, once again, successful at what we do. A company that continues to sell quality products for people who love to sail. A company that still has half its line of sailboats in glass production."

I say, hurrah for you, if you are so damn successful, why do you keep cutting great boats out of production because of a cyclic downturn in the market.
The pendulum WILL swing the other way. But if you have discontinued everything but the H-16 you leave the entire market open to your competitors.
Quality product??? Singular, One, an only lonely H-16 for the weekend/family sailor that likes to compete in a class.
Half its line of sailboats in glass production?
The Tiger is built in Europe!
The 16 is now built in Australia!
Like it or not, the Tiger is too much boat for many people.
Like it or not, the H-16 is NOT a one size fits all boat.
Like it or not, the future of class catamaran racing is not going to be the Wave or the Getaway.
Last but not least, nature abhors a vacuum, and like it or not, your customer base will drift away to your competitors.

You said
"Sorry fellas, I take this quite personally."


Matt, I have loved my Hobie 18 from the first day I sailed it over 27 years ago.
I have preached to anyone that would listen that a Hobie was the only boat to buy.
To watch your company abandon me and my friends, well, I take it quite personally too.


Respectfully,
Stephen Cooley
Hobie Division 5 Chairman