I see this as the right time and place for everything. I am NOT against any other cats.

I don't see how polluting the HCA goals and objectives with the goals and objectives of other classes is a good idea. This has not worked in the past, and can be viewed as a contributor to the current state that Brian mentions (of course, there were other factors). SMOD was even adopted by NENSA for a while to push to get upwards of 13 Nacra 6.0NAs on the line at some of our regattas. Open class racing was simply not getting it done in New England, other areas reported the same issue.

For me, this is very simple, yet so complex (paraphrased from BTE)...

I own a Hobie, and want my primary racing to be done with as many other SMOD Hobies as possible.

I also occasionally enjoy racing in distance races, where the "necessary evil" means racing handicap (my issue with this has to do with the scoring issues that have been hashed out ad nauseum on this forum, not being anti-Brand ABC Catamaran).

I also enjoy running regattas for ALL types of boats. Optis, Lasers, lead mines, etc. My favorite races are cats, because not only is it more fun to sail, but it's also more fun to watch faster boats.

So, yes, I can be interested in the health of the Hobie class as a SMOD entity, and be interested in catsailing in general.

Based on some postings here, that seems to be something that certain individuals cannot compute, but I assure you that is more of a reflection of them than me.

Pat, if I ever even get a trophy at Madcatter, I'll probably have the boat bronzed...

Mike