Help us re-invigorate a SW Florida Hobie Fleet on beautiful Charlotte Harbor. We had a guy all prepped to do this and now he has gone on to other things.
Charlotte harbor is an excellent venue for Hobie Racing with the Charlotte Harbor Regatta coming up in February.
give me a call at 941-979-9728, let's talk about the possibilities.
John >
It's a great place to race Nacras and AHPC's too.
That is so true... we are a Hobie Dealer so we have to place emphasis on the Waves and H-16's of course beach cats & tri's make great race partners.
Yeah Lee,
The regatta won't discuss an open class for Hobie 20, Inters or others....to much work they say!
Buy an ad..
Or offer to do the scoring if they'll take times.
Or offer to do the scoring if they'll take times.
well, crap, if it's that easy...
1 1 1 1 1 score 5
done
And this is why I hate coming here in the winter.
Someone, somewhere is planning an event or building a fleet that doesn't include the brand or model you sail, so you go out of your way to be offended and post this garbage. Way to grow the sport.
I see this as someone picking up where someone else left off (amazing in itself), is promoting cat sailing and trying to build a fleet. These are all good things.
The fact that he's a dealer is a bonus. We need more dealers like this, not fewer.
Mike
it is certainly a tough crowd in this forum, and I agree with you, but full and upfront disclosure (especially if you have a vested interest) goes a long way to quell
upsets
.
Someone, somewhere is planning an event or building a fleet that doesn't include the brand or model you sail, so you go out of your way to be offended and post this garbage. Way to grow the sport.
I see this as someone picking up where someone else left off (amazing in itself), is promoting cat sailing and trying to build a fleet. These are all good things.
The fact that he's a dealer is a bonus. We need more dealers like this, not fewer.
Mike
Jeremy would have approached it differently, but even he's pointed out numerous times that no one is getting rich in that game, so I'd cut this guy some slack.
Mike
Come to the Tradewinds with a Wave or H16, or whatever, as there are a lot of folks from close to that area that might be interested. One of them has 6 Waves alone.
Rick
Someone, somewhere is planning an event or building a fleet that doesn't include the brand or model you sail, so you go out of your way to be offended and post this jgarbage. Way to grow the sport.
I see this as someone picking up where someone else left off (amazing in itself), is promoting cat sailing and trying to build a fleet. These are all good things.
The fact that he's a dealer is a bonus. We need more dealers like this, not fewer.
Mike
Mike, you now as well as anyone where this hostility is coming from and the fact that the edict was enacted, what is it now 10+ plus years ago and people are still bitter goes to show you don't know the community as well as you think you do. When we see a post like this it reminds us that a coporation is attempting to use its influence to drive the volunteers and NOT be a partner in the growth of the sport we all love regardless of the logo on our sail.
Careful you don't fall off your horse the fall is substantian from that height.
Oh, and now we have the full conspiracy theory to blast this into 20 pages of nothing that will move anything forward.
If the F18 fleet wants to promote itself, I don't put up a hissy fit that they aren't getting access for the Waves.
Why can't we just let folks promote their boats and do the same with your own? I know, that would mean we couldn't live in the past anymore, and what fun would that be?
Mike
It's real simple....just organize a race that welcomes all catamarans. No hostility there. I do agree, however, a new dealer is a great thing even if it's just one brand. Sorry for the original post. Keep us posted on the race plans and dates. I volunteer to help with races often and don't discriminate on brands (I still love helping out at Hobie events). Do I wish they didn't discriminate? Yes. But life goes on.
There are plenty of regattas that are open to all boats. I work at those, and have a lot of fun, too.
But just think about what you're suggesting. At every regatta in the country where any one model of boat is racing, we need to insist on inviting all beach cats. Is that what I'm hearing?
Mike
Mike,
You are stirring the pot that you wanted taken off the stove. That last post is asking this to get bumped up to at least 5 pages accomplishing nothing.
This is coming from a Hobie sailor.
Does Hobie have an F16 compliant boat? Or F18 compliant other than Tiger? forgot about the Wildcat
I am of the opinion that any well-run regatta that gets a lot of boats on the water is good for all
brands
, as non-beachcat sailors (and some non-sailors) will see a bazillion boats on Charlotte harbor one weekend and say
huh, maybe I should see what the hub-bub is about...
I'd venture a guess that many of us came from leaner fleets originally, and found out that beachcats were fun through a regatta or some other sailing event where beachcats were around? And we then went on and bought one (or two, or three...)
And it is nice to know that there are still folk willing to put up with the hassle and low margins to be a boat dealer these days.
You build support with a good product, but even better service.
You are stirring the pot that you wanted taken off the stove. That last post is asking this to get bumped up to at least 5 pages accomplishing nothing.
This is coming from a Hobie sailor.
+1 S.O.P.
Brian, I'm not trying to stir anything; but I don't think it's right for these types of posts to go unchallenged. While they may represent true feelings, they are often based on half-truths.
I'm a Hobie guy too, but that has nothing to do with my point. These same arguments can apply to monohull fleets and events.
Why can't Boat A's fleet promote themselves without a sailor from Boat B getting offended? I don't buy the same old arguments, those don't move us forward.
Mike
Someone, somewhere is planning an event or building a fleet that doesn't include the brand or model you sail, so you go out of your way to be offended and post this jgarbage. Way to grow the sport.
I see this as someone picking up where someone else left off (amazing in itself), is promoting cat sailing and trying to build a fleet. These are all good things.
The fact that he's a dealer is a bonus. We need more dealers like this, not fewer.
Mike
Mike, you now as well as anyone where this hostility is coming from and the fact that the edict was enacted, what is it now 10+ plus years ago and people are still bitter goes to show you don't know the community as well as you think you do. When we see a post like this it reminds us that a coporation is attempting to use its influence to drive the volunteers and NOT be a partner in the growth of the sport we all love regardless of the logo on our sail.
Careful you don't fall off your horse the fall is substantian from that height.
Come on man! That could NOT have been THAT long ago.
I am of the opinion that any well-run regatta that gets a lot of boats on the water is good for all
brands
, as non-beachcat sailors (and some non-sailors) will see a bazillion boats on Charlotte harbor one weekend and say
huh, maybe I should see what the hub-bub is about...
The decision by Hobie (corporate) to only support regattas with their BRAND is a business decision.
Sure, they know that it'll alienate others brand boat owners and create animosity amongst supporters and volunteers of various Hobie-Only regatta vs Open regattas.
It's a business decision. They believe this model will promote their brand best and return results back to the corporation.
Of course there are other business owners that feel when the pie grows it grows for all ... and therefore support open regattas for all boats.
It's a business decision. These business owners believe it'll promote their brand (and others) but the pie will be bigger and benefit the community of sailing.
We have enough Waves scattered around Florida that if you do this, I think we can bring a few. Keep up the good work.
In SWFl access has always been the problem. No beach, no beach cats.
Pete, I have to agree.
There are probably only two things needed for a fleet or class to succeed: Places to sail and people to join.
Everything else (racing, fundraising, clinics, etc.) can really only matter if the first two issues are met.
Mike
Yeah keep having Brand only regattas and shutting out the other boats, and watch it grow. I can see them lined up at your door now.
I'm certain all this nonsense would be prevented if someone non-partisan group were hosting the event, but it would appear that no one has stepped up to that challenge so far, so kudos to anyone who does want to set up an event
It's certainly understandable if a business owner were to arrange an event to promote their stuff. It's also understandable that all those excluded from participating would be put off a bit and further polarize our already fractured community of beachcat sailors.
Personally I support anyone willing to host a regatta because it's a huge PITA for very little return.
With this being said (the huge PITA part), why not exponentially improve turnout by inviting as many people as you can? I don't think the PITA factor increases that much more if you invite one particular group or several? Especially if those other groups supply a little help...
Would hosting a Hobie National or Division level event generate the participation needed to make hosting it worth it?
Seems to me that NA's are one of the few regattas that have the kind of critical mass to make it worth the
invitation only
status
Mlcreek, you need to get out more. Go to any one-design monohull regatta and you will see the same thing: some classes are invited, most are not.
Again, why are you holding Hobie fleets to a different standard? Your signature shows that you sail an I-20. Do you give the same grief to the A-cats or F-18s when they promote their OD events and fleets?
Mike
Mike
I concur, that as a business owner that wants to promote his product, he is entitled to do so, but does alienates others. However this is not the case with the CHarlotte Harbor Regatta. They simply refuse to have an open class for all, because of purported staffing.
Mike,
My anger is pointed more toward Charlotte than the dealer. As stated in my response to Waterbug, clearly they have the right to make that decision, with certain consequences.
If I understood the opening comment in this thread, the organizers of the Charlotte Harbor regatta weren't doing it this year? Or was it just the beachcat section?
scratch that. I read it wrong...
MICreek, did they say they needed extra scorers to open up to handicap fleets? Or did they feel there wouldn't be enough turnout to justify any handicap / open fleet?