Mark,

I certainly do appreciate and admire the effort you are putting into getting the Hobie classes rejuvenated in Division 9. You are making an impact and inspiring me to keep pushing to find new sailors as well. You are at a bit of a disadvantage because you haven't been in the area long enough to see how EMSA has evolved but we have done many of the things you have pointed out. I think the biggest misconception about EMSA is that we're some huge outfit. In reality, we're made up of about 20 to 25 sailors that are all good friends and we see each other often. I'm probably one of the most publicly outspoken of the group, but several others do a ton of work to make everything work. I don't want to list names for fear of leaving someone out - but just about everyone in the group contributes in some way. We don't have memberships or membership fees but we get it done because we're passionate and we all work together very well with very little in the way of politics.

About 5 or 6 years ago, we had over 20 regattas on our schedule and many of them were on back to back weekends. We did reduce those down to try and focus our attendance to key ones and it helped a bit. We also tried to spread regattas out more evenly throughout the calendar year but the middle summer is not the greatest time to have regattas due to a lack of wind in the region. When we have a conflict, we discuss and agree on which event we will support and everyone follows suit. Since then, our scheduled events have migrated back a little closer into the spring and fall with a lull in the mid-summer but we're pretty happy with how things are scheduled because the weather is usually more favorable in the spring and fall. There is also an aspect of politics to the schedule that if we eliminate a particular regatta we alienate the sailors that closely associated to it and it could have a negative impact on an exchange of effort on several other events. It may not be incredibly visible but we do put a good bit of thought into how our schedule is structured. Much of it leans on the previous year and we only need to discuss the details if dates and weekends change (we didn't have any of that this year). We have 10 official regattas over the course of the year. I think that's a pretty reasonable number.

The reduction in regattas several years ago resulted in the list of "official" EMSA regattas. However, we recognize that some of the classes, like the Isotopes for instance, are concentrated at one particular club. They are going to attend their regatta even though it no longer falls into the "official" list. Similarly, the Div. 9 Hobie 16 class is going to go to James Island later this year which is a one design regatta which doesn't meet EMSA needs for an "official" regatta (since the majority of our sailors would not be permitted to attend). These events still show on the schedule as "other events" because it is an important event in the area to consider and it's important to some of the sailors in the area. It's going to take place whether or not EMSA supports it. We also want all of the multihull sailors in the area to be able to find pertinent information on our site so we list those events as "other events of interest". This allows us to work around them and also keep EMSA relevant to the sailors in our area.

With regards to our lack of formal organization, we could go back to elected officers and put a structure in place but we're just not that big. We do generally have a short planned meeting every year to discuss any important matters but we are small and see each other often. We act like 20 guys sitting in a lounge because that's literally what we are. Personally, I feel like it's effective for the time being. When it gets to be like herding cats again or we have a need for funds, I'll be in favor of re-establishing some structure. The A-cat leadership, F18 leadership, F16 leadership, and our existing Hobie 16 and Hobie 18 leadership are all part of the group and the conversation. Keep in mind, though, there are only 3 or 4 active F18 sailors, 8 to 12 A-cat sailors, 4 or 5 F16 sailors, etc. in the area. Organizing our groups isn't complicated and having a conversation with any of these classes takes place at the events. If we need to buy or repair a mark, someone usually takes care of it or we make the need known and we pitch in a few bucks. Our website is hosted for free by someone that used to sail actively with us but doesn't anymore. At the end of the day, our organization works for us but I can see how looking at it from the outside-in is confusing (you are probably the only person in that unenviable position). To help, I'll be glad to point you in the right direction to discuss any issues with the right folks if you have a need.

That said, I do realize that there have been some cases where things got complicated with a few event organizers with the upstart Hobie Division 9 and I think it's mostly just a bit of a growing pain while you guys gain some footing. With regards to our regatta management, probably 2/3rds of our events have a PRO and/or organizer that is a tightly knit member of EMSA and we have some collective input on how some of those events are managed. In other cases, maybe an organizer has their own idea about how they want things or are not tightly knit within the EMSA ranks. We are often not in a position of strength (nor are we inclined in several cases) to make any kinds of demands or requirements on everyone that hosts an EMSA regatta. Frankly, we're glad that some of them are still happy to see us! (the Outback Cup, for example...we had to do some politicking just to get invited back again after we dropped it off our main event schedule one year due to a conflict with a long standing EMSA regatta). At the end of the day, we're all about getting some growth going in our sport and our groups only serve to benefit each other. Once you get to know us a little better I'm sure it will start to make more sense. In the meantime, it may help to know that I can probably point you to several people that would make a good ambassador (including myself) to work between our groups. Once we've established a working method that pleases everyone it will serve as the example and things will get smoother. Bare What you Dare will be a good opportunity to do exactly that.