WOW what a marathon!
I have been a catsailor in Australia for thirty years. I have been a Hobie dealer for more than half of those. I've seen the boom and I've seen the bust. Things here appear similar to how they are in the USA.
People still love catamaran SAILING but they increasingly couldn't give a rats rectum about catamaran RACING. Maybe that is because the racing fraternity is full of painfully opinionated people who bleat on, with utopian ideals?
Right now I can't get enough used Hobie Cats. Everybody wants one but no one turns up to racing regattas.
Over the years, I've conducted youth training and regattas. I have sponsored and run many racing clinics. I formed the F18 class here. Our racing numbers are still declining.
I am glad that I have a rotomold range of boats and sailing kayaks to sell and make money from, so that I can stay in business long enough for Catamaran racing to become popular again.(if it ever happens)
Instead of criticizing Hobie for choosing to run a business in a way so that it EXISTS in the future, may I suggest that some of you could use your energy to promote the sport.
Some plastic boats are recyclable
Well, again, I don't anyone here begrudges the fact that Hobie makes what it makes to stay in business - we're happy about that, really. But people here are bummed that our side of the sport seems to not be in Hobie's business plan anymore.
Also - be careful, lots of us here are actively involved in keeping the sport going and growing. If it weren't for some of our efforts the sport would already be gone in more areas than it is. I feel bummed that the Hobie dealer literally around the corner from our Fleet has no interest in what is going on in their backyard simply because they feel the day of 100 boat regattas is over. Maybe if there was a little interest we could help bring those days back. In the meantime our new OD fleets are A-Cat, Nacra-20, and probably soon to be F-16. In addition to the regular open class (I mean X-boats).
We have continued to pull 14 boats for every Tuesday night race this year. While that doesn't sound like much, that's up from just around 5 boats a few years ago, and it's every Tuesday night. And that's in addition to the A-Cat and N-20 OD schedule that also goes on In Galesville for the West River Sailing club.
Anyways, I wish continued success to Hobie and all its dealers. I also can't wait to see what's next out of Vectorworks.
