Oh O.K. I thought that the event was an open event and that CRAM was an open club. I didn't realize that they were intentionally taking pictures of only their own boats because the dealer runs the event. Wonder if that type of bias is why not many hobies have showed up over the last few years? Like "Tigerboy" said...the Hobie numbers have dropped as well as the overall attendance numbers.

Looked at CRAM's website too a couple times over the last couple years and I don't think I've ever seeen a photo of a Hobie there either. Not that it matters to me cause I am not good enough to race...and my Hobie is a bit old anyway...but I find catamaran sailing exciting.

Actually, the guy with the cool Tiger on his motorhome (Sparky) has a Nacra A2. Is there no morality in sailing........Sparky was part of the Race Committee, so no boat.......I will have some cool Tiger pictures on the CRAM website in the coming week.

OK, now you've pissed me off and I tend to rant when I'm pissed. Ya know, I sailed a Hobie 16 for ten years. Now I sail a Nacra. It's all good. Hobies are cool. Tigers are fast.

I would like to know why you basically bitch (anomously, of course) about a regatta you didn't even attend? You don't show up for a GREAT regatta, then bitch about declining Hobie numbers. I just don't get the mentality. I'm sorry Hobie folks, but the fact is that most of the people active in the administration of CRAM happen to be Nacra sailors. Please don't spin this to be anti-Hobie. We (CRAM) would love to see more Hobies involved in our club, including all the work related to running regattas. GET INVOLVED! Make CRAM your club. It's a simple formula: the officers (those who do the work) get to make the rules.

Regarding the website (which I manage), it carries pictures of regattas that are submitted to me. Our club races tend to be mainly Nacra. Some of the Tiger boys are starting to show up more regularly, which is cool. Send me some Hobie pictures from a CRAM regatta and I'll post them. Yes, that involves you DOING SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE.

CRAM is absolutely an open club. Everyone is welcome. It's been that way for forty years now. It will continue to be that way. If you don't like our club, start your own club. DO SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE.

Sorry for the rant, but I will not allow cheap shots on the people who put endless hours in preparing for and running Catfight, especially from someone who wasn't even there. How does the Alanis Morissette song go...."I didn't see your name in the credits".......

Can't speak for Catfight, I've never been. But the regattas I have been involved with running or volunteering for we don't got out of our way to appoint or hire a photographer. Fortunatly we have someone (Roy Laughlin) who takes pics and writes a little story. But, it's for his own site and he takes direction from nobody.

I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that the local Nacra dealer is running event. Just that he/she took the pics and posted them.

From everything I have read and heard about Catfight is that it is an open to all event and from the sounds of it a damn good time.

Just chock it up to a dealer being a dealer. How many Hobie dealers go out of their way to promote Nacra's?

Take your Hobie to Catfight next year and take all the pics you want. I look forward to seeing them.

Hope you feel better. I'm not bitching, just wondering. As I said, I don't race anyway...started out as a curiousity to see the latest Hobie I have heard others talk about. I wasn't complaining about the event...I've never been to it.

I guess I was just relating the other threads in this topic, and thought I had maybe come upon a reason for the declining numbers and the unfortunate demise of the event in its current format. Guess I pressed on the thorn in the lions foot...sorry.

I wouldn't call on the demise of catfight just yet. Sparky was just talking out loud. The officers have made no decisions on Catfight VII. This will happen as part of our business meeting in the fall.

Sorry for ranting, but I do feel better.....I just think we need to support catamaran racing in all forms in a positive manner.

Hey Roger...had to chime in. Heard this years event was run well, sorry I couldn't make it myself. Conditions were Catfightish, as usual! I heard that Bruce Williams sailed his 16 solo...just wondered why are there no scores for him?


Jeff Rabidoux

Michsailor...

I was at Cat Fight VI, sailed a Tiger there and placed second in an F18 fleet of 20. For the record...the pics posted so far are from Thursday and Friday. Friday was the first day of racing but only about a third of the total boats went out. The weather was quite rude. I do know that all the Tigers (6) there sat on the beach for first two races with all the other boats until after lunch. The pics show most of the boats launching for the first race or racing. I'll give CRAM the benefit of the doubt regarding pictures and I'm sure there will be some posted from later in the event. CRAM did an outstanding job with this years event and I thank them for a great weekend of racing, parties and cammaraderie.

Can't be in a pic if your not out on the water!

OBTW...the white tiger mural is on the back of the blue cathouse1.com motorhome which I think belongs (or belonged??) to the local Nacra dealer Mark Biggers.

John Bauldry
Commodore, Hobie Fleet 276
Hobie Tiger #1317

Jmrabs,
Bruce wasn't scored in Catfight because he was not class legal (one up on a Hobie 16). You must be class legal to be scored in Catfight. Of course, he was scored in CRAM's Portsmouth fleet and finished 1st (pretty darn good in that wind). The Catfight site only posts Catfight results. The CRAM site will have all results posted (hopefully today).

You shoulda been there. It was quite a ride.

Roger

I talked to the photographer (Cathouse) this morning and his shots from Saturday were set for a higher resolution than Thursday and Friday...somehow the camera settings got changed! It is taking a lot of effort to convert the files and it is lower priority than his work on the Nacra F18 World Championships, F17 North Americans, Nacra 20 Nationals, etc. coming up in couple of weeks. He said he will get some photos up each day. (www.catfightrace.com) He was the only one taking pictures from the water.

BTW, the mural on my motorhome is of two Snow Leopards, and Tigerboy was right, the Cathouse motorhome has a beautiful mural of a big Bengal Tiger.

Just a thought on the pics taken at higher than they'd like resolution. I use Fuji's Finepix software that has a great feature for changing from high resolution down to lower after the pic is taken. It works with a lot of file formats and it dosen't need to be taken with a Fuji camera in most cases. It used to be available as a free download on their site in case you lost your disc. Good luck!

Rich

Bruce, a former Canadian National Champion, obviously did an amazing job sailing the 16 in those conditions single-handed!

Hey michsailor, we have 2 hobie fleets in michigan. One on the west side of the state, and one in the detroit area. If you just want to get together with other sailors...socialize...and sail together...it's a great way to go. Don't worry about your lack of racing skills. We have lots of non-racing events.

You can visit the detroit area fleet website at www.fleet276.com to see area events and also to get a link to the fleet 519 website for our friends in Austin Lake. Come out and enjoy sailing at whatever level you wish. You'll also see lots of Tiger photos on the fleet 276 website under the photo section! Read some of the event write-ups to for some insight on the regatta life!

Jeff

Catfight VI was the best regatta in years, both on and off the water. Separated start and finish lines made for short wait times. Wind was thrilling but not out of control. Thanks to the organizers and RC for a job well done. Hope all that attended will spred the word and promote all the improvements made this year. This venue has such potencial and the organizers have taken all the input over the last years and shown that they can manage a big event that will appeal to sailors and beach crew alike. I would like to call on all catamaran racers to make this THE REGATTA to attend next year.