As of this morning the Alter Cup Committee has voted, the 2009 US Multihull Championship will be held on Australian High Performance Catamarans Viper F16 in central Florida sometime in the fall.

Kevin Rejda
US Multihull Championship Chair

1-up, 2-up, or both?

SWEET!!
Bob is gonna race a F16!!

2-up

In fall, interesting. What part of central FL? Are we talking shoreline or lake sailing?

Sounds like Lake Eustis Sailing Club will be hosting, what a great venue if that is true.

I hope they wait until at least October for some wind and less thunderstorms if it's inland. Or is it going to be at Gulfport or Clearwater or Melborne?

A venue has not been selected, the decision to use the Viper was only made this morning and I can only move so fast. . .

How is the boat chosen?

Is it a case of the manufacturer who is in the position to provide the appropiate number of boats?

So much for working together on this Kevin. I am absolutley shocked at the lack of courtesy you have extended me on this, after the trouble I have gone to on your behalf. Incredible.

I have to agree with Chris on this one, Kevin. You've managed, in very short order, to piss off the largest multihull class in North America. You have much to learn when it comes to courtesy and protocol.

Some background for everyone else:
Some time ago, Hobie Cat USA was approached to provide boats for the Alter Cup. The original plan was to use the Hobie 16 w/spin boats that will be used for the US qualifier to the ISAF Youth Worlds in Brazil. The boats would be used for that event, then the Alter Cup, then be shipped to Brazil for the ISAF event.

The Alter Cup was to be held at Mission Bay Yacht Club in late March. They had even gotten so far as to select a PRO for the event.

Unfortunately, there is an on-going issue within the IHCA regarding the H-16 w/spin. North America is adamantly opposed to introducing another class variant. Europe has been pushing the spin hard for the last five years and so far has managed to get it included in the class rules for "special youth events only". To have an adult event in the H-16 w/spin would severely weaken North America's position against the spinnaker.

Since holding an adult Alter Cup in H-16 w/spin is not consistent with the class rules, Kevin approached Chris to poll the HCA-NA Board to allow the spin in the Alter Cup. The HCA-NA Board did not approve the proposal. Hobie Cat Co. was prepared to supply the boats without spinnakers, but at additional cost ($7,000 vs. $5,000) to strip the hardware off the boats.

While we understand your desire not to get involved in class politics, and that it would have been more expensive, you caused Chris and the HCA-NA board to waste their time - and then insult them by not so much as making a phone call to let him know of your committee's decision.

Poor form.

Too all that are reading, as you know, I was the chairman for this event for the last couple of years and, for a several different reasons that I'm not going to get into here, I fell down in my responsibilities this year as it relates to paving the way for the 2009 Alter Cup Championship. Kevin and others at US Sailing have worked very hard to pick up the pieces in the last couple of weeks to ensure that it happens in 2009. They're literally scrambling to quickly fill the vacuum I left in my wake.

That said, you guys are mad - and I understand that...but you're airing a lot of dirty laundry at a guy who literally stepped into the position a couple of weeks ago. Cost is a HUGE problem for the event in 2009 and I'm excitied for Kevin and the multihull committee that they've found, what I presume to be, a more affordable alternative to keep costs down for the competitors.

Yep, it sounds like the protocol would have been to call the Hobie camp first but I wouldn't say Kevin "wasted" anybody's time - I know Kevin wanted the H16 w/ spin deal to work out in conjunction with the youth championship. If you guys want to get mad, get mad at me for putting Kevin in a position that he had to act at an incredibly accelerated pace. I'm sorry for putting all of you in this late position.

This is, as Jake said, an airing of laundry that really isn't necessary. And if anyone deserves the blame, the buck stops right here. I am the one that called Hobie Cat and asked about using the boat. I didn't consider how the Class would feel about that - completely my fault. Once the IHCA and the HCANA e-mails started flying, I was caught off guard and Kevin was blindsided. There wasn't a win-win available in the end and I deeply regret my mistake. MBYC understands the situation and there are no hard feelings there. Can we leave it at that and move on?

No good deed goes unpunished.

Listen, I am not trying to make a federal case out of this. I am a bit put off by the fact that we had a good conversation, i told him what to expect and he agreed that whatever the outcome, it would be okay. I went out to the div chairs who in turn went to their fleets and asked EVERYONE if giving a one time pass on the class rules would be okay for the Alter Cup event? It got everyone talking about it positively, I even heard alot more discussion about participating from the 16 guys. Well, once it didn't go their way, I didn't get an acknowlegement of the email I sent to Kevin, nor did I get wind of the Boat change. I was asking alot of the Div chairs and fleets in the HCA-NA to get this poll done quickly and with minimum of fanfare and did my best to pave the road. Now, I feel like I was pissing into the wind. I am not mad about the boat change, that's their deal. I just would have liked to know about it, so I could tell the Hobie guys about it, rather than them reading about it on a catamaran forum.
You guys gotta do what you gotta do. To bad we couldn't figure out a way to all do it together.

This one's for you, JW:

I don't think it was wasted effort - the end result was a clear signal that US SAILING needs to respect the wishes of the largest fleet in North America. As volunteers rotate through positions within the association, that is a message that should get reiterated periodically lest some knucklehead put his foot in it.

Fair enough. I DO know for a fact, that the Youth Director and BOD of HCA-NA is in full support of the Youth Event in Long Beach in January and is making every effort to get Hobie Teams there.
Thanks and good luck with your event.
Chris Wessels
HCA-NA

deleted extra post

the only "poor form" I see here are the hobie people. it doesn't sound likr anything intentional but mere business. if hobie will not allow a change then move on to someone who will accommodate the alter cup requisites. to charge an additional $2000 to "remove hardware" is rediclous. kevin, thanks for coming to the rescue of the cup, that is what is important anyway.

Just a clarification, the charter fee for the boats was agreed to be $7000 with the spins. When it became apparent the spins would not be allowed, the charter fee did not change. The charter fee in the past has been $5000, maybe that is the reason for the confusion.