Did Hobie politics kill off the CORK Unlimited Regatta this year? They posted results for I14's and Formula Boards.

Kingston was always just a great place to race... What happened?

Great venues and supplied Race Committes are hard to find and should not be wasted.

Mark

I wish we could see a yearly breakdown on memberships for all cat associations. This link to a US Sailing article shows some information (but note that the big shift in HCA membership is due to a policy where they started charging for memberships).

http://www.ussailing.org/odcc/surveyforwebTrends.htm

HCA is the old NAHCA right? I know I had to pay NAHCA dues.

Yeah - that should be the same. That was a bit before my catamaran time...Really? you had to pay dues to be a NAHCA member in 97?

There were NAHCA dues since the beginning. I have a August 92 newsletter showing the dues as $35 gold and $25 silver. It also lists one design comparisons Laser 2700 members for 91,Sunfish 1590, J24 2000, NAHCA 1600. Div 16 has 5 HCA regattas this year. Also one Div 16/10 combo. Kingston has been a very expensive place to sail for years. They charge us at least $50 to register and give nothing. No on site camping, Boats on tires in the parking lot and what can be a dangerous launch from a concrete ramp. HCA politics did not kill this regatta. It was the closest regatta to Syracuse and I always tried to make it. Really didn't miss it this year. Go to Port Burwell instead. HCA is doing well. Leaving next week to race in the supplied boat H16 Championship with 70+ teams registered. Leaving tomorrow to race in a HCA regatta with a good Tiger and 16 Fleet. It appears things are growing not shrinking as so many predicted. Bring your kids sailing.

Do you have membership numbers to show that growth over the last few years?

I wonder where the US Sailing numbers came up with 12,000+ members in 1997 - it doesn't sound reasonable. Perhaps that's worldwide? They call it "Hobie Class" not HCA or NAHCA.

I don't have the exact numbers. Rhodysail(Bob) has the inside line on that. I am refering to regatta attendance. This years 16's will have the most teams since 99 (Carlton's memorial). Our div16 attendance is up. Membership is nice, but boats on a start line is what counts.

I have the real numbers for the last few years somewhere.
I'll try to dig them up tonight.

I don't see how you have more boats on the starting line (nation wide). If you just look at the 'HCA' regattas there has been a dramatic decrease. HCA lost at least 9 regattas here in Division 9 alone. It's awesome that the H16 Nationals are bigger than ever but that's only part of the picture.

As long as it's a Hobie, right?

I should have been more clear. Hobies on the line. The northeast has lost some regatta's also,but they weren't really Hobie fleets anymore. Mostly open. My guess is that is the same elsewhere.

I see this thread is actually just another attempt to rag on the Hobie class so I will not be posting those numbers.
Sorry I mentioned it.

If you are a class member e-mail me with your membership number and I will give them to you for your personal use.

Jake,
I don't know what you mean about paying dues for membership. We have paid to belong to the Hobie Class Association ever since we bought our first Hobie 18 in 1980.

I agree with pbisesi - "Hobie only" did not kill Kingston. The only thing that "Hobie only" killed was regatta's that were mostly non-Hobie.

Fleets in the division in addition to their own regatta(s) organized Kingston. While it's true that fleets did lose some non-Hobie membership here and there (in Div 16), I think what has happened is people don’t have the time or effort to organize 2 regattas (or more) anymore. Kingston is a very nice place with very nice people, but there are only so many hours in a day.

BTW – Kingston was not held every year either. Even in the hay days. If someone from Div 16 did not contact them and organize it with them – it was skipped. There was no panic then, and there will be other Div 16 points regattas there again.

Rico.

I agree with rhodysail also.

Bob
What not be open and honest and post the numbers? No reason not to be public about them due to someones personal agenda.

Expensive? 50 bucks for a two day regatta... Give me a break! Cheseapeake Bay Yacht Clubs charge about 35 dollars a day for a one day event and award three Trophies for 10 boats and they just float ONE committe boat out there.... Perhaps your sense of value is off. How about comparing it to a regatta that I know your fleet attends. For example Rehobath Bay Sailing Association puts on a Hobie event. Their fees are
"Hobie 17 - $30 Hobie 16, 18, 20, Tiger - $35
RBSA Facility Fee - $10 per boat
Surcharges: Non-NAHCA Members - $5 Non-US Sailing Members - $5"
So...a Hobie regatta charges 50 bucks and that's OK.
Perhaps that's the price of putting on an event.
Oh... and there is no camping at Rehoboth either!

Launch Site?.... Well they did run the Olympics out of the site... Not to mention several World championships. It must be a completely substandard facility! Grant you its not sand ... its just different. I guess the hundreds of kids on Lasers and every other dinghy class sailors loose sleep every night because of the dangerous launch!

Come on.... Your reasons so far are bogus!

If you did not attend because it wasn't a Hobie only event... Say so!

It certainly appears that your fleet was committed to either killing all previous open regattas by not supporting them or coercing them to flip to Hobie only events.

Congratgulations your strategy is working. But don't come up with such BS reasons.

Mark

Wait wait wait...I was only trying to understand the class membership numbers that US Sailing had posted because they look weird and they claim that the drop from 12,000+ members to 900+ members from 1997 to present was because the Hobie Class began charging for membership between that period. You were the one that claimed that the class has been growing which is contrary to the strange numbers US Sailing has - I just wanted to see the numbers to put the US Sailing report in context...why hide them?

Besides, I'm long done talking about the "you know what" topic.

Jake,
The 12,000-member Hobie figure came from a Sailing World survey back in about 1998 where class associations were supposed to report their actual paid membership figures. Some class associations did that. Some did not. Instead, some figures were reported by manufacturers based upon numbers of boats they had sold. And in the case of the Hobie Class, I don't know whether it was reported by the class or by the factory, but the 12,000 figure obviously was an old figure based upon the circulation claimed by the Hobie Hotline before it went out of business. It was not related to the actual number of members of the class association at the time of the survey.

As a result of the various ways in which "memberships" were reported, the whole survey was totally skewed. In the case of catamarans, it showed us having a much bigger piece of the graphic "pie" than we actually had.

It made us look really good, but it was not accurate in terms of the survey question.

Damnit Mary, you just killed what could have potentially been very good sh1t fight.