So what.....Hobie has made a business decision to promote their boats exclusively. I can understand their motivation. After all, for them, it is a business and the idea is to make money. I know that this may affect some cat racers more than others. For me, this has little or no effect on my racing. I haven't raced in a Hobie Points Regatta since I got rid of my Hobie 16 in 1983. (I guess that Spring Fever doesn't count as a Hobie Regatta since I was on a Nacra 6.0.) That Hobie 16 was my first cat, and a great boat it was. I still would recommend it for someone getting into the sport. I have very fond memories sailing and racing that blue hulled pitch pole machine with the Tequila Sunrise sails. I wish I had a dollar for every tourist that took a picture of it. Sorry to digress, but the point is, what has Hobie really accomplished by "banning" X-Classers other than making a lot of people mad? Were X-Class boats invading Hobie Regattas and threatening to take over all racing? I really ask this question with some sincerity, because this is not an issue at my end of the bay. Back in 1980-1981, locally there was a real line drawn in the sand. There were Hobies and the rest of the beach cats. That line of division had faded in the late 80's with the dwindling of classes and participation. Strength in numbers meant combining classes. Now Hobie has not only redrawn that line, but highlighted it to boot. Again, Hobie has made a business decision to support and sell their boats, and not a decision to help promote cat sailing overall. This is a disappointment, and I am sorry to see things head in this direction.

I will be sending my check to NAMSA this week for membership, and will continue to support all cat sailing and racing in our area regattas. That includes welcoming Hobies to our open regattas. There still should be some class limited regattas. After all there is a place for specific classes' championships such as Hobie Continentals, Performance Nationals, and this September, the first ARC Nationals. But, locally run regattas are run by locals and they should determine who is invited, and not dictated by the "Mothership". The last thing I'd ever want to do is take any frustrations out on any individual owners just because one manufacturer feels threatened by another in friendly competetion.

Hope to see all cats at our Trident Series in the panahndle this year!

Just my 2 cents. See you on the water!