I is obvious that the vast majority of those who post to this forum race their boats...There seem to be active discussion on which boats are most attractive to the racer. There is also a lot of discussion about how Catamaran sailing is not like it use to be...number wise...Just wondering what percentage of Catamaran owners actually race their boats? Mary do you have any info on that?...Just wondering if turning the focus toward more race oriented designs has alienate the public that the original Hobie Cat appealed to?

Bob

Bob, Interesting question... My guess is that the actual majority of cat owners do not race currently. I base this on the number of boats I see in yards vs. those at regattas. I would guess too that the dwindling attendance is partially due to life changes, ie...having kids. As one who has yet to race, I still am dissappointed by the drop in numbers. The weather has sucked in the Northeast this season, but even as a fun sailor, I think the regattas are FANTASTIC! Anyone with an interest in sailing should be going to at least one! There are quite a few members in my fleet that don't race. We just love to sail together, and have an awsome time. If I get enough time, I will race, if only to boost my learning curve! I missed our Regatta this weekend to go to a reunion, and work. Ordinarily only an emergency would keep me away, because I've always had such great times there, but the reunion was special. Hadn't seen some of my old friends for thirty years! I believe cat sailing with/ in a fleet, is the best sport out there. Fleet dues are a bargain! And you can get a decent Hobie 16 for as little as $800.00! Not many other sports you can get into, that offer the same sort of excitement and thrills for that kind of money.

good question bob???? every time i go out sailing and see a other cat we have a race.this is the fun of catamaran sailing.i used to go to catamaran races in holland around texel with 600 plus catamarans on the start.now ther even have more cats in thise race,in europa the cat sailors are more in to racing. hans

When the Hobie Hotline was still in business, the editor said the ratio of non-racers to racers was 2 to 1, as far as the readers of the magazine.

In the case of readers of my magazine, Catamaran Sailor, I would say the ratio is reversed -- about 2 to 1 racers to non-racers.

But neither of those statistics are particularly helpful, because it is hard to say whether the content of the magazines is determined by the readership or whether the readership is determined by the type of content in the magazines.

And taking a poll of the readers of a particular magazine or users on a forum doesn't tell us anything, either, because we are only reaching the people who are interested enough to want to be connected and to interact. That tends to be people who race, or at least care enough to want to improve their boat and/or their boat's performance.

It is very hard to make contact with most of the non-racers out there, because they are out of the loop. They don't belong to a fleet or a club and don't even know, or care, what other cat sailors are doing. It's hard to find what may be the invisible majority of cat sailors. Every time I see a cat on a trailer heading up or down the road in the Keys, I have an urge to follow them and pull them over to the side of the road and interrogate them. I don't, of course...I just go on wondering how many of them there are and where they go and how often they sail.

As far as whether more race-oriented boat designs have alienated the public, I really don't see why that would be the case. In fact, I think it would be the opposite. There are a zillion used boat models out there on the market for very good prices. There's a boat for every need.

The missing link is the brilliant marketing that was done by Hobie Alter back in the early 1970's that made a hundred thousand people want a Hobie 16. It was a novelty, like pet rocks. And most of those boats ended up up like a rock, sitting in a back yard. I can't drive down a street in the Keys without seeing a Hobie 16 sitting in somebody's yard. NONE of them are sailed.

So when you ask how many OWNERS actually race their boats, the real question is "How many owners actually SAIL their boats at all?" I would say that is a very tiny percentage. And of the beach-cat owners who sail, the number who race? No way to answer that question without having census takers at every beach, ramp, fleet and club in the country.

Just guessing, I would say that there there are less than 1,000 active racers in the U.S. And my most optimistic estimate would be that maybe there are another 1,000 that race occasionally.

Sorry, I can't go on....my version of "optimistic" is making me cry.

Mary, I must confess that when I got my first 14 in '95, I had no intention of joining a fleet, or finding new friends to sail with. I didn't have enough time for those already in my life! But one day on a walk with my father on the beach, we noticed a lot of masts on a beach two miles away. I could tell they were cats, and we got in the car and drove over to investigate. It was Fleet 448's annual ISLAND HOP,(takes place this Saturday!). The fleet members were incredibly welcoming, and aswered all sorts of questions. Within weeks I was a member! Meeting them, and joining the Fleet, has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me! Please forgive my preaching to the choir, as I do tend to rant, and rave on the subject. My attendance has been way down this year, but my spirit and convictions about my Fleet are stronger every year! Mary, thanks for the forum! Bob, thanks for the thread, and Hans, I think that new boat is VERY exciting! Brian

The question was about cat *sailors* vs cat racers, not cat *owners* vs cat racers. Almost every cat will have an *owner*, but many of the ones you see in yards are not *sailed*, only *owned*. My guess is that of cats owned (100%), 80% are sailed, but only 20% are raced.