Hi David, you wrote : "Most of us are not getting paid for this and we are giving Hobie free advertising (web sites,logos on shirts, etc.)".

Sam Evans put me in my place for asking some questions & making my opinion known, so please excuse me for not having US "local knowledge" on this subject. Seems like a lot of folks have a lot to get upset about, so it must be a big deal. The way I see it, Hobie are saying "Guys, we`d like to run our own HOBIE CLASS regattas, and won`t be hosting an open class at these events. We also don`t want the HOBIE logo associated with regattas at which ALL the boats aren`t Hobies."
The problem for some open class racers seems to be they will lose an infrastructure to piggy-back onto, in areas where there aren`t enough of them to sustain their own open class fleet & host their own regattas, and where the Hobie class is strong & is doing all the work. My suggestion here is for these poor souls to abstain from assisting in the organising or running of these events & leave all the work for Hobie sailors to do. It`s what they are asking for. And it sounds like if you sail a TheMightyHobie18, H14 or H17, you are regarded by Hobie as not being part of their family (please correct me if I`m wrong, will they allow these boats at the Hobie only regattas ?) If I`m right, the open class guys should welcome these Hobie outcasts in their fleet and get more open class sailors back on the water.
Which brings me to my next point : You don`t drive a Ford pickup with a sticker on it that says "I`d rather have a Chevy", do you ? So, STOP advertising for Hobie, when asked by outsiders what you sail, don`t say " a catamaran", say " a PRINDLE cat, or a NACRA cat, OR an INTER-20 cat", or whatever you sail. Get the H word out of the general public`s mind, stop doing their advertising for them. It`s what they`re asking you to do. It`s a real pity that one company can start this "us & them" mindset in the world of cat-sailing, rise above it all, hold open-class events & invite Hobie sailors (remember they didn`t decide on this, the Company whose only interest is MAKING MONEY out of cat-sailing did.)
And another thing : When someone hoists a H flag or banner, or even wears an 'H' T-shirt at an open event like Texel where they are exposing their logo to THOUSANDS of sailors of non-H boats at which you are on the organising committee, kindly ask them to remove it, as you would like to avoid action being taken against you by their mother company. If you only do what they ask, they will quietly dissappear into the backwaters of extinction and won`t bother anyone anymore. (And don`t get upset with ME for writing this, it`s only what I`ve understood from the letters they sent out.) I`ve been trying to break down the mindset of "us & them" where I sail, and this news hasn`t made things any easier.

Regards
Steve