Probabley mentioned this before but a number of catsailors have raced in prof. series , a number raced in the Ultimate Yacht race series for prize money ,also seen on NBC Sports ,-In 3 classes Hobie 21s -J-24s and Ultimate 30s

We won the Ultimate Y R in the 21 Class in the New London Mystic area in the fall of 88 , Oct,-{-very cold on Long Island Sound }-we won 5 k and were on t v ,-a great weekend and very exciting at the time .

Also during the same year was PROSAIL on H-21s and Formula 40s ,-Randy ,-Tom Blackaller , and a number of well known sailors with large sponsors and budgets were on the 40s ,-the 21s were a good show too, Races were in Miami ,Corpus Cristy ,Newport R I , Great Lakes, San Fransisco,-some of the breezyest areas in the country to insure spills and thrills for spectators .



On board cameras ,-blimps for areal shots , chase boats with large screen t v are needed along with commentators that understand the sport to present it correctly .They did not have these things in place ,and GPS s were not yet available.

We did have on water judges to avoid protests in the Ultimate series ,-if they raised a flag at you in a situation you did your circles or retire ,--good idea .



The braintrust in Prosail eventually desided to eliminate most all rules and start the fleet along the beach for spectator interest ,--what a mess ,--in Miami one of their last events they tried this ,-- imagine 30 H-21s with wings all starting on a reach along shore and all arriving at the A mark at the same time with no rules ,-whew ,-it was the charriot races in ancient Rome all over,-boats and wings locked up ,lots of cursing , boats run up on marks which was now o k ,-they thought this would make it more interesting and easily understood by non sailing spectators ,--be carefull when trying to make this a spectator sport ,-people are capable of understanding the basics of the sport , don't sell them short--Prosail folded shortly after for various reasons.



Carl