it would be nice to build a fleet (Hobie or otherwise) in the Charlotte/Ft. Myers area.

I'm sure the Hobie dealer sells stuff a non-hobie sailor might need (lines, blocks, apparel, a kayak, etc)?

and I venture that just because someone currently doesn't sail a hobie, that they might not consider sailing one in the future... I see a handful of beat-up Prindles down here (not sailing, but still)

But yes, if Hobie NA/world supports their local dealers and wishes they form Hobie-only groups, you can't argue with $ in hand vs. potential $ from non-hobie folks.

Shawn of the Dead is still the best zombie movie ever

Yeah, I got confused there too, thinking he was the new organizer of the Charlotte Harbor regatta, not just a dealer trying to create a fleet in the area...

Turning the current Charlotte Harbor regatta into a Hobie-only event would be a downer, but I don't believe he was proposing to do that?

The thread title is "Help us build a SW Florida Hobie Fleet"

But the regatta is not Hobie only. From their site:

right, but his opening comment referenced the Charlotte regatta, and that threw me off.

Zombies aren't really sharp, so....

Personally, I got a chuckle at the "Zombie" comment. Hobie-edict is like brains around here.

damnit, I wasn't going to jump in this again but look....

It was Hobie's / Hobie Class association ball game. They did something with their operation that they thought was worth while. You may not like the reasons, may not have thought it would be successful, and may not think it was for the better of our sport as a whole. I wasn't a fan of it and was pretty public about it, I also didn't think it worked out for them that well. However, whatever you think, it was what it was and they had the right to do it with their organization. If someone wants to step up and help Charlotte Harbor run their regatta and wants to push to open up new fleets to promote their brand, fine.

I do hope, for the sake of the sport as a whole, that they would realize that they probably open up their market a little by being more inclusive and welcoming to all cat sailors - but if they're putting up the effort, it's their game, so be it. More than likely, you, me, we, can offer the same services to the club/regatta and get our way too.

As far as Charlotte Harbor goes, there CAN be too many boats at a regatta. If that's the genuine case, then kudos to them for keeping things manageable and not impacting the event by trying to make it so big that it affects everyone's experience negatively.

Jake, this is spot-on. Except that they already tried the open thing, but it had the opposite effect than you describe. Some will jump in here and say, that was caused by product offerings and dealer support, but that's also beyond our control as sailors, other than voting with our wallets.

Mike

It really is pathetic when someone (dealer or otherwise) starts a post about genuinely trying to reinvigorate a fleet and you guys turn it into the same old anti-Hobie pissing match. No wonder the sport is fading away. You guys need to get away from the computer screen and go for a sail or something. Seriously.



sm

The sport was/is in decline for various reasons that we're all dealing with - Hobie's declining cat business had nothing to do with the HCA allowing an open class racing....but, didn't someone just point out that Hobie had nothing to do with the decision - it was HCA?


aaa..I got drug in again. I'm over and out.

John, who started this post, I'm hear to help get involved with a Hobie Fleet in SWFlorida.

I live in Fort Myers/Cape Coral, and getting into sailing (not to mention beachcats) has not been easy at all in this area, I can only imagine that starting a Sailing Business in this area is 100 times harder. Thanks in advance for your efforts.

I do think that we have some very viable options for sailing in this area, perhaps some just don't know about it, and the visibility of a local fleet would be a great help. In March it will be only 2 years since I got into sailing, and it has not been easy to either find a spot to launch, AND to find someone to sail with that I can learn from.

The best place I found to launch and sail my Hobie 16 is off the Sanibel Causeway. Other than the $9 toll to get over the bridge, it is actually a very decent option for sailing in the Ft.Myers area, and offers good beach launching options. I typically launch from either side of the causeway island closer to sanibel. If the winds are out of the North or west, then I launch from the north side of the island and sail in the area between the causeway, Picnic island and St. James City. Nice flat water most of the time. Kind of like the bay side in the keys. (aside from the water color).

If the winds are out of the east or the south, then the southern side of the island is better, and I sail in the large area between the causeway, south Ft. Myers beach and the Sanibel Light house.

The only trick to the causeway is to make sure you protect yourself and your boat from the significant amount of large sea shells all over the place. Not a problem since I got a set of beach wheels and some sailing footwear!!

In order to sail with other Hobie sailors I have to drive 2 hours to either St. Pete and sail with the Gulfport Yacht Club folks, or to Ft. Lauderdale beach and sail with the Cat44 guys. Both groups have been very supportive and helpful, and I would like to be part of a group in my area to grow the sport more.

So count me in.

If HCA's decision was soooo great, then why did they die off in the Houston/Galveston area? Did that help the Hobie factory much? I'm guessing it didn't. TCDYC was spawned because of it, so I guess that was a good thing. Miller? I'm still shaking my head at your post, I guess because I expected that over on the Hobie forum.

seems this guy was willing to partner with other boats from the get-go.. that was before he saw "the writings on the wall"

Simple contraction. Not every area survived the decline of interest in "sailing"... this was not a Hobie-only event as you recall. Now there is no other active class like the HCA... all while Hobie Cat Company has grown to the point we were able to buy out the factory in France and become a World Wide Company once again. Times in the late 80s and early 90s were very lean. Did we make the right decisions on what product to focus on? How to properly market what we had? I'd say our success answers your question.

Jake, the company decided that it was done with supporting the class if the class chose to continue with the open events.

The class then chose (wasn't forced, but it was a difficult choice for a lot of reasons) to go back to its roots, and the company has stepped up with tons of support.

These were two separate decisions: one by the business, the other by the class.

Mike

Change occurred. A LONG TIME AGO!!

IMO, the changes were shortsighted and hurt the long term health of the sport but the immediate impact ON THE WATER was ZERO!!

In my area... Area C or Hobie Division 11, the impact was zero.... Mind you... this is a region with a very strong Hobie racing circuit and you would have predicted lots of upset. ... and you would be wrong.

There was NO LOSS of racing opportunities to the OPEN CLASS Sailor OR other Catamaran one design racers (Nacra 20s) at the time. We replaced the Hobie run regattas with other Yacht club regattas eager to have us. The Nacra 20 sailors eventually joined a yacht club with A class sailors and now do their own thing.

When you looked at the national scene for racing opportunities 3 years after Hobie class change, I believe the ONLY region that had issues ON THE WATER was in the Pacific Northwest and the MHA club. The rest of the country saw no practical changes ON THE WATER....(lots of organizations restructured or died off tho)

The diverse sailing scene also died off... In 2013, the number of surviving boats in the dead boat society who could race in OPEN Class is vanishingly small. Now a days.... an open class race draws boats from the big one design classes (who have an adequate racing schedule).

The under appreciated story is (as is usually the case...) about the Benjamins...
The Hobie paper yacht clubs could not afford regatta liability insurance by themselves. Turnouts (even with Open and non hobie sailors) and membership were dropping. The state parks finally got around to requiring a million bucks in coverage or you could not use the park. So... the clubs were forced to unincorporate and then use the Hobie Class Association membership insurance policy to get insurance and keep the events running.

These old facts are the same for a SW Florida Hobie Fleet startup. You will need insurance to use public or private property as a paper club. It's expensive and you don't have enough membership to pay the bill.... SO... you either restrict the opportunity to paid up Hobie class assn members so that you can use their insurance umbrella or you don't have an event.

The bigger question is ... turnout for ANY kind of event... do you have enough interest in the region to make it fly?

The better option would be to partner with an existing yacht club....and run a fun sailing day or a regatta with them. Again.... it will be about the Benjamins.

I was hoping to join myself, but not having a Hobie, I guess I can't sail with them...

You're really going to lob that softball up there? Ding, I hope your watching...I'm going to bow to age and let you swing at this one.

For someone staying out of it, you certainly are trying to stir the pot.

Have ya met Jake?


Hobie did what they wanted to. Sh!t wasn't looking to good, they did what they could to help insure the longevity of the corporation. I probably would've done the same exact thing. Its a business, and you do what you can to keep them dolla's rollin' in. [/ghetto]

Was it good for the sport in the long term, probably not. Did it do anything to bolster Hobie Cat's immediate sale's? Marginally probably. Long term though it likely did more damage than good. Doesn't really matter, the times they is a changing and they've gone a different direction with their skill set. Nothing wrong with that either.