Must be short boat syndrome on my part for being so touchy.
Now that's funny!
This thread was more or less tongue-in-cheek type of opinion.
My negative comments about the Wave were much the same. It's no secret I'm not fan of the boat (and I never smoked marijuana, either). However, I intentionally made no such comments, even tongue-in-cheek, about the people who race Waves (big difference).
The Wave fleets I've been around are full of skilled sailors and really good folks. Wessels, for instance, is the James Brown of (hardest workin' man in) cat racing and a damn fine dude (especially for a yankee😊)!
Participation in the sport has declined so much that I'm just glad to see regattas, any regattas, being put on for catsailors. I'm also immensively appreciative of the relatively small group of people who tirelessly volunteer their efforts to that end. Otherwise, events like the Alter Cup wouldn't even still exist. Criticism comes easy, and, while we are all fans of some boats and not others, we need to stick together. (Praise to Saints Damon and Elmo for providing this site for that purpose!) Otherwise, there won't be any catamaran regattas and this site will go the way of the old catsailor.com (RIP Rick White).
Times have changed. The glory days of catsailing are long gone. They had seriously waned by the time I first got involved, and we now seem to be on our last leg. Perhaps that's why I hate so badly to see things get contentious on here. Anyway, it ain't what it used to be, and who knows what the future holds for it. Those who want to race cats in the US may all be assimilated into the Wave machine some day! Hell, I might even start smoking dope. I know several people that it makes much more tolerable (and they're probably thinking I should give it a go for that same reason!).
Kum Ba Yah! Sermon over...peace be with you...
The Wave is not the fastest, or any kind of technical. Â It relies on the skill and tactics of the sailor, and has little to do with the $$ invested. Â The Wave is where a lot of multihull competition is coming from. Â Most other classes have fewer regattas and/or fewer participants - and several classes no longer even exist.
Some great things about racing a Wave:
Affordable - new or used
Available - you can buy new or used.
One design - a 29 year old Wave with an old off-brand sail made top 15 at the Alter Cup, beating all those much newer boats.
Competition - not only are there lots of folks racing Waves, but there are lots of opportunities to race. Â The Formula Wave Class organizes regattas into 3 tiers, with their 3-day tier 2 regattas scheduled throughout the US. Â Tier 3's are local regattas with advertised Wave classes, and Tier 1's are special events - such as Nationals, Alter cups, and the famous Wave 100. Â Waves also can race in Hobie regattas, which add to the racing opportunities. Â Yes, F-18's and A-Class are much faster and more technical boats, but how many regattas can they attend? Â I attended both Formula and Hobie Wave nationals this year.
Easy entry - I see the Wave as a welcoming class. Â Competitive AND friendly.
Accommodating - Â The Wave can be competitively raced by almost anyone. From 120 pounds to 250+. Â Men, women, kids can all compete equally in most any wind conditions. Â It's not all about strength - more about finesse. Â
Finally, and perhaps most important - the Formula Wave Class (FWC) has leadership which is actively pushing, promoting and expanding the class. Â The 2021 Formula Wave Alter Cup had almost 70 boats, and the 2025 event ended up with 86 boats. That did not just happen magically. Â The class officers worked both locally, regionally and nationally to boost registration. Sailors were organized into teams to promote camaraderie, and to create a family environment. Sailors had much more to look forward to than just racing - and their families were included too. In 2023 the class added a Florida Keys regatta. Â It was limited to about 30 boats due to beach space. Â For 2024 and 2025, the regatta "sold out" in just a few weeks because sailors are looking for a competitive, fun, and friendly end-of season. The FWC introduced an inaugural Wave 100 3-day distance race on Lake Michigan in 2024, and are looking to expand it - maybe for 2026. Â The class works to get new sailors, and to add new events. Â The class is growing.
I am proud to be a Wave sailor.
@capt-j Great information, thanks.
Hopefully another side affect of all the work is bringing more sailors to beachcats in general. Some who start out racing Waves are bound to get hooked and try other classes as well.
Something that I think is missing in this conversation is the single-handed aspect of the HobieÂ
Wave.
Sure the Wave is less expensive than a Hobie-16, but even if they cost the same, the 1-up Wave would have a distinct advantage when it comes to putting a bunch of them on the start line... And you can still take the family out for some fun? That's just bonus points. The other 1-up boats on the market are highly technical, race only types, yes?
Maybe I'm way off base. Mid-tech 1-up boats have been put on the market multiple times but never seem to have caught on as racers.
Yes, that boat and crew are everything you say - so beautiful to sail and to watch. Â BUT - how many boats do you sail against, and how often?
Yes, that boat and crew are everything you say - so beautiful to sail and to watch. Â BUT - how many boats do you sail against, and how often?
First, I've found it very hard if not impossible to find ANY H-wave regattas on the East Coast, Florida, and North Coasts. There's one or two in Florida in a season, but that's not much.Â
Second: There are quite a lot of open catamaran and F18 regattas all over the place. Especially in Michigan (CRAM) and Waccamaw lake, and in Florida. New England has a big fleet as well. The thing is, none of these regattas have any H-Waves. Why? I'll tell you my experience.... Back in the 1990's in Ohio where my wife and I raced almost every weekend with our P18 and H18 (Ohio Catamaran Racing Association), the first Wave sailor to enter our club was a non-cat-like (not agile) youngish woman who previously crewed a couple times on an H16, but wanted her own boat. So she purchased a new Wave and though that she would race with everyone else (H14's, H16's, H18's, H20's, Nacra's, Mystere's, etc.). I remember her always holding-up the races after the first race due to her extremely slow boat.... she could not keep up with everyone else... not her fault, it was her slow boat (wave). Even the slowest H14's finished the races right behind the slower H16's.
Then we had a longish distance race of 20 mile race in Toledo (L. Erie). The Wave woman sailor wanted to participate in the race, but some thought it would be prudent to have her do a very short course. Somehow she convinced the powers to allow her to race the full course.
The course required navigation through shipping lanes, etc. GPS and Marine radio were required. Fun stuff, and it was blowing about 12-17 knots.... decent conditions. Everyone finished. But her. An hour after the last of all the other faster boats finished, she still hadn't been seen nor heard from on the radio. People were getting worried. The sole safety boat had to go out and find her and pull her in. Â
After that, waves were not allowed in any cat race unless the course was extremely short on a very small lake (pond), which might have been once a year.
A couple of other sailors purchased waves and thought that they were cute. Most of us just shook our heads.... why spend the time, energy, and money to become proficient with a slow boat when you already own, maintain and race a fast cat? Sometimes all three sailors would race before the faster cats would race, but all the faster cat sailors would be waiting for the waves to get back in so that we could begin the scheduled races. I think we tried having abbreviated courses for the wave, but since there was usually only one wave in each race, things didn't work out so well.
So, the reason why you will not see a Wave class in most catamaran races is because they delay all the races. They could be included in monohull races, but there again they're at a disadvantage because of their poorer maneuverability.
I don't know where you sail, but it's very likely that you're not sailing Waves with any other cats other than other Waves.
And why do you believe that having 60-85 or so boats makes a better racing experience? I'd much prefer to race against 10 boats that all have crew, all have tons of tuning options to play with, sail like the dickens even in relatively light airs and require plenty of tactics.
Do waves really help introduce newer sailors to the faster world of larger and more demanding catamaran racing? Maybe the very young, but in my opinion, if they're still sailing waves by the time they're 20 yrs old, they're likely stuck in the wave class or stop sailing all together, unless they start crewing on a faster class of cat and see the light and excitement. Seems like in Europe and Australia, sailors typically don't race waves.
As for the notion that catamaran racing in the USA is trending into the wave class is just absolute nonsense. There are far more catamaran races that do not include waves than there are races for waves, at least those that I could find in a casual search of East coast, North coasts and Florida Hobie fleet clubs and open multihull clubs -- those that I can reasonably drive to. Some wave influencer must be pulling peoples' chains, giving the impression that wave regattas are plentiful.
@cat-scratch There are far more Wave class races in the Tampa Bay area than any other catamaran; they are the only ones with a regular Wed night schedule, while no other catamaran class has any organized racing. There are far more Waves on the water in the Tampa Bay area on any given day than any other catamaran class. Not only that, but virtually every boat I see on the water is single handed.
@danielt1263 Look again. Your vision must be blurred.
Also, go look at Clearwater.... of course they sail out of the bay into the gulf.Â
😊
@danielt1263 Look again. Your vision must be blurred.
Also, go look at Clearwater.... of course they sail out of the bay into the gulf.Â
😊
I am looking at Clearwater, that's where I sail!
The CCSC organizes Wednesday night Wave regattas. No other catamaran regattas exist anymore. Red Gear Racing coaches there but they don't organize any racing. There's lots of monohull racing going on though, especially if you consider the Optimists.
I am looking at Clearwater, that's where I sail!
The CCSC organizes Wednesday night Wave regattas. No other catamaran regattas exist anymore. Red Gear Racing coaches there but they don't organize any racing. There's lots of monohull racing going on though, especially if you consider the Optimists.
Interesting.Â
I was talking with Jill the other week, and I'm pretty sure she indicated that they were having races and this is their 'busy' season.
Why engage in F16, F18, and Tornado coaching if there is no racing? I don't live in Florida, so I can only go by what I hear from my sources and what I find on club web sites. It's really hard to believe that there isn't any catamaran regattas in Florida, other than waves.
Anyway, it's good to hear that you have some fun racing Waves.
Interesting.Â
I was talking with Jill the other week, and I'm pretty sure she indicated that they were having races and this is their 'busy' season.
Why engage in F16, F18, and Tornado coaching if there is no racing? I don't live in Florida, so I can only go by what I hear from my sources and what I find on club web sites. It's really hard to believe that there isn't any catamaran regattas in Florida, other than waves.
Anyway, it's good to hear that you have some fun racing Waves.
Oh I don't race Waves. I have a Topcat. I will occasionally sail a Wave down at the sailing center, but I don't race.
I can't speak to all of Florida; I've heard that catamaran sailing is more organized in Sarasota for example.
It is their busy season; Red Gear does a lot of traveling this time of year to go to events, but they don't hold races here anymore AFAIK.Â
If you hear of any events in Tampa, by all means point me to them. I'd love to check them out. I know there used to be some interesting distance races, around Clearwater Island (20-25 miles), and even one going from Davis Island to Dunedin Causeway once many years ago.
@xanderwess Chris - great job on getting it together... I know of a few that raced because they could get ahold of a decent boat, it was a local event, and/or they knew the RC that would be involved. The Formula Wave fleets have been fantastic numbers... everyone wants to tout that they want to race a simple boat (I have a Tornado and understand complexity), but they are going to bash a boat that gets people out - and gloat on a H14... C'mon Man!!!! I know any of these "Karen's" will get completely smoked racing a Formula Wave... They just had a regatta in Key Largo with 34 boats... If y'all don't think so - I'm sure you can charter one at the next event.