so you won't accuse me of any hidden agenda, for the record, i am a supporter to keeping hobie events purely hobie (i.e. not x-class). here are my reasons so you can better understand at least one point of view.

as i see it, there are two issues. the first, and probably the biggest, is the question of one-design racing vx. handicap. i race big boats handicap, but personally prefer to race dinghies one-design. if the hobie events are open to x-class, the tendency is to draw sailors away to non-hobie boats, thereby depleting the one-design racing. this is due to the claim made earlier -- non-hobies tend to be faster boats. when racing, sailors like to be ahead, even at the cost of possibly losing out on corrected time. so over time, an x-fleet will draw sailors away from the hobie fleet and into the x-fleet. as a one-design proponent, i would like to preserve fleet sizes because that is really the carrot to one-design racing -- large classes.

hobies, despite whatever design flaws, slowness, or other poking they may take, have endured as a one-design class for nearly 40 years. i am not sure, long-term, that this beach cat craze -- particularly with respect to spinnaker boats -- will survive. it may, i don't know. but with all of the various manufacturers splintering the market, it puts increased pressure on the cohesiveness. in any case, hobie has already weathered that stage. i would prefer that hobie stay out of the x-class thing until such time that it matures and develops into a long-term class.

second -- and i know this is gonna sound corny and open me up to all kinds of chiding -- there is a magic that is lost when x-class comes to a hobie regatta. the term 'hobie way of life' refers to that unexplainable magic. i don't expect anyone except a small group of hobie sailors to understand what i am talking about -- particularly non-hobie sailors. but for me, it is an important issue.

all of the other beach cats are wonderful boats. i don't hold any grudges. indeed, i think many of them are probably superior to the hobie cat. but for this one-design sailor, hobie cat has the fleet. heck, i'd sail a (catamaran!!) bathtub, if it was one design with a large fleet!!

i realize some areas of the country aren't that strong in hobie cats. maybe in those areas the hobies can race handicap in non-hobie cat races, i dunno. in any case, i think we apply a little darwinian theory to those situations and let nature and the market takes its course.