Alter Cup - WOW

Seven individuals in the fleet have their name on the US Multihull Championship trophy already.

This is one, tough crowd.

Check it OUT!

Counting the names on the actual trophy, which is just outside my office here at Hobie Cat, I see you have included the crew union members. The crew union very much appreciates being included in your count. I hear that Matt and Domonique are not coming, so does that actually make it 5?

Matt,

I got a sense of sarcasm from your comments. This reminded me of a question that has been bouncing around in my hollow head for years. I've never asked my question because it is going to sound sarcastic and I don't want to come across as sarcastic on this particular question.

Not being a racer, I am clueless about much of the subject matter of many conversations that go on in the catamaran sailing community. But I would assume that the Alter Cup is named after Mr. Hobie Alter (my hero) or one of his descendants. If this is the case, then I ponder the question:


That seems like it must be quite a slap in the face. But I don't know anything about racing anyhow.

I must admit that I've been sailing a frenchcanadian boat in the areas where Hobie was so successful and Performance Catamarans (Prindle Nacra Inter) is now dominant and I feel pretty disloyal to my countrymen and neighbors. My entire family are Canadians, but that still does not relieve my guilt. I also must admit that I feel like a martyr and a real stooge when I need a part and find it impossible to get what I need from the manufacturer while all my local buddies can have the part they need in one day. I never knew that I could feel such thoughts from my conscience, but now I understand. Gee whisk, I am going off on a tangent here! I digress:

Does anyone want to offer their thoughts on a race named after the founder of one company that is being sailed on another company's boats? Also, how would you relate this situation to the deal where Hobiecat locked all the other brands out of their races?

The perpetual trophy was presented and named the Alter Cup in 1986 in honor of Hobie Alter, Sr. and his extraordinary promotion of one-design multihull sailing and racing programs. In 2003 the event was renamed the Hobie Alter Cup. The Hobie Alter Cup has become one of the nation's major sailing championships, having featured world champions from numerous classes, Olympic medalists and several national champions from the multihull ranks.

The Multihull Championship was conceived by the Multihull Council in the spring of 1985 as a service to multihull racing sailors. It is intended to determine a U.S. national multihull champion and is sailed annually in various types of multihulls at various venues. Originally based on open Area eliminations, the committee decided to reinvigorate the championship by allocating spots to the major multihull classes in addition to the Area entries.

Source = US Sailing, hope this helps.

Very well said "flatlander18"!

Hobie Cat Company and (I am quite sure) Hobie and his family are very proud that this race is named in honor of Hobie Alter.

F,Y.I.

The first USYRU Multihull Championship for the Alter Cup was sailed on NACRA 5.7's. Since then it has been held on different models of Hobie, NACRA, Prindle and Mystere.

And the flip sides are: How do participants feel about it who sail non-Hobies? And how do other manufacturers of boats feel about it when they provide boats for the event when the trophy is advertising a competing manufacturer?

When the Alter Cup was first designed and named 20 years ago, most (all?) of the people on the Multihull Council were Hobie sailors. So maybe that explains it.

Rick and I were Hobie sailors, too, at that time. But I was shocked when they named the trophy for Hobie Alter. Not that he is not deserving of honor and accolades for his amazing contribution to the multihull world. It is just that I did not (and still do not) think the United States Multihull Sailing Championship was(is) the appropriate venue.

I've got a lot going on today, so I'll keep this short - the trophy is named for the man, not the company. It isn't the Hobie Cat Cup. I've not heard, that I recall, any sailor at the event express disdain or discomfort at the man's name being on the trophy.

Gotta run -

John

John,
Nobody said anything about disdain or discomfort.

Twenty years ago when the Multihull Council was first formed, it was a great step forward for multihulls as a completely nonpartisan body to represent ALL multihulls. So when the perpetual trophy was created for the U.S. Multihull Sailing Championship, I thought it was inappropriate for it to be named for someone who is so totally identified with one brand of multihull. It's as simple as that.

Since Gordon Isco (Gisco) jumped into this forum I would like to mention that he is the one that made the trophy for the U.S. Multihull Championship (Alter Cup). Thank you Gordon.

Dan

You do have to admit that if Hobie hadn't gotten into catamarans that most of us, if we sailed, would be on leaners. He not only came up with a boat that was cool to sail but someone within Hobie came up with a life style defining motto, "Have a Hobie day." Pretty much like Honda with "You meet the nicest people on a Honda."

And dont forget Hobie makes/made surfboards also.

Right! If it weren't for Hobie Alter, most of you wouldn't be sailing at all.

F.Y.I. regarding the make up of the original multihull group at USYRU. It was Francie Jarvis, Gordon Isco,Jim Beddow, Gary Sander, Bill Doelger, Tony DiMaro, Hank Waite, Doug Fricke, Corky Pittsenberger, Jack Young and Dick Blanchard. Not exactly a Hobie dominated committee.

Thanks, Gordon. I was trying to remember Francie's name.

I don't know about that..I still have my all original Phoenix catamaran dating from 1965 or somewhere in there..Phoenix is the 18' version of the Shark.. Hobie didn't invent the sport or the concept, He was just very successful at marketing it.

A pretty comprehensive group. I haven't heard Corky's name in 10 years. What is he up to? I crewed for Jack at a 5.2 NAs in Toms River, NJ (early/mid 1980's) on a boat he borrowed the day before the regatta. I vividly remember the 40 or 50 identical, all white boats on the line (there may have been one black boat called Carbon Copy). True OD.

Where does Jack Sammons fit in?

Agree!

GARY

I view Hobie Alter as a guy who already knew the surf and how ot build a coposite construction, lightweight vessel. He took aircraft quality building materials (hardened aluminum and fiberglass layup) to build a seriously strong craft that was light in weight.

For the majority of us here, he's the one who started it all.

IMHO,

GARY

Absolutely!

Which is exactly why the event is named after him.

ARRRGGGG...I mean the trophy is named after him

Err - that's my point, Jake. The event is named (and always will be) the U.S. Multihull Championship. The TROPHY is named for Hobie Alter. It may seem a picky thing to some, but it is also correct.

Just about all of the US Sailing championships are known colloquially by the name of their trophy (e.g., Sears, Bemis, Smythe, whatever). We all generally refer to our Championship as the Alter Cup. In an effort to get some consistency into the way things are done among the championships, we were asked (as a committee) about two years ago to make all of our references and documentation consistent with other events and within our own event. We decided (by a vote) to call our event the “U.S. Multihull Championship for the Hobie Alter Cup” evermore, or until we get another directive like the one I got last week instructing me to put the periods on the “U.S.” for everything except “US Sailing,” despite seeming inconsistent to me – in fact, we’re supposed to always write it in caps – US SAILING – but that just seems like shouting to me. On a forum, I’ll let it slide – but that’s why you’ll see your Area Reps write it that way in SIs and NORs.

The trophy was named for Hobie Alter in deference to his contributions to one-design racing in the US. There are others who have made significant contributions also. We imagine that the Championship is one of the few strictly one-design events going on right now – the boats are provided, the fleet may not tune the boats, all of the equipment is identical, and you rotate the fleet through the boats during the regatta. It is the spirit of one-design racing that is being paid homage to – not the first successful beach cat, not the current class association, not the factory, not any of that. The name “Hobie” may be so integral to our lives as catamaran sailors that we have a hard time looking at specific facets of the man’s contribution to the sport – but that’s not his fault. We all carry our own baggage and preconceptions.

I got to meet Hobie Sr. twice, both times at regattas, once when he handed me a trophy. He’s a heck of a nice guy with an easy smile who has evolved a sense of one-design that he’s certainly instilled in his progeny – I have had spirited conversations over dinner and at parties with both Hobie P. and Jeff Alter about what fleets are one-design and what fleets merely pay the idea lip service. It is for this part of the Alter name that our trophy named.

ps - if it really bothers anyone for a specific reason, feel free to either contact your Area Rep or send me an e-mail. Our Council to US Sailing represents multihull sailors - any one of you have the right to propose a change and make your case. As I said earlier, not one competitor has ever complained to me, and the various manufacturers have never mention it either. But I concede that, though it seems like a small matter to me, it might be a big deal to someone else.

Hobie Alter is certainly worthy and deserving of having his name on the trophy, and I think the Multihull Council probably made the best decision in choosing him because he was somebody that everybody could agree on and his impact on the sport was obviously the most dramatic. In fact, if it had not been for the explosion in catamaran sailing that was caused by Hobie Alter, we probably never would have had enough clout to even have a Multihull Council in US Sailing in the first place (and, therefore, would not have a national U.S. Multihull Sailing Championship).
I don't know whether there were other candidates for the honor back when the trophy was established in 1985, but I would think they would have included:
--The Gougeon brothers (Jan and Meade), who were the best-known early pioneers experimenting with high-tech, small catamarans back in the 1950's.
--George Alleman, who (starting in 1961 got one-design catamaran racing well established in the United States as distributor first for the Shark and then for the Tornado.
--Dick Blanchard, who (circa 1960) founded the North American Multihull Sailing Association and developed the Portsmouth yardstick for small cats in the United States and put out the NAMSA newsletter for many years.

It would have been a difficult decision (at least for me)among those three, but I think I would have gone with Blanchard, because his contributions to the sport should never be forgotten. (He is now deceased.)

Ya know, I knew that and came back and edit my post to say "event"...too many epoxy fumes this morning I guess. Or it could be that cackalacki-itus again.