Lots of stuff here, I'm not going to touch on things that have been answered already.

As for Madcatter being a points regatta or not, it does have an impact. This is an Area Championship, which is a step up a notch for normal points regattas, funds are provided by the HCA to take it up a bit, and points count 1.5 times normal. Under the current rules, these are required to be Hobie-only. Division 16 has strong rivalries for points totals. Not saying people would stop going if the points status went away, but it would certainly upset a lot of folks.

To my knowledge, there was no attempt to hide anything from the HCA membership. Posting here is not the same as giving information to our members, as many of you complaining the loudest here are not even members. The bylaws report was distributed to Division chairs, the real voting power in the HCA. From there, they are free (and expected) to share this info with their members, to decide how to proceed.

As others have noted, this is a subject ripe for emotional discussion, and Chris is really trying to conduct this in a rational manner.

Bob said, "There is however a benefit to be had by the two organizations working together so that regatta attendance can be maintained at a level that allows the events to remain viable. In fact this is exactly how every Regional Hobie Class outside of North America operates. No part of the HCA or IHCA bylaws prohibits this."

I'd like to hear more about this, perhaps this is the way to go with the proposal.

FOR THE RECORD: First, I'm just the membership dude, and have no vote. I don't have a Tiger. I'm from Division 12, which lost lots of Hobie sailors over the years (lots of reasons for this) to the point of now having only one points regatta, in ME. I have quite a few friends that now sail F18s, and only get to see them once or twice a year now.

I think the real long-term solution is to work harder to get more new sailors on Hobies. If having F18s at HCA events will help keep regattas from going away, I'm in favor of finding something that will work within the rules we're governed by, being very careful about what we change. I feel somewhat strongly that we should only open this invitiation to classes in which HCC manufactures a boat (in other words, no monohulls, etc.). BUT, we shouldn't kid ourselves that inviting the F18 class will solve all the problems, we really need new blood.

All of that is me speaking as a strong advocate of HCA. As a Race Officer, I don't care what shows up, if the OA invited you, I'll work like a dog to give you the best racing possible.

Mike