As far as I can recall, I'm the last known commodore! If anyone is interested in reforming, under any format or just wants information about the local area, let me know.

For the record, there are 2 launch sites in Lee Country, (Sanibel, Cape Coral, Ft. Myers). One is at the Punta Rassa drawbridge on the way to Sanibel Isalnd, the other is of U.S. 41 just North of the Robert E. Lee Motel.

Pete, how long have you been with that fleet? I remember Rick and I racing in a regatta at Ft. Myers probably back in the 1980's. It was on a huge, beautiful beach, so wide it was exhausting just walking back and forth to the boat. Does that sound like one of the locations you mentioned?

I could never figure out why the racing died out over there on the South Florida Gulf coast.

Mary

Mary: The fleet has effectively been dead for years! On and off, I was a member from about the mid 70s.

Don't remember a beach as wide as you're speaking of, unless it was on Sanibel at the Sundail Resort. We held the regatta there for one year. The crowd was so rowdy, that we weren't invited back and shortly thereafter the City of Sanibel drafted an ordinance prohibiting leaving anything on the beach!

You might say the decline of the "Hobie Way of Life" began right here!

I guess some people just don't have a sense of humor! I mean, whats wrong with a few Hobies in the swimming pool!

The sport died because people just drifted away. If racing is your only reason for sailing, and you can't win a trophy (like me)the sport is not very rewarding.

I'm quite sure it was Ft. Myers Beach where we went to that regatta. I definitely don't remember any rowdiness or boats in swimming pools.

The southwest coast of Florida always seemed to me like it would be more cat-friendly than the east coast. Great beaches, no big surf, not as built up with condos and hotels.

So what really happened to make Fleet 173 fall apart? When we learn the history of how a fleet comes unglued and dies, it is easier to come up with ways to keep other fleets growing and thriving. Since you were there from the beginning, maybe you can tell us what happened.

Are you saying it was just because the fleet was too racing oriented and people drifted away because they weren't interested in racing?

Are you saying people just got discouraged about racing if they couldn't win a trophy, so they just gave up and started playing golf?

I am sure you have some wisdom to share, so please help the other fleets and keep them from following in the wake of Hobie Fleet 173.

Oh! There was definitely a boat in the pool! I remember very clearly the manager of the Sundial walking off in disgust!

I'm willing to bet that if you put the issue out on the 'net you'll find more than one "old timer" who will remember similar incidents from other venues!

More to the point, Hobie sailing was never as big here as it was in other areas. I doubt if there were ever more than 25 paid-up members at any one time.

The open beaches you remember are all developed. There isn't even beach access for car parking let alone trailers. Indeed, lack of access is generally cited as the primary cause of the sports demise from its glory days.

Locally, the general public and government HATE jet skis and their ilk. To combat this "problem" trailer launching of anything is prohibited by statute except from paved ramps, with only two exceptions (there is a third but there is no parking of any kind!).

However, 173 died from attrition and in-fighting. Monthly meetings sounded a lot like what I've been reading this week!

The core of the fleet were the first generation 14 sailors. When they went off to college, no one took their places. It was by then a very competitive, adult oriented sport. Remember the, "We're only here for the Beer" T-shirts?!

Early on, a group went over to Prindle and it just got worse from there. Before that even, there was a large 14 fleet and when the 16 arrived on the scene, many of those sailors left the sport. Remember, at this time it was a very young sport and our biggest competitors were girls and cars! (Few if any girls on the water in those days!)

It wasn't that the fleet was too race oriented, it was exclusively racing! We forgot that we're part of a larger community! Locally, the pram fleet continued, but without 'cats!
In the very beginning, before my time, there was always a group of Optimist Prams, and there still is! {just a few months ago there was a regatta of 300 or so prams, dingys and sunfish for three different age grooups, with not a 'cat in the bunch} The same government that will not support the sport for adults, just gave the kids a permanent home, right in the middle of some of the most expensive and desirable River front property imaginable. Government acted at the behest of citizens long absent from sailing, who remember their own experiences as children in the Pram program!

For whatever reason, we never became mainstream! Never became part of the larger community.

As for the competitive angle, yes! After awhile people who are only interested in trophies will quit when it becomes apparent they won't get one!

I think racing has to be the keystone of any fleet, its something we can all get passsionate about. After all, "only a drowning man needs a boat" and most of us need to justify the expense and effort that goes into sailing. But there has to be more, history is quite clear about it!

Pete,
Thank you for taking the time to explain in more detail the death of a fleet. I hope it will help others to prevent the same thing from happening. I still think your area is a great place for cat sailing.

Mary, the site you were refering to is the Holiday Inn on Estero Island, S. Ft. Myers Beach.

Very wide beach and no, there was no boat in the pool!