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Ted is a catamaran sailor in his eighties. He is the historian for everything cat sailing in New England. He still races and races hard. Stays out when is windy and just loves to be on the water. I personally hope that I am able to get up and go to the bathroom by myself never mind set up a Hobie 17.

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Editorial



By Ted Knowlton

June 13, 2005



Subject: Just what is appropriate for beach cat sailors in New England?



I was shocked this past weekend when I arrived at Sandy Point for the Sakonnet Challenge to find no other Hobies. Just me and my Hobie 17. I still love it even though it can’t compete with the newer (and expensive) high-tech Nacras. It was nice to see old friends from past regattas.



It really hit me hard. What in the world is this nonsense about dividing the New England beach cat sailors into two mutually exclusive groups! Maybe the Hobie-only policy is appropriate for some areas around the U.S., but it makes no sense in our area. Rick Bliss has done a masterful job of selling the Nacra cats in this area. Would that the Hobie Cat Company would get off its butt and find someone like Rick to promote Hobies in this area!



The reality is that we – as a combined group – are small. We are not likely to ever get back to the old days when there were hundreds of beach cats in our area. Times change. The days when the Hobie 16 was the only game in town are no more. The proliferation of beach cat designs (by both Hobie and Nacra) has Balkanized the group such that it is difficult to get any one-design racing in. And that’s the only kind that’s really fun.



So what do we do? I’m not sure, but the very least we can do is combine the efforts of this lively fun-loving group. I really don’t care what the consequences are with Hobie Cat and HCA. Let’s work together as a family. We do not need political wrangling to spoil this way of life – Hobie or otherwise!

I'm not a hobbie person......started with a NACRA 5.2 when they first came out. But I use to see Jack Sammons from the hobbie "Welcome to A Fleet" fame rigging up his 14 Turbo on windy days and single handling the boat. Jack was well up in years at that time.

I use to sail with Chuck Cairnes who was the Cairnes give a damn start sited in the book. Chuck use to blow off the start then pass everybody. I sailed with Chuck in the J24 fleet in the Palm Beach Sailing Club when he retired from Cats. It took a year or better to convince Chuck the importance of the start. We took 1st place 2 years in a row for the winter series, then we retired. Lost part of the crew and we never developed a team that would stack up to what we had those few years.

Barry, Thanks for passing on Ted's editorial. Now I was under the impression Ted was a mere 79... I missed Sakonnet, and some of Team Goose down at Gooseberry, Saturday because I was home with my 79 year old mother who is ill, and barely gets around. Ted was an inspiration to me years ago at the Buzzard. He would set up his boat, go out and race all day, come back and play jazz piano for the rest of us until well into the night! And he did all this very well! I wish I had his skill and talent as a sailor, or as a musician! In response to his comments, I can only say "YEAH!" I am so happy to hear he's still sailing! I will miss the Summer Classic this year, but hope to see you guys sometime. Ted is a die hard racer, but has gone for a cruise or two, so maybe I'll have the pleasure of seeing both you guys at The Island Hop...I don't have much to offer to the cause, as I have so little free time these days, but if I can help with calls, or on line/e-mails, let me know! Thanks again Barry!

Brian
The reality IS that I will not see you at those events be cause I am not invited because of the type of boat I sail. No Island Hop, no block Island sail.... Chances are that I will not see you on the beach again. That is fact!
Ted is trying to get people to think about the issue in New England through he personal comments. The part that is amusing is that he was looking for comments and received zero from the group that it was directed to.

What is meant by two "mutually exclusive groups"? I understand if the Hobie-only regattas are excluding all the other classes. But are the non-Hobie regattas excluding Hobies?

The non-Hobie groups have not excluded anyone. The "mutually exclusive groups" has just been the reality. The Hobie sailors have chosen not to support the open races. If fact, an open fleet ran a Hobie only event this year in an effort to support their Hobie sailors. The outcome was that only one Hobie sailor, sailing the boat they normally sail, attended the event. He also lives the area where the regatta was sailed. The Division 12 Chair attended the event on a 16 in an effort to show support.
I still believe it will work it’s self out but the feedback I have received was quite negative. Some of the sailors I spoke with were feeling bitter about the situation.

Would that be the same Chuck Cairnes who used to race a Sea Spray in the 70s IRYC evening races in Brevard county Florida? If it is ,how can I get in touch with him? I used to trail behind him on a regular basis on my Sea Spray "Outrageous II". thanks Wayne Lynch

Barry, The Island Hop has always been a mixed event, has this been changed? I thought Block Island was also. If the Hobie Fleets, and especially my beloved 448 are excluding other brands from fun sails, I will have to drop my membership! I cannot support exclusion! It makes no sense to keep us apart. Ted's editorial was right on! Some of the readers of this forum may recall my past comments on Rick Bliss, and how far superior he is as a boat dealer to Cape Water Sports, or Megrew's. That and the lag in design of high performance boats in comparrison to Nacra, has led to many in our Fleets moving on, and up. If HCA wants to run Hobie only races, but agrees to inclusion of all boats for other events I can tolerate their misguided decision. If they insist on exclusion let's cut our ties, and our losses and move on. I haven't paid my dues yet, and won't until I get an answer. I will post a message on the Division 12 e-mail list, and 448 forum. I will likely be making some calls tomorrow.

According to the May-June issue of the Hobie Class News, Division 12 only has two Hobie events scheduled for the entire season, (Sebago Lake June 4-5 and Rhode Island Classic July 9-10). So if the Hobie sailors are not going to participate in the open events, what are they going to do all summer?

Brian
You have it right on the mixed events for fun sails. If it says that it’s a Fleet 448 event then it's Hobie only. Fleet 448 is Division 12. They are the only active fleet in Division 12.
Mary
They have added a bunch of "club" races" as well as races in other area races.
The interesting point is the Ted was trying to start a discussion on this issue on our local mailing list. He has still received zero responses.
These are my personal views and not the views of any fleet or group.

Hi Barry

Does Fleet 448 have a launch site with mast up storage? (beach is not the word I would use in New England) or do most trailer to the new events they created?

When I prompted the survey of cat racing after the edict. Nobody contradicted my conclusion that your NE region had minimized conflicts running events on the same weekend (2 smaller events) and the same old same old for the remainder of your regions schedule. What happened to the leadership that came up with what seemed to be a decent compromise?

Creating more events in the region does not sound like a win win!

Good Luck
Mark

I believe the people working on both schedules had this in mind as we were moving forward. But just because the schedules work, doesn’t mean the sailors will show up. NECSA made every effort to welcome all sailors.
Fleet 448 doesn’t have mast up storage. They launch from Quonset Point, RI

Adding more events just sends the message that we are not supporting open events.

Barry, Thanks for the information. No one has replied to my post on the 448 site either. Not like the days when John Dwyer(?) ran it! I will still hope to see you at the Island Hop!

I agree with Ted,

The actions of the HCA really hurt my development as a young (24) sailor wanting to get into racing with a non-hobie.

Matt