There was a proposal brought to the Hobie Cat Class Association of North America that would allow Formula 18s to race in Hobie Class regattas. I know it has been talked about many times before so it may not come as a surprise to you that the proposal was shot down by “The Bylaws Committee”.

We, The Bylaws Committee, find unanimously, that the proposal to allow F-18s to race, beyond the currently allowed "three open class regattas" per year, will violate several key points of the Bylaws as currently written. In order to instate the proposal, one or more of the Bylaws will have to be changed.

I guess it never really got to a class vote as “The Bylaws Committee” got a hold of it before that could happen.

I think there are parts of the country that this could have been nice not just for the left out Formula 18s but also to give the Tigers and Wildcats more competition. In certain parts of the country it may be hard to find Yacht Clubs to put on enough races allowing the high performance boats their due. The Hobie Class may have been able to round that out with a couple more if that were the case.

In my area it may be just the reverse. I think that we have plenty of clubs interested in the Formula 18 fleet that we can get way more venues than we could put on the calendar. In some cases there are invitations to the Hobie Class to race even though not many are members of any affiliate club. Maybe it is to lure members when they see what a nice time it is (bar, food, showers). Most of the Formula 18 members in our area are affiliated with an appropriate club which allows us to be part of the Yachting scene. I encourage any who are not to do so…it is only right.

Think about this though: We are now sailing very expensive boats. It is a bit easier to take care of them in Yacht Club environments. I would encourage you to find a club you are comfortable with and check out how many catamaran owners are members. You can also find out if there is a cheaper affiliation club which is allowed to participate in their regattas. If you do not have enough races in your area find out if they are willing to add you to the lineup. Most of them are going to be pleased you asked. They will get more registrations and a cool class to watch.

Later,
Daniel DeLave
NAF18 - West Coast Rep.