Bob
A suitable class to partner with???!... in 2010?Once again, You and NAHCA are using the wrong model/paradigm to manage the Classes and Hobie Yacht Clubs you micromanage.
Facts on the ground are the only things that matter looking forward (ignoring the past specifically our differences in describing or analyzing it) Consider:
Yacht Clubs own the water access and cat sailors will need to adapt to this world... or be left high, dry and dead! IMO, Your NEW Yacht Club policy is about 10 years LATE and COMPLETELY INADEQUATE for the pressing problem.
In Dan Delave's Original Post.... He was mildly disappointed with what he thought was a final decision on F18's. But in his part of the world..... Tiger /NAHCA stuff is irrelevant. He has too many yacht clubs asking to host F18 regattas then he has sailors. Just like the Chesapeake, New England, and the South. Hobie NAHCA Control of Hobie racing at the Hobie Yacht Club level was and has been irrelevant... ! IMO, It's silly to talk about what is a suitable class to partner with in this 21st century world. ... as Rick White of the IWCA waves said... "Hey we are fat dumb and happy and don't need or care about NAHCA organized racing opportunities". The F18 Class, per John Williams is ambivalent about a change in policy. F16 Class.... They are looking at YC's to host them. A Class?... no chance in hell....
Nevertheless, I am very glad that you (collectively) feel you are back in control and can loosen up on micromanaging Hobie Yacht clubs and what classes they host. (For the record, I think your F18 Bylaw problem is a paperwork problem which is solvable pretty quickly). Getting the F18's to Syracuse, Rochester etc is a good step ( I hope they go). But, PLEASE get the dink back on course and address the most worrisome part of Dan's original post!
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.
Let me guess.... He is talking about the Hobie 16 sailors who are ACTUALLY freeloading on the Yacht Club system in So Cal...
I really want to make this point again! When Hobie Paper Yacht Clubs ARE competing with Yacht Clubs for sailor participation. HOBIE WILL LOSE! (Real bathrooms TRUMP porta potties for women 99.9% of the time).
"Classes to partner with" is a silly paradigm when it comes face to face with the real world issue of a porta potty and my wife!
It's not what other classes should the "Hobie association" partner with... rather, it's what
Yacht Clubs should
Hobie Yacht Clubs partner with in each region to have catamaran racing and their own organization survive.
Minimally, the NAHCA should REFOCUS and RETHINK their relationship with the existing Yacht clubs in this country. Do you want to compete for participation with them? Do you think that Paper Yacht Clubs that take over public beaches one weekend a year is a program that will attract new catamaran sailors and new catamaran racers in the 21st century? Which is easy to find for a newbie... a Hobie Paper Yacht Club racing for one weekend at Gunpowder St Park in early May or a Yacht Club in Annapolis...called the Annapolis Yacht Club (for example)?
At the very least NAHCA should make it clear that Hobie Fleets and Hobie Class members should join their local Yacht clubs when they use the Yacht Club system to support their racing (eg So Cal). Leadership by NAHCA should guide new partnerships in the future in areas where it can be developed or strengthened ... NAHCA must have a robust philosophy about how to integrate their paper yacht clubs with the existing Yacht Club world... It's not just adult racing... but also junior sailing would be enhanced dramatically as well.
Finding a way to keep what is an essential piece of catamaran racing experience in America... the Hobie Beach Regatta as well as the existing and future partnerships with Yacht clubs is the only future that I can see. Either you put in place policies and directives that makes this happen or you will find your selves on the outside of the Yacht Club system and the Hobie 16 only class will fade to irrelevance.
