How can we think bigger? USF18.com is our national website- it is supposed to be a one stop shop for all the F18 information you need. I also send our national and area championship dates to the international class so they go on the international class website.

Like Todd said, my goal is for anyone who needs information about an F18 event to go to USF18.com and it will be there and current. The schedule on the website is run through google calendars which are usually owned by me and an area rep from each district.

Another factor that might be changing the regatta landscape is the type of regattas various classes are racing in. I know for our fleet, we have a balance of multi-class events like Wickford, Newport, Hyannis, and HPDO that only invite the F18 class as a one design, and smaller events like Madison, NE100, and Roton where a handicap fleet is welcome.

www.google.com with search words "multihull regatta schedule". Very comprehensive result and took 5 seconds.

You might want to take a look at this site http://www.regattadates.com/ if you still think we still need another source for regatta schedules.


The NE guys are doing it right IMO they embrased using social media as a tool to get the word out years ago. I also have a feeling they have tried or are curretly doing all the suggestions contained in this thread and could tell you what worked and what didn't.

There is no such thing as a one size fits all when it comes to putting on regatta's. Know your audiance, know who the spark plugs are and above all else listen to them and leverage their knowledge. These folks are dialed in to their fleet and often know which regattas their fleet members will attend and why. Find them and use them, ignore them or think you know better will only do a diservice to your regatta.

I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with the F18 class, or the HCA for that matter (our two strongest classes with typically the best ideas and promotion), but there is always room for improvement. In this case, I'm thinking of the interaction of the classes for the benefit of those classes and all beach cats in general.

SF cratered, MWE can't get F18s to come out. I would not say we're doing everything we can to make things better. I don't expect this to be popular, but stop being defensive and be willing to take some new approaches.

Mike

I don't think we need to jump to too many drastic changes over SF. I'm convinced that had a lot to do with late notice and short registration time.

Has anyone bothered to ask f18 groups about the lack of interest in MWE?

It would be interesting to see the proximity of class sailors and these events...I know we started something like that for F18s and the F16 guys had a very complete map. What site was that? Was it google?

I suspect that the MWE event does not have a ton of active F18 sailors in close proximity and it's kind of an "also ran" event where the F18s activity is sort of a byline. Don't get me wrong...I think it's an incredible gesture to open it up like they have.

For our F18 team specifically, it's a bit far and would land on our extended event schedule (more than a weekend) where we only have room for two, maybe three, of those types of events. We had Spring Fever, F18 America's Champs, and likely Steeplechase on the list for this year already. MWE fell too close to the SF cancellation for us to really consider it.

You are probably right about SF for this year, but Jake's graph tells a sadder story.

This whole thread started by Chris asking what went wrong with F18s and MWE.

I know we have a sordid history of playing well together; I'm just hopeful that we can start turning things around as a big group rather than as one small group at a time. Yes, small events are important, and classes grow locally one boat at a time, but I see lots of potential for everyone to grow together.

Mike

Sarasota Sailing Squadron is having the Sarasota Sailfest the same weekend. Right now SSS is the center of the univerise for F18 sailing in FL especially for the young and energetic.

Dick MacDonald is gearing up for the FL300 and is focused on doing distance races, MKL, Tampa Run...

Fred from the Panhandle won't do bouy's

Matt DeRego's boat hasn't been delivered.

Taylor is consumed by his olympic activities.

For me, it's really difficult to justify the 10 hour drive one way to race against Hobie 20's, sounds like a great venue and even better people, maybe slip to ship.

I'm also in a small group that is even willing to consider driving 10 hours one way to a regatta.

I can't speak for the Texas F18 sailors.

Our schedule:

SSS - April 5&6
SF - April 18-20 (Cancelled)
Gulfport (FL) april 26 & 27
MKL April 26 & 27
Mug Race May 5&6
Tampa Run May 10 & 11
FL300 May 19 - 22
KPRR May 24 & 25
Summer Sizzler June 14&15

After June FL turns into furnice.

No one is being defensive. Everything we do is thought out based on past experience and what is doable for those willing to do it. We are listening to your input and willing to try new things but trying new things takes more work.
We are doing what works for us here in our region.
Jeff and others spend a lot of time and energy organizing the schedule and other aspects. It's tiring and there is only so much time for it. If we had more people stepping up to help say spread the calendar around to Catsailor, Regattadates.com and etc then it would be much more doable. We even elected a Media guy last year but he didn't sail all season because of family reasons so we didn't get much out of him.

For northern sailors participation in southern events. I don't speak for everyone, but traditionally I am one of the more active particants in southern events and always encourage participation of others in our fleet.
We only have so many resources. Getting to MS isn't easy. There are also very few F18s around there. I wanted to go but my schedule is slammed and we are going to start sailing up here a week later, so why bother spending a lot of money and time to go. As far as Spring Fever goes, the party is amazing and I love going, but the sailing has never been worth the 32+ hours of driving when we can train up here against 5-10 other boats and get ready for the season here.
If we could pull together Charleston Race Week at a reasonable entry fee I think it would be much more appealing to NE boats as we would be sailing a regatta with a lot of our other sailing friends (most important about that is getting exposure), it's a conveinent stop on the way back from Florida, and likely to be very good sailing conditions.
I'm much more likely to do a midwinter event when I really have the sailing bug rather than right before our season starts.
I also chose to spend my money to go to Florida than MS or GA, can you blame me? We even have a rough time getting a good fleet at Tradewinds. There's only so many events we can support.

Okay, that is what I asking in the first place. There is lots of stuff going on and as long as there are reasons other than 'we hate HCA' then I am good.
We want to end up being one of the go to regattas for the F18 class going forward, we'll do everything that needs to be done, you just got to show up. We are at OSYC this year, might move east a bit for next and who knows where beyond that (due to hit Ft Lauderdale again in the next few years) I just want to know what we need to do to get on your long term schedule (F-18 class) and since we started this thread, we as a group, have come to the realization that there is a need to open up communication lines regarding scheduling, and maybe being more open to OD racing at 'all boat' regattas. We would really like to have an OD start at SF for the Hobie 16 and feel that we'd be able to bring some boats in the manner that we used
to.

I think Todd made a good point when he mentioned that the Northern boats are more likely to attend a southern event when it is in the middle of the winter and not so close to our season. In my mind, a midwinters means January or February. For the F18 class in particular, we also have Tradewinds labeled as our Midwinters, and SF was the Southern Area Champs, so those took a slightly higher priority on the schedule.

Also, nothing at all against HCA, but calling the event "Hobie MWE" might hurt F18 turnout because when folks scan a calendar they may not realize the regatta is open to non-Hobies. The class did try:
http://usf18.com/hobie-midwinters-is-open-to-f18s-save-the-date/

I’d like to contribute to this discussion, I agree that there appears to be a short fall of sailors for the number of events scheduled.

From my standpoint I am happy with one regatta a month, any more than that and I am asking too much of my crew (wife), as I am sure you can all understand. Also, I’d prefer them to be in my general area, that allows me to reach the site by car in 4 hours or less.

Since I am in Fort Myers FL, my schedule filled up with Tradewinds (Jan); Charlotte Harbor (Feb); Gulfport Yachtclub/St. Pete (Apr); Kelly Park/Cape Canavaral (May); summer sizzler/Daytona (June).

To fill the gap between CHR and GYC there are a few local options that make more sense than driving the 10+ hours to MWE, like Miami to Key Largo, bi-weekly club races at GYC, Hospice Regatta in Fort Lauderdale, etc.

I think we all need to start asking what can be done to get more sailors hooked on our sport. Being new to sailing I must admit there are quite a few barriers to entry that I encountered when I first got into the sport a couple of years ago. Had I not been so determined to do get into it, I might have given up very early on.

Without a single yacht club in my area (Fort Myers) I was left to myself to figure it all out. So I purchased a used 1995 Hobie 16 and decided to give it a go. It was not very easy, and I am very lucky that not only does my wife still love me, but she still sails with me, because we certainly had our issues. Especially when I would drag her to regattas and throw ourselves into the fire, “its the only way we can learn” I would tell her.

Well, thank god for the Hobie way of life, as if it were not for all the helpful hands that came to our aid, we would easily have gotten discouraged and gave up. It was the super nice people that kept us going and keeps us coming back.

We need to do everything we can to make it easier for new people to join. It was very difficult to get started.

Not to be a cliche, but we all need to ask ourselves “not what sailing can do for me, but what can I do for sailing”. To commit myself to that, I chose to get involved and pitch in where there was a void. So, as a newbie without a Hobie Fleet in my area, and the Division 8 chair vacant, I decided that I would volunteer for the Division 8 chair, and get involved with supporting Hobie sailing as best I could. Perhaps being a newbie, somewhat ignorant to the history, would be a good thing.

So this year we are working to get Division 8 in Florida going again, much the same way that Mark is with Division 9. We have gotten approval from the HCA board to have four area regattas count towards Hobie Points for the HCA and the Division 8 area. This can only help to encourage sailors to participate in more regattas, to increase membership in the HCA and work towards increasing the number of Hobie Fleets again.

The four regattas are Charlotte Harbor, Gulfport Yacht Club Mulit-hull Regatta, Kelly Park River Regatta, and the Daytona Summer Sizzler. All will have will have their own starts for classes with 5 or more, and comply with Hobie class one design rules.

I also think we do need to work together, and start thinking out of the box, and let go of the past. A while ago the idea was discussed of changing regatta formats and doing an event that incorporated both fleet racing and match racing (like the AC World Series). There were a lot who liked the idea, but without any leadership to run with it, it never got anywhere.

I don’t think that our sport can survive without us working together, the regattas depend on it more now than ever before.

Fred
HCA Division 8 Chair

We appreciate the listing on the F18 site.

Hey Jake,

I appreciate your thoughts and your patience with a new guy. Yes, the whole EMSA thing is a tough nut to get my head around. I look forward to discussing the way forward for all of us at Bare What You Dare.

Fred, you hit it the nail on the head, this sport won't survive unless we work together. If we don't make some changes, we'll see more of the same.

Mark Van Doren
HCANA Division 9 Chairman

Wildsail etal,
Not saying those areas don't have anything going on, it is just that I have no way of knowing what is going on in those areas and one would think, since we are the ONLY media dedicated to beach cat sailing, we would be first on the agenda to get your agenda.
Instead, we get nothing. Sometimes I nose around and find some events in your area, but I would think you would WANT others to know what is going on in your neck of the woods.

If you want an Isotope representative, feel free to contact me.

The Isotope class is perhaps unique, in that it is pretty much a single local fleet. Few people race Isotopes outside the North Carolina Piedmont area. Therefore, when we travel to away regattas, we don’t meet other Isotope sailors. We just bring a subset of our regular boats. I find it difficult to justify driving hundreds of miles to race one-design against just 3 of the 12 Isotope skippers that sail every month locally. When I travel, I want to test my skills against different people. I've really enjoyed sailing mixed-fleet on handicap at Catfest, Outback Cup, Spring Fever (et. al.). I hope to do more (and will encourage the other Isotopes to do more) this summer.

Isotopes are more than happy to start and race with with Hobie Cats (and Prindles, Nacras, SuperCats, A Cats, F-boats etc.). Heck, I’ll even race Hobie 17s and 18s boat-for-boat. Come to any CSC or LTYC race at Kerr Lake or Lake Townsend this summer and I’ll do my best to make you feel welcome.

Regards,
Eric

Just wanted to add some thoughts about a regatta that is doing a lot of things right. Our fleet is attending the Wickford Regatta this year for the third time, although last year it conflicted with Madcatter and was not part of our summer series. The regatta organizers moved the date of the event in part to make sure our fleet would be there in big numbers. With two months until the regatta, we have 17 boats registered.

Things Wickford does well:
1. The regatta website is clear, concise, and the web address has stayed the same every year. http://wickford.sailspace.net/

2. The regatta is organized by Skip Whyte, who is an absolute legend and has a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for high performance sailing.

3. Skip emailed me June 3, 2013 asking about date conflicts for the 2014 event

4. Skip has been in regular communication with me all winter, and has emailed our fleet list multiple times reminding folks to register

5. The event had a very cheap early entry of $80 that ended March 31. Anyone who registered during that period can cancel with a full refund before May 25- this eliminates any hesitation to register early

6. Great regatta venue, amazing dinner, and host housing if you need it

As the early registration deadline approached, I emailed the fleet twice, posted information to facebook and twitter, and Todd and I called and texted fleet members.

There is intelligent life on this planet after all...

IMPO all regattas should be open to all that come and put boat n the water.... Maybe scale back on the prizes but all the same...

We had one local event that was "Hobie Only" up until a year or so back... Now that regatta is listed as being *tentative* for 2014, and they didn't have it in 2013... Time to stick a fork in this one as it is done.

Thanks Red, but the Hobie only regatta is what our charter states except for the exceptions of joining in other peoples regattas. We have worked pretty hard to work around the obstacle that was put upon us and that statement you just made makes it all the tougher. No offense taken on the intelligent life comment either.......

There is a reasonable line somewhere and I think the Hobie midwinter event is a reasonable classified class event...consider what you're asking; should the F18 America's Championship be open to every boat? (no). At some point, it makes sense to have a class focused event.