If you see me at more than three races in the next 12 months we will both be surprised. I sail at the beach for fun and thrills. I'm not a serious racer and never was or will be. The amount of beaching I do says, NO CLAMSHELL. I am not careful enough with the boat to warrant a race boat. Had I known the differences I would have never bought the Fox but I and my local dealer thought the Fox, if kept on wheels ,would be a great boat for a long time. I have owned a 18 since 1984 and didn't own wheels until 2002. The 18 has served me well and continues to do so. Really just wanted the spin, but got a little carried away. Going to race it at Ya Gotta because thats my dealers race, maybe at Cat fever because my dad and I used to go in the early '80s. Outback Cup, for the food and good climate for camping. Loose on the Neuse, maybe, because thats Trey's race and he has set-up my boat. If Ya Gotta goes well, we'll see. Sailboat racing conflicts with Mt. bike racing schedules and fall is good offshore fishing. Again, just want to represent the boat properly, don't think I'm any real competition for anyone.
Don't let any of the banter here on this subject make you shy. Few things get people's blood boiling like politics and/or handicap ratings.
Take the boat and go racing, and go racing as much as your heart desires. Don't let any of this make you apologize for setting up your boat the way you wanted it. To represent it with no questions, provide the numbers calculated both ways for all wind ranges, let committee choose which one to use. Then go out there with the resolve to make them want to use the faster rating against you because you're gonna kick butt otherwise. Then kick butt anyway. Enjoy it, learn from it, keep at it. Maybe you'll start a new Hobie-18 craze...
