All Gordo's contact information is located towards the back of the Hotline. www.hobiecat.com/hobieclass
Do we need to send a little Hobie Captain's hat down to arvied?
![[Linked Image]](http://www.hobiecat.com/hobieclass/11-12-08.jpg)
Howzzat?
(and no - that's not an old cover - it's a retro one I did for the 40th Anniversary Regatta)
Hey Matt... You are missing my point.. I have lots of guys on my club beach with old 16's and 18's in need of TLC who wouldn't go racing if it started off my beach 10 feet from their spot and that picture of a race start doesn't do it for them... They think the HCA membership and Hotline is all about racing.
What's in the magazine they the want to read about that would get them to join?
In response to the question about what the membership $$ do regarding the HCA, the first thing, is of course the Hotline. Incredible magazine with lots for everyone. Another plus of an HCA membership is the funding for youth activities. Now I know you hear this from everyone, but just 2 weeks ago,we spent in excess of $10,000 on sending 7 teams to Long Beach for the US Sailing youth multihulls. Travel, lodging and regatta. Awesome deal,and we're very fortunate to have the resources to do what we did and hope to do it again.
Another plus (and keep in mind, these are generalzations) but when we host a National event or large regatta, there is a signifcant economic impact on the area of choice. The local Economic Development group and the Chamber in Clear lake told us when we hosted 8 days of racing last summer, with the number of people there etc.....was north of $600,000 (based on a formula one of them was trying to explain to me) but that too, is significant.
As most of the one design classes out there, our money goes toward top notch racing, social events and organization. Membership gets you on our National Points Ranking list too. Our membership chair is doing a really good job getting things rolling for 09, and is raffling off some new Hobie Hiking harnesses with paid membership.
Hope that helps.
cw
Hi Chris,
It’s pretty clear from the PR and web site that dues support nationals… but here is the feedback that I get from a guy who gets to one regatta a year.
I see the value if I am a serious racer and attend nationals… It’s great but the most I plan to travel with my 16 is to the local regatta 20 miles down the road. Why should I give you money for a great party at the nationals, can’t they pay for their own party? Why do I need to give money for a strong national class for hot shot racers when all I want to do is sail once or twice a year. Heck, I would rather give my money to my old friends joe and jim who have put the local regatta forever…. We will get better beer then
. Give me a reason to join! What is the connection between the national class and my local regatta that I don’t know is valuable to me?
Hi Mmadge.
You are missing my point. Most of the regional sailors will do 3 or 4 events a year. They don’t do clinics. They like the idea of a regional championship coming around every so often… they don’t plan on going to nationals but a big event with a big party is cool. But this guest expert thing. Hmm... So..
This guest expert program that you talk about… What is it? I have never had any coaching for sailing. What is a clinic all about? I read those articles by Stuart Walker and my head hurts… I have no idea what he is talking about is that what the clinic is about. I have heard about the two boat tuning that the Olympic sailors do and the magazines talk about … Is that what a clinic is. Is there a right way to tack this boat… Since, I am a C and B fleet sailor…. Won’t I just drag your clinic down…. You don’t really want me to come to this event do you? My neighbor’s kid is sailing in Opti Green Fleet and he was going on and on about the Tommy Coleman clinic his club just had for a day for his kid. Is that what I should expect? I know the club paid Coleman a good bit of money to put on the Opti clinic... Is that what my dues are paying for?
Mike
Mike
Your response is petty and ignorant, not once but several times! What the hell is your problem?
Why would anyone care about what HCA does?. …. When you are the entry class for new racers into the sport… What you do matters to the long term growth of the sport.
You write
“I could almost go along with that if he didn't drag in the negativity associated with the other groups. There was nothing in our promotional announcement about forcing anyone to do anything, demanding money, or anything else.
Mike”
Dude! look down…. the shoe fits…
Your Hobie Class association has decided to enforce MANDATORY MEMBERSHIP in the HCA for a weekend points regattas that are not run by the HCA. If a new sailor shows up on the beach to try a regatta… You are ordering your partner organization to collect your dues plus regatta fees or send him home. (This is a recent change)
The least you can do when you require membership to race at a standard regatta is make the policy clear before the event and explain the benefits the class membership offers and why they should matter to the individual sailor.
Don't care about a hat (little or otherwise)...I'd settle for a few H16s to sail against! <img src="<>/crazy.gif" alt="crazy" title="crazy" height="15" width="15" />
What's in the magazine they the want to read about that would get them to join?
Hey, Mark, plenty of racing and non racing info in the
Hot Line
Read it and see, available FREE online.
Caleb
Hi Mike. We are out of town, but just renewed our Family Membership for 2009. The online system worked just fine, and even sent Email confirmation. Hobie Cat Association Membership is still a bargain compared to the other groups we pay dues to.
And as the other sailors sign up or renew, please consider giving a few bucks to the Youth Program. As noted, it goes to a good cause.
Caleb, Tom and Dan
H-17, H-17, and Wave, H-16, plus will crew on anything
I understand what you're saying and I need to either figure it out or come up with something new. I am not a serious sailor by any means too, so I get what you're saying. We'll work on this issue and see how we can accomodate the masses.
BTW- isn't it you that is doing some youth stuff at AYC? Anything we can do to help?
Not yet!
Jay was swamped last week and postponed my meeting. We are scheduled for Tuesday. He is a pro and I am pretty sure we will work out a really good first step. My goal is something like the CISA program that the west coast enjoys and I think Jay will support that level of activity. They are already tapped as one of the Opti elite program centers. My reading of the tea leaves is that these centers of training are the future. They want to draw the top juniors in for training camps that provide competition leading to international success.
I have a couple of local sources for funding that I will try to make this fly. I would like to make sure the people who volunteer a charter boat are covered and the expenses of the national coaches are covered. I have gotten support for anyone I have asked so far so I think it's promising. Div 11 16 sailors are completely on board so that was a key step.
I will certainly let the world know what's needed.
Mark
The boat repair articles by Rick Buchanan that have been highlighted in the past few issues are alone worth about 5 years of dues in my opinion.
Mark,
My responses were honest, neither petty nor ignorant. I wasn't hiding what my problem is, it's right there in black and white.
Throwing insults in my direction is not giving me any reason to doubt my original take on your intent. If you didn't intend to offend us with your original post, now would be a good time to just say that and we can move on...
Mike
And the winner of the Trap Gear is?
TBD...
I'm still getting paper forms in the mail that are postmarked before Jan 31.
We'll announce next week.
Mike
BTW...
When you click on the link to the renewal page (www.hcanamembers.com), you will see this, before you get to anything that mentions money:
How do we use membership dues?
Class Promotion
Guest Expert Programs
Youth Programs
Standardized Racing
NAs event support
Racer support programs
Regatta materials for fleets and divisions
Racing Seminars
Regatta Insurance
EDIT: It also lists the benefits of the online system.
This info was omitted from the paper form to allow space for the critical renewal data.
Does that answer it? <img src="<>/cool.gif" alt="cool" title="cool" height="15" width="15" />
Surprisingly, the Hotline isn't on that list. Begs the question, what else do we do that you (our members) find valuable?
I ask the same thing in every article that I write for the Hotline: Please send me ideas on how we can improve our value to our members. I rarely get responses...
Mike
Just a suggestion,(I have made it a few times).Why not do like the Laser Class and give the option of a two year membership at a slight discount.Seems like it would be a win win situation.
That does seem like a good idea. I can bring it up to the board.
I think we've discussed that in the past, and the concern was how to manage it (annual dues to IHCA, etc.), and how to remind people that they're due again (especially now that we don't have cards).
Mike
For the 2 year renewal just do it like california boat regestration. Every odd year dues are up. 01,03,05,07,09,11,13,,,,,ect. You could use even years but we are an odd bunch.
OK, so if someone wants a multi-year membership to start on an even year, we charge for three years?
Mike
No if you join in the middle its one year charge. So Jan 09 I pay my family membership for 2 years. Due again in 2011, If someone joins in 2010 they pay one year then are on the same cycle as everyone else.
I'm a member and I do not race a whole lot. I have yet to participate in a strictly Hobie race. But getting the hotline is worth every penny of the membership, especially when its cold out and the sailing takes the back seat.
What is this about a calender? I never recieved one and I was paid up in 2008. I'm pretty positive anyway.
Hi Rich,
I don't know if I fully understand how that would help us. What Mike is suggesting is an OPTIONAL two-year membership, what your state is doing sounds mandatory (i.e. everyone pays for two years at a time).
Mike
James, send me an email with your full name and membership number (if you know it) so I can check on your status for 2008.
Mike
hobiemembership (at) gmail . com
its just the option to renew at 2 year intervals. Not mandatory but keep it so 2 year memberships are always on the same even or odd years. It will help in the long run on paperwork.
Sorry, but I'm still feeling pretty dense about this. Is this what you're saying?
All two-year renewals can only be started on odd-numbered years. (The same logic would apply if we chose even-numbered years.)
If someone wants to pay for a two-year membership in 2009, they can, and will be due again in 2011.
If someone wants to pay for a two-year membership in 2010, they can't, they can only pay for one year, and will be due again in 2011. We have to hope they want to pay for two years when 2011 comes around.
I hope I'm missing something here.
Mike