As a new person, I find comments like “me, me, me” to be unproductive for the future of the sport. In Dave’s defense, when I reached out to him about getting HCA points status for Kelley Park River Regatta he was more than happy to help out.

His assistance we very much needed, I’m trying to get a Hobie Division back off the ground, and he is trying to get visibility, attendance, and recognition for a Regatta he works hard to support.

We are working together for mutual survival. This is critical for both of us.

I did not take his comments as “me, me, me”. We all have our reasons for being in the sport, and we need to work together to understand what those reasons are and how the all come together the best.

I commented on this post in the beginning because it was surprisingly a free of attacks on one another. And I found it to be productive to all our issues. Its not often that there is a good discussion amongst Hobie HCA representatives and other non Hobie sailors. This post also appears to be the first post where there is constructive attempt to discuss the future, and not dwell on the Hobie edict past.

I’ve been reading Catsailor forums ever since I got into sailing a couple of years ago, but have been hesitant to contribute due to all the negativity and attacks. Please understand, that has been hurting the sport also, and keeps others on the side. I have sometimes thought that Catsailor is going to die a slow death, as all the grumpy old men die off.

It does not have to be that way.

I still believe our to largest issues are:

--Not enough sailors, so what can we do to grow the sport
--Too many different boats, which dilutes the fleets especially with limited sailors to sail them.

Fred
HCA Division 8 Chair