Now that the Florida sailing series is in its forth year, with attandance on a slight increase (about 10% in the first three years), the trend seems to be that we are consolidating to specific fleets (Wave, H16, A, F16, F18, I20).
There are some new folks, but in general I believe what we are seeing is the consolidation of the bulk of existing sailors that have been in the sport for a while.
Im optomistic, but Im getting this feeling lately that our pool of sailors is shrinking.
Curious how others are feeling about the state of catamaran sailing?
Excellent call Brian!
How about a report from a volunteer in each major sailing region.
The Hobie Divisions do a good job of asesement and publish this in their division reports. Taken all together might allow a fair assesment of the entire catamaran scene.
I suggest a report include a summary on
How about OD fleet status/ Racing schedule
Open class fleet status.
Trends in participation.
Yacht club/ Paper club status.
Junior Sailing opportunities (B fleets?)
Any other burning issues.
Mark
We're not growing in Dn. EMSA is starting to track regatta attendence, and though Spring Fever was strong, we're not seeing any new faces at our local regattas.
One a fun / good note, our assembly manager came up to me this morning and said that he could understand how I was so addicted to catamaran sailing. He had gone on his honeymoon at a resort that had Hobie Waves and got some good instruction...they had a ball and he was amazed at how fast they were! 🙂 Yes, I'm inviting he and his new wife out to a regatta though I'm not sure he's ready for a spin boat. <img src=
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Florida actually IS 'the state of catamaran sailing,' isn't it?
GARY
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It was when I quit in 1975! Now I am back and everyone is gone.
It seems there are boats all over FL but few racing. I'm talking H14, 16, 18, P16, 5.2, etc. These guys don't seem to travel much anymore. The new, high tech F16, F18, I20 people are deeply involved and travel.
I used to drive from Key West to Mt. Dora for a 1 day race. There were beach races all the time with 100 boats. At Miami YC we got 75 cats and sailed in a canal!
We can't go back.
One thing that really jumps out at me is that they lowered the weight on a H16 to 320#. Most older boats are at least 360# so unless you have a new boat you are a loser at the gun. Hobie has always been strict on one-design, but what happened? You still have to have a propriety tramp and comptip, but there is no way to shead 40# without a sawzall.
Brian ive been a member of GYC since Sept 07. For every club race we've seen an increase in numbers. The only fleets we see is F16 average 4 to 6 boats
F18 average 3 boats
A cats average 6 to 8 boats
Last race we had 16 boats on the line. All boats were F16, F18, A cats and one H16.
After talking with the folks around the club, the feeling is there is no need to travel seeing how we have such excellent facilities and launching/retrieving location. We sail in protected water with very little traffic on the weekends. We get good steady ocean breeze on a daily basis as well.
Our location enables us to race three times a month. Twice with Gulfport Yacht Club and once with BCYC Boca Ciega Yacht Club which is our neighbor club and they welcome us to all there races.
Not sure how this will help you but its mostly from what ive seen and talked with the members of Gulfport Yacht Club.
Good points, GYC certainly has a lot of benefits going for it. I always liked the travel though, sort of like mini-vacations and a good excuse to get out of town.
I've stopped worrying about it and just enjoy sailing. The quality of the events is quite good.
I always liked the travel though, sort of like mini-vacations and a good excuse to get out of town.
Agreed, but I'm getting a little more particular about organization and travel distance.
Another thing that always helps is a
house a sailor
program. In other words if you know sailor X or Y are coming to your home town event. Give them a room to stay in. With gas prices skyrocketing, making it less attractive to travel; the cheaper you can make it for any sailor the more folks you will have on the line.
Ive done it, and will continue to do it. Doing this works out wonders.
Just another point that really helps out a lot.
yeah,
I sold my house in Fl, but am working on building one... a bit closer to the water <img src=
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Sailors are welcome to stay there for juana's, perf midwinters, RTI, etc etc
I have been hoping that one upside of higher gasoline prices might be more sailboats, less jet skis, but the higher gas prices are going to limit long distance regatta travelers, no doubt. I drove to Alabam and back last weekend, it was over $350 in gasoline, and the prices have gone up since last weekend!
I really think we need to get the cat manufactures and sailing clubs out to the big boat shows (power boat shows especially) and bring new people into the sport. It's an easy sell when you tell them they will never put gas in their catamaran. If there is a club representative present, they can explain the benefits of having a storage place and regular racing or instruction available.
I think we will see growth at clubs like Gulfport that offer mast up storage and regular racing. I would be there every weekend if I lived closer, but it's over $50 in gas for me to drive there now and the price keeps going up. Hard to justify it when I live on a lake and my mast is already up. But we really need the big manufactures to step it up, advertise in Outdoor Magazine, (and not just their Kayaks) as well as all sporting mags, push the -no gas required- angle and get some clubs to show up and advertise their programs too. This could be a great oportunity to grow the sport as gasoline goes up, up, up.
One bright note, my twin daughters, just home from college, went out (one at a time) with me on the Prindle yesterday, first time they have sailed in many years. I had them steer from the wire while I worked the mainsheet. We were able to fly a hull a few times in the puffs.
They said they really enjoyed it but I'm thinking they are just learning how to work the old man, just like their mom. They must want me to buy them a new horse or something... <img src=
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Gas, and expenses. I went to the Chico clissic last weekend the event was fun. this was only the second time ever I had sailed in a reggata or organized event. Altho after computing expenses. It was almost 500$, 200+ in gas alone for the weekend. That seems pretty expensive for one guy. I'm sure this a reason why people arn't travling as far or as much.