I don't get it.

Fair enough - but where did we go wrong scheduling Spring Fever and what would you change?

I haven't finished my run through all of the data (I'm crushed with both 1st work and 2nd work at the moment) and it will probably be several weeks before I get back to it...but I think the scheduling conflict only had a minimal impact on Spring Fever. The decline has been going on for a while. The decline of the Hobie 16 attendance (was once 28 boats and down to 5) was one reason, late notification this year probably didn't help. F18's having a big late 2013 with a large America's Champs in Florida certainly impacted people's travel decisions (I offered free board and competitive boat to some key folks and couldn't entice them to attend). The only scheduling issues I know of is that we probably lost 6 or 8 A-cats to the NC event that also couldn't make it work and was cancelled. The Nacra 17 European event also took away two or three teams. So maybe we could have enticed another 6 or 8 a-caters to sign up IF we had been able to talk the other event organizers into moving their date away from Easter...we know we're not getting the European people to move their dates...so even if we got the A-cat guy's talked into moving their schedule, that still wouldn't have put the event over the threshold.

Besides, we wouldn't likely been able to move Spring Fever away from Easter weekend...so what could we have done differently as it relates to the schedule?

It's not just about the weekend you pick, but the overall big picture (and I'm absolutely not picking a fight with you).

As a reminder, the MRC is more than a few volunteers from various areas of the country. I have been trying to emphasize that this committee is made up of leaders from each of the major classes, and it is in situations like this that it becomes glaringly apparent that we need to improve here.

I have organized more than enough events and seasons to know that, even when there are tons of boats, these decisions can be brutally difficult, and some people and clubs cannot be persuaded. When the core number of boats drops, it becomes absolutely essential to not schedule on top of (or even in close proximity to) one another.

We need to start thinking like a big group, or we may wind up with nothing but a bunch of small groups begging for a start at other events.

Maybe we move MWE to SF next year, and get the A cats to make it a major event. Move it to a biannual schedule.

Let's start thinking way outside the box...

Mike

What kept me from coming back to Spring Fever in the past was, it was on Easter Weekend. With 4 little kids in the house, I had baskets to fill. Momma wasn't happy with me when I got home from the one time I did go...and it rained, and we were wet and cold in our little tent...and then there was no wind.

In later years as I watched the weather more, being a Florida to Atlanta commuter, it seems the weather is a real crap shoot that time of year in that area. One year it's freezing cold and raining, another it's hot with no wind....so maybe if they moved it to May or June?

Jake, I think you are correct... your EMSA scheduling process is probably just right for the region. It sounds like each year you sailors take into account the number of events and the number of sailors. You make the call on the fun factor for each event and the local sailors do their thing.... you guys get the critical mass that works for you...

The local sailors can't get critical mass for Spring Fever
The issue is that the non EMSA fleet failed to show up in numbers.

The problem is.... There is no structure to manage this...

Contrast the Hobie MWE crew with Spring Fever crew...

Who Does Mr Ernie call from each class? Does he need to contact the regional class leaders? Does Mr Ernie even call anyone.... or does he just happily assume that if you build it... they will come. Does Mr Ernie even care what the fleets and classes are up to.. He could think that all that he needs is the email list from the last few years to rally the troops. He just needs to put the web site up a bit earlier... (really???)

Meanwhile... it sounds like the MWE guys have been trying to contact everyone they could... SINCE LAST YEAR and not getting support or clear answers.

The problem is larger then EMSA... and it is larger then the Spring Fever crew or the MWE crew can manage as well.

Chris W.... I wouldn't use the Soprano analogy... I prefer something more sinister... how about the Tri Lateral commission!

Partly because Easter moves, too. Some years it's brutally early in the year (for GA)... dang solar/lunar cycles. I've got enough of them in the house.... <img src="<>/frown.gif" alt="frown" title="frown" height="15" width="15" />

First Hiram's, then SF? What's next? Please don't say T-winds... I'm downloading charts of Florida Bay to get there..

The more I look at Jake's data from past events, I have come to the conclusion that Spring Fever could have happened. The numbers cannot take into account the late notice on getting the website up, and even later registration opened up.

How can you compare 10 days of time compared to nearly 2 months last year? People are generally slow to sign up, and plenty of people assume that others will take care of the problems. I also feel that the

warning

about the lack of critical mass could have been done a little differently and a change in timing may have affected the outcome.

I think I see a few places that the system could be improved, but I don't think the past formula is that kept SF from happening this year. I am thinking that it wasn't exactly given a proper chance.

No fight being picked here either...I still don't think that having a(nother) master nation wide schedule would have changed Spring Fever's fate this year. However, your point about working with the classes and keeping an active dialog would probably make a difference. Maybe the master schedule provides a conduit for it - it's the one time of year our group's organization is most active by far when we are hashing out the schedule. The trick would be getting it done in a manner that can both span some time (allowing people to go back and check / discuss their schedules with their folks) and be open while being directed on point.

EMSA doesn't have enough active sailors to keep Spring Fever alive alone. I would say that all of our active sailors (except one pair who had a conflict) signed up in force. Our regattas have been in decline over the last 12 years as well and a good regatta for us is 15-20 boats.

You are hitting on some of the same points as brucat and I think this is probably the single most valuable thing that we can do is get the classes to come together to talk strategy. There could be some positive impact if we did manage to combine efforts and combine events. I'm not sure if that's doable or not.

2

Mike I'm not saying don't do it, it won't hurt anything to have another schedule. My point is the issue isn't a lack of published schedules. I also caution against running down rabbit holes created by people that don't go to regatta's and won't go no matter what we do. How many times have we made changes to accomodate these people only to have them not show up anyway. If you're going to burn cycles burn those cycles on solving the schedule saturation problem. This is NOT a simple task and requires a huge amount of cooperation. If USSailing can pull this one task off I might have my faith restored.

We also have to acknowledge the elepant in the room which is the sport has been on the decline for a very long time and we are feeling the pinch and will continue to feel the pinch for some time, the beach isn't getting less gray. So, reduce the scheule and make the survioring regattas as hassle free and enjoyable as possible and listen to those that attend regattas they are the ones that are heavily invested.

All you really have to do when scheduling a regatta is go to our Events Page, where almost every event in the nation and other nations is posted by area, and by three other listings: Major Regattas, Long Distance Races and For Bigger Boats.

Admittedly, it is like pulling teeth to get local folks to tell me about their events, but usually by about this time of the year folks get the hint and start sending me info.

Right now take a look at Mountain Area (NOthing Scheduled), North West, (finally one event showed up, otherwise Nothing Scheduled)

Other areas, i.e., Southeast, South, Midwest, Southwest and East all have folks that send me everthing they have.

Worst are Northeast, Northwest and Mountain. And those are the areas that have the least amount of activity anyway.

In other words, why invent another wheel, when you already have a very extensive scheduling device. Just use it.
Rick

Fairlie Brinkley told me that in the southern part of the state (Clearwater down to Miami) the yacht clubs build schedules two years in advance. Many of the PHRF events have evaporated for various reasons, including yc leadership changes in philosophy, available sponsorship, and the general reduction of sailors at events. The loss of sponsors has played the greater role.

Community sailing programs for high school students could be a way to freshen the spirit and build a future. Fairlie has been pushing this strongly in the Dunedin and Clearwater area. Fairlie and Means Davis are strong supporters of the Opti family and the multihull community. Without them, we would have found it difficult for us to improve our race management practices.

Mike, just a suggestion - head south and meet some of us face to face. Work a regatta down here in cat central, and give us a chance to know you. I have been traveling since 2009, and I can say that the acquisition of modern practices is currently playing a role on our bay and within the GYA.

Here's a couple of things that we are actively trying this year that we haven't done in the past to increase interest in our area (and some of it is showing promise).

1) Get the word OUT. Channels of communication aren't what they used to be and just knowing that there is a regatta coming doesn't cut it anymore. Embrace the Facebook generation. It sounds stupid to those of us were in high school while The Cars were making hits...I certainly used to think it was stupid...but it's not. We had two new boats show up at our regatta last week because of some of our publicity both on Facebook and putting some extra energy into our website. At that small regatta? That was a 15% increase in participation.

2) Schedule early - prompt early, push early. This one sounds kinda silly too but there's some truth to it. Not only is getting the word out important, but I'm really starting to believe that getting it out EARLY is critical to the fringe sailors. I've started pumping up events and making a roll call (yahoo conversation forum) three weeks or more in advance. Not only does this put you on the calendar but it shows interest and excitement and energy. It really does rub off.

3) There are x-boat sailors out there that either don't know about our organized activities or don't care. I plan to find out more this year. A couple of our sailors actively sell pieces parts and they touch base with a lot of cat sailors that we've never heard of. Bach was telling me that we would be surprised with how many of them are out there. We're going to find them and try to understand where their interests lie. From the outside, I'm pretty sure we look pretty damn intimidating now that we've been reduced to mostly serious sailors with the expensive shiny rigs.

4) Publicity. I just ordered 250 EMSA

hello

introductory business cards with our 2014 schedule on the back (actually, 500 because Vista Print tricked me). I'll be passing these out to all of our sailors at the next events and asking them to give to people that ask about our boats at the gas station and leave them with the people that have boats in their yards. Heck, just last week I just noticed that a guy down the street from me has THREE decent looking Hobie 16s in his driveway. If I can't get THAT guy out to a regatta, something is wrong.

5) Hobie Division 9. Mark Van Doren is striking up the old Hobie Division 9 that is what EMSA was before

the edict

. Acting mostly alone, he has breathed life into the Hobie 16 in our area and is bringing boats to regattas. They're defining a Hobie circuit that partners with a couple of our official regattas. They're setting an example and hopefully the trend continues and we all benefit through increased participation.

There are a lot of factors involved that are contributing to our declining sport but, as organizers, we need to check our attitudes and make sure we're not sitting around shrugging our shoulders like a bunch of old farts. Times have changed. People communicate in different ways. Their needs are different. This isn't easy and the answers are not certain but we can improve the situation with a little effort. At the very least, there's little harm in trying a few different things.

Valid point, but is this schedule reaching any audience besides the dedicated beachcat racing fleet? Do paper clubs (multihull and otherwise) know of this resource?

There are several casual beachcat sailors I talk to at my local paper club (Gulf Coast Sail Club) who might be enticed to participate (PHRF most likely - I've directed them to your calendar).

Since most of the sailing community is aware of US Sailing in general, it was my opinion that it might be the most recognizable source of information to be looked at by those outside your

circle of trust

We are trying to maintain/build fleet sizes, right? And not by sniping other active racing fleets?

And I feel the pain somewhat trying to dig up F24 owners and get them on the water - if for no other reason than 2 boat testing. Some of the events which show reasonable attendance (enough for their own start) may be formats / dates/ locations I'm not particularly fond of (MKL and Onsgard's contingent, for instance - tough logistics), but I should show to support the fleet...

More great comments.

Regarding me and travel: If your event needs a PRO, I'll get on a plane. I'm certified and have been at it up to the NA level longer than just about anyone on our side of the sport. I travel quite a bit already to support regattas, sometimes hiding on mark boats.

I've traveled to each of the past three US Sailing annual meetings, didn't see too many of you there (even when it was in FL last fall). Regatta organizers might want to look at those meetings when planning as well.

The Alter Cup will be in my backyard this year, no reason we can't set up a MRC social night. The NOR currently lists Friday night as free time...

Anything we can do as a collective group will make our side of the sport more attractive to potential cat sailors. All eyes have been on multihulls for a few years now, let's start building together.

Mike

There is also a comprehensive calendar of events on www.thebeachcats.com.

In fact our group takes the Dunedin kids sailing. They started a high school program last year with next to nothing and now have 30 kids.

We take them sailing again Sunday April 13th. We are working on taking them out two times this year. We have 36 kids to take sailing so if your in the area with your boat and want to help PM me. I also have an nice H-16 that someone could use for that event.

Issues with the various

thebeachcats

and

catsailor

and

hobie

and other schedules is that they are often incomplete and lack any attempt at a central organizing catalyst.

From a collecting the information together standpoint, I'd prefer a table style with weekends going down the rows, regional organizers (EMSA, NENSA, CRAM, CRAW, etc.) in the columns, and events filling out the field. Can't speak for other regions, but CRAM does actively communicate with CRAW and ORCA to try to coordinate the larger event dates.

FWIW, our CRAM Caseville event (July 11-13) already has 18 boats registered including 10 F18s. I'm literally looking at piles of snow on the ground, the event is still 3.5 months away, and yet we already know we're going to have a successful event. Point is that it is possible to make this work if its done right. It all comes down to early and frequent communication in all it's various forms: email, social media, phone calls, over a beer, etc.

We're working very hard to make the dead-boat society feel welcome as well and are seeing some real success there. We got lot's of 'em here in MI, and those guys are always a ton of fun. As well, the Weta guys will be sailing with us at Muskegon at the end of July - they're expecting at least 5-6 of them to show up.

Schedule for the North West http://hobiefleet95.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/2014-Event-Schedule-R9.pdf

I love it when a plan comes together.

Nice points, Jake.
I have editorialized this subject a gazillion times. Lots of fleets/whatever try to promote their event and then after it is over.., total radio silence.
No word of any kind. In most cases I have to beg for a story, pix, results.., anything. I would think getting a story out to the media is as important as getting out pre-event promotion. people like to see themselves in print, pix, name even if last place in the results.

I know event organizers are usually burnt out afterwards, but it is so important to get those sailors back next year.

After the events here in Key Largo, on Monday I send out a story with a few selected pix to all the newspaper, Southwinds, or whoever. Takes a few minutes and community gets to see some action besides high school basketball.

Can't agree enough with Rick and Jake.

Improved online presence (

live

mark roundings at major events, etc.), press and publicity, etc. are things that form a perception to sailors who have not yet attended your event. Most of these things are cheap (free) and take little effort, but pay huge dividends when trying to attract sailors, sponsors, etc. for future events.

As I've mentioned since coming into this job, this is one area where some of our individual classes shine (at least among themselves), and others can learn; but there's no reason we can't be working together to improve across the board. None of this is proprietary (or rocket science).

My vision for a better US multihull world is for the MRC to serve as a best-practices clearinghouse and guidance forum, for the classes to learn from one another.

Progress has been painfully slow (for a variety of valid reasons), but I think this year, you will see the wheels really starting to turn on this.

Of course, as mentioned many times above, we can lead the horse to water, but cannot make it drink. Hopefully, the loss of SF will not only be temporary, but can also serve as a catalyst to move us (as in, all of us including everyone here) into action.

Mike

I'm late to this discussion, thanks to Chris Wessels for calling in a head's up. I recently moved to Knoxville from Louisiana after a 23-year career as a military officer. I understand the importance of organization and structure, more on that shortly. Upon arrival here, the Hobie Class Association asked me to be the Division 9 Chairman (GA, SC, NC, East TN, Va Beach, VA). Being a new guy in this region, it’s taken a while to see how EMSA works and to understand the issues we have here. I’ve been hesitant to start telling the veterans here what’s wrong with cat sailing, but I think this discussion is a good place for me to jump in. You guys have made some excellent points in these posts, and I'd like to weigh-in with my observations and suggestions.

First, there is no shortage of regattas in our region - quite the opposite. It’s great that so many people want to host regattas, but as some of you have noted, the calendar is saturated. The folks who continue to race cats have so many choices that the population of active cat racers is spread too thin. Jake does an excellent job of putting events on the schedule. Currently there are 30 of them. They are divided into 10 EMSA events and 20 others

of interest

. However, when a bunch of people jump on the yahoo group and start trying to promote a bunch of the

of interest

regattas, the original EMSA events begin to lose their significance. It makes you wonder, “What’s the significance of an EMSA event?” “Why should there be a difference?” Without any structure, organization, or leadership, it’s just a free for all.

That brings up my second point: lack of leadership. I’m not slamming anyone, especially Jake, it appears that he’s the only one putting forth any significant effort at the macro level. Not only does he work hard compiling and publishing a schedule, but he also moderates the CatamaranCrazy yahoo group which is the primary means for communication among cat sailors in our region. But beyond that, we need a decision making body that can influence which regattas get emphasized and perhaps which classes show up where and how many classes show up at a given regatta. Much easier said than done. For starters, there would be no way to make this group of Spranos’ decisions binding on anyone. If ABC Yacht Club wanted to invite cats or a certain class to their event, there’s nothing that says the club can’t do so and nothing that says sailors can’t take them up on their invitation. My impression is that cat sailing in our region, not necessarily just EMSA, has fallen under the spell of a culture that shuns rules and organization. Most of these folks it seems just want to be a free spirits and do as they please, or do things the way they’ve been doing them. Well, we see where that has led. There has to be some structure and organization.

So, how best to organize? As best I can tell, EMSA has been working things based on events. Putting events on Jake’s calendar has driven everything. With an absence of leadership and organization, that was the best thing he could do for us. However, a better way to organize would be by classes. Well before the season starts, like in November, we need to have delegates from the Hobie Class, the Isotopes, A-Cats, the F18s and F16s (are there any other classes of significance around here?) physically meet somewhere in a central location and discuss the most efficient way to focus classes on existing regattas. We won’t be able to focus on all of them, and we can focus multiple classes on the same regattas. This may be an odd concept, but the classes need the mutual support of one another to keep our regattas afloat. We’ll also need to consider deconfliction on the calendar and even avoid back-to-back weekends if possible. We’ll need to impress upon the yacht clubs the necessity for early scheduling, lest they be left out in the cold. Perhaps Spring Fever should reconsider Easter weekend. There will be some tough decisions made. Not every club’s regatta will be emphasized and their attendance will suffer. But if we don’t do anything, we’ll continue to see the decline that led to the demise of Spring Fever.

During my short tenure in Division 9, I’ve focused on the Hobie classes because 1) it’s my responsibility, and 2) I didn’t think I’d earn anyone’s support if I were perceived as the new guy trying to tell the establishment how to organize their regattas. But I’ll tell you what seems to be working with rejuvenating the Hobie classes. I’ve taken the approach of trying to designate just a few regattas, three this year, as HCANA sanctioned points regattas. The “Points Regatta” designation is critical because if we are to get Hobie sailors to travel to our regattas from other regions, they need to know that it fits the one-design Hobie standard – basically, a quality control endorsement ensuring that one-design Hobie classes have their own starts. I didn’t want to pursue this at every EMSA event or every “of interest” event because I was concerned about the dangers of schedule saturation. My vision is for Hobie sailors to focus on a few events so they’ll be well attended and competitive, and hence more fun, which will keep people coming back. It’s great for the competitors and great for the clubs hosting us at their regattas. And we aren’t taking a Hobie-only approach to these regattas. A lot of people are still uptight over the “edict” years ago, but things have loosened up since then.

One of the obstacles that I’ve come across is reluctance to change – some organizers either want to handicap the Hobie classes so they can accommodate singlehanders or Hobies with non-legal sails, or they want us to start on the line with a bunch of other boats but score us separately. They’ve always done it that way. But both situations are in violation of Hobie class rules, and more importantly, they have the effect of degrading the quality of racing for the majority of Hobie sailors to accommodate a few who could be in compliance with some effort – and money, no one said this sport was cheap. But the reluctance to change has influenced which events will be included in our Hobie Division 9 schedule. The three events that are on our schedule have agreed to accommodate our class rules and will get a strong turnout of Hobies which will support their bottom lines. Spring Fever wouldn’t change their model to accommodate us, so it didn’t get put on the Hobie calendar and wasn’t emphasized in the Hobie world – not many Hobies signed up. The point is: if you are organizing a regatta, be open to change – embrace one-design classes and accommodate them, Hobie or otherwise, that want to come to your regattas. Try to improve the quality of racing, don’t just settle for the status quo or keep doing something just because you always have. There are a bunch of regattas out there and recruiting sailors is going to become a competitive proposition.

Let's make some changes and get our sport back on track! Let's start discussing whose going to represent the classes, consider an agenda, and start thinking about a late fall meeting.

Mark Van Doren
HCANA Division 9 Chairman

I am lucky to live in the Central of the EMSA region and events. All of the events on the schedule are within a 3 hour drive for me and many of our group. That means we can get home in time for dinner on Sunday most of the time. Many of the

interest

races are much farther away. These might be notable class championships or distance races, They are also races that people on the fringe of our area might attend as the drive for them may be prohibitive. I do not recall too much promotion of the interest events, other than telling our group about it. Our group will show up in force to all of the scheduled events. I don't think there is much indecision for a member to choose with race to attend.

I think you may have the idea that our traveling group is larger than it is. I don't think sending boats to a regatta by class is gonna do much for us. I don't have any faith that the people who do not currently travel will start traveling. I also wouldn't trade 3 small open fleet regattas for one large regatta.

Mark,

I certainly do appreciate and admire the effort you are putting into getting the Hobie classes rejuvenated in Division 9. You are making an impact and inspiring me to keep pushing to find new sailors as well. You are at a bit of a disadvantage because you haven't been in the area long enough to see how EMSA has evolved but we have done many of the things you have pointed out. I think the biggest misconception about EMSA is that we're some huge outfit. In reality, we're made up of about 20 to 25 sailors that are all good friends and we see each other often. I'm probably one of the most publicly outspoken of the group, but several others do a ton of work to make everything work. I don't want to list names for fear of leaving someone out - but just about everyone in the group contributes in some way. We don't have memberships or membership fees but we get it done because we're passionate and we all work together very well with very little in the way of politics.

About 5 or 6 years ago, we had over 20 regattas on our schedule and many of them were on back to back weekends. We did reduce those down to try and focus our attendance to key ones and it helped a bit. We also tried to spread regattas out more evenly throughout the calendar year but the middle summer is not the greatest time to have regattas due to a lack of wind in the region. When we have a conflict, we discuss and agree on which event we will support and everyone follows suit. Since then, our scheduled events have migrated back a little closer into the spring and fall with a lull in the mid-summer but we're pretty happy with how things are scheduled because the weather is usually more favorable in the spring and fall. There is also an aspect of politics to the schedule that if we eliminate a particular regatta we alienate the sailors that closely associated to it and it could have a negative impact on an exchange of effort on several other events. It may not be incredibly visible but we do put a good bit of thought into how our schedule is structured. Much of it leans on the previous year and we only need to discuss the details if dates and weekends change (we didn't have any of that this year). We have 10 official regattas over the course of the year. I think that's a pretty reasonable number.

The reduction in regattas several years ago resulted in the list of

official

EMSA regattas. However, we recognize that some of the classes, like the Isotopes for instance, are concentrated at one particular club. They are going to attend their regatta even though it no longer falls into the

official

list. Similarly, the Div. 9 Hobie 16 class is going to go to James Island later this year which is a one design regatta which doesn't meet EMSA needs for an

official

regatta (since the majority of our sailors would not be permitted to attend). These events still show on the schedule as

other events

because it is an important event in the area to consider and it's important to some of the sailors in the area. It's going to take place whether or not EMSA supports it. We also want all of the multihull sailors in the area to be able to find pertinent information on our site so we list those events as

other events of interest

. This allows us to work around them and also keep EMSA relevant to the sailors in our area.

With regards to our lack of formal organization, we could go back to elected officers and put a structure in place but we're just not that big. We do generally have a short planned meeting every year to discuss any important matters but we are small and see each other often. We act like 20 guys sitting in a lounge because that's literally what we are. Personally, I feel like it's effective for the time being. When it gets to be like herding cats again or we have a need for funds, I'll be in favor of re-establishing some structure. The A-cat leadership, F18 leadership, F16 leadership, and our existing Hobie 16 and Hobie 18 leadership are all part of the group and the conversation. Keep in mind, though, there are only 3 or 4 active F18 sailors, 8 to 12 A-cat sailors, 4 or 5 F16 sailors, etc. in the area. Organizing our groups isn't complicated and having a conversation with any of these classes takes place at the events. If we need to buy or repair a mark, someone usually takes care of it or we make the need known and we pitch in a few bucks. Our website is hosted for free by someone that used to sail actively with us but doesn't anymore. At the end of the day, our organization works for us but I can see how looking at it from the outside-in is confusing (you are probably the only person in that unenviable position). To help, I'll be glad to point you in the right direction to discuss any issues with the right folks if you have a need.

That said, I do realize that there have been some cases where things got complicated with a few event organizers with the upstart Hobie Division 9 and I think it's mostly just a bit of a growing pain while you guys gain some footing. With regards to our regatta management, probably 2/3rds of our events have a PRO and/or organizer that is a tightly knit member of EMSA and we have some collective input on how some of those events are managed. In other cases, maybe an organizer has their own idea about how they want things or are not tightly knit within the EMSA ranks. We are often not in a position of strength (nor are we inclined in several cases) to make any kinds of demands or requirements on everyone that hosts an EMSA regatta. Frankly, we're glad that some of them are still happy to see us! (the Outback Cup, for example...we had to do some politicking just to get invited back again after we dropped it off our main event schedule one year due to a conflict with a long standing EMSA regatta). At the end of the day, we're all about getting some growth going in our sport and our groups only serve to benefit each other. Once you get to know us a little better I'm sure it will start to make more sense. In the meantime, it may help to know that I can probably point you to several people that would make a good ambassador (including myself) to work between our groups. Once we've established a working method that pleases everyone it will serve as the example and things will get smoother. Bare What you Dare will be a good opportunity to do exactly that.

FYI: We lost the bulk of our F-18 registrations at MWE to other classes (both boats.....) so if you know someone that was coming on an F18 and didn't pre register, can you tell them we don't have a fleet signed up any more.
Good conversation going. MVD is an exceptional networker and is doing great things in Div 9 for the HCA, especially with the uphill battles HCA has to fight in the South. If a group of some sort is formed to put together a schedule, it would be well served to include Mark, as he is out to have make it work and have fun doing it.

Chris: Thoughts about HCA partnering with SF to host MWE as part of a huge comeback next year?

Mike

Give me a call at 641-423-7638x16 to give me an idea what you're thinking. I have a plan coming into focus for next year but its barely started.

Rick, I'm curious what you mean by this. The Northeast is probably the most active cat sailing region in the country between F18s in New England and Hobies in upstate New York.

That is too bad that no one has been sending you the schedule. I will see what I can do about that.

The Northeast F18 fleet uses USF18.com to display our calendar. http://usf18.com/events/
We have 11 events scheduled between May and October all which will have 12-20 boats and we may reach above 20 for a few.

As members of our fleet manage that website, it's tough for them to update it elsewhere and doesn't make sense as if it changes we like to have one go to as the official calendar.

We also post an event summary after every event with a story and pictures on USF18.com and publcize it on facebook and twitter.

That's great Todd, but it can't hurt to think bigger.

Mike