Originally Posted by Bajan_Bum
I got your drift now. I never could understand the philosophy or psychology of big money in some of the sports today. I can understand Nascar (though I'm not a fan) and TDF (still not a fan), but there are several others that I won't pay $1 to watch.

Be that as it may, as in other sports, the cat builders might have to start diverting some revenues into some form of advertising to get more people at least interested in cat sailing. In my 26 years of living in the US, I can't recall seeing one cat builder advertising catamarans anywhere in mass media. Sea Ray created their own program "Port-o-Call", which aired on the Water Channel. And Larson made a commercial "Great American Boater" look like a TV program. I cannot even find the Hobie dealer at the boat show, and if I do, there are no catamarans there.

So in my opinion, the cat builders will have to take part of the blame for the inability to generate sponsorships. Without advertising, I doubt very much there are going to be increasing numbers of catamaran enthusiasts, racing or recreational, to increase the popularity of the sport ... at least in the US. There are just going to be us trading up and/or buying new ones when the current ones get old.


I agree and I have never understood why Hobie, Nacra and anyone else don't seem to advertise in all the outdoor sporting/camping/biking/hiking/kayaking/skateboard/Xgames, etc. type magazines. They only seem to advertise in the sailing magazines, which is preaching to the converted.

When I had my Nacra I wanted to buy a T shirt. None exist.

I wanted to buy a window sticker for my tow vehicle. None exist.

I wanted to buy a hat. None exist.

It's like they want to keep it top secret!

And the last Hobie dealer I talked to said he's selling just about 100% kayaks, Fishing Kayaks, not too many cats. So there you go.


Blade F16
#777