OK, first Mark’s question (thanks, Dave for doing the research). It certainly appears from the attendance numbers that the Hobie MWE has not benefited terrifically from Hobie Cat Co. support. An argument could be made that it wouldn’t have existed without it. I don’t know how much support was provided to HMWE – like I said in an earlier post, I’ve been disconnected from the politics in the past couple of years. There are probably a number of factors involved in the disparity between the events, not the least of which is the competition between the two. I know that I would have to choose one over the other – I can’t do both in one year. This year, I’ve chosen the Hobie MWE because I think the competition in the 16’s will be much stiffer – and I need to train for the 16 Worlds in May.

I can’t comment on the quality of either event, because I didn’t have the opportunity to go to any of them. I did hear from people that went to SF that it had gotten too big for it’s venue (we should all have that problem!). They still had a good time.

As for budget / numbers, I can only comment about my tenure as NAHCA Sec./Treas/Chairman (’92-‘99). The income/expense statements were printed every year in the NAHCA News and were distributed to anybody that wanted them at the NAHCA AGM. They’re not secret. I still have the Quicken files on my computer – how else do you think I was able to quote detailed amounts in a previous post? I’ve never seen the financial statements from an event, though, Hobie or otherwise (except ones I’ve done myself). It would be good from an accountability standpoint. Has Nigel ever published the financials from SF?

As for Mike’s questions, I’m not “upset” about the title of the thread. I just pointed out the subtle difference to Rick. I noticed that the headline on the main page was changed almost immediately (thanks, Rick). I also know that Mary likes to “stir the pot.” It makes for impassioned posts and juicy reading. I used to do the same thing when I was the editor of the NAHCA News. Nothing wrong with trying to generate reader interest, as long as you stick to the truth and are evenhanded about it.

As for proposed sanctions, they really haven’t been seriously discussed yet. I know the NAHCA officers are still trying to deal with the immediate fallout from the bomb they dropped. I think they’ve learned a hard lesson about communication, and they’ll be a lot more input into how this whole thing will work over the next year.