Damons Note: Recently a Hobie 18 was listed in our classified ads which claimed to be the "last Hobie 18 to ever leave the Hobie factory". I was intrigued by this claim and contacted the seller to find out how he ended up with such a special catamaran. Here is his story.

In the fall of 2004, I was looking for a new Hobie 14 Turbo. I did not know that Hobie Cat USA had discontinued selling the 14 in the states here some years ago. When I called Hobie Cat to inquire about the 14, I not only learned that the 14 had been discontinued, but was also told that Hobie had just announced the discontinuance of the 18 as well.

When it comes together in Santa Barbara it comes together. Racers woke on Thursday morning to blue skies and a moderate breeze from the west. The collective thought in the makeshift parking lot campground was “Let’s go racing!” The committee boat headed out and set up a course about 1.5 nautical miles long. We again had all boats on the line at once and the competitors were getting more aggressive as the competition was coming to an end this very day.

So far the field had been pretty random with no real competitor standing out as the team to beat. Larry Harteck had shown his mettle as well as Greg Thomas, but others such as Nigel Pitt seemed a bit out of sorts for the week and still trying to get a handle on the local conditions. On Thursday one team would stand out, and their performance would lead them to a victory for the series and the title of world champion of the Hobie Tiger.

The swell was negligible and the wind waves at a minimum giving the racers a flat open course to play with. It was beginning to look like NASCAR at the stern of the committee boat as some of the less experienced teams got into trouble with dirty air and bad positioning for the start, which led to some “Bumpin’ and Rubbin’” along with some very colorful language. Suffice to say Damon, Eric and I can now say a variety of insults in Italian, Spanish, French, and German! Most of the big boys seemed to head for the middle of the line or the pin, leaving the rest to duke it out for the left over real estate. Enrique Figueroa somehow managed to make the committee boat end his own though, weaving in and out and predicting when and where a hole would open up to make to start line at the horn and in the lead. His chartreuse sail would be the one to look for the rest of the day.

Race one saw 17 year old Taylor Booth take the old guys to task as he led the pack off the line on a port tack towards the beach, but it was Enrique who was the first to “A” mark and by the time he passed through the downwind gate he was a full 20 seconds ahead of the second place boat. The sailing was flat and fast and everyone had their chutes out for some blistering downwind runs that were averaging about 6 minutes to cover the 1.5 nm course.

Race two saw Enrique Figueroa out in front once again and leading the entire race. Greg Thomas and Jacques Bernier were in the hunt as well and Mischa Heemskerk from the Netherlands was looking very fast as well. The top contenders were beginning to emerge and there were very few points separating the top three boats.

Race three brought some exciting finish line action as there was a port / starboard confrontation between Mischa Heemskerk and Greg Thomas. Team Thomas (USA) came into the finish line vying for second place on a starboard tack with team Heemskerk (Netherlands) on port. Thomas started calling for rights and Heemskerk failed to give way causing Thomas to change his course to avoid the inevitable collision – Thomas and Bernier end up capsizing their boat on the finish line. As Thomas and Bernier struggled to right their boat Heemskerk does his penalty 360 and finishes the race all the while not losing any places. Meanwhile Thomas and Bernier lose 9 places and see a possible second place in the series slip away.

A protest was filed and at first glance it looked as though Thomas and Bernier would be SOL as there was no boat damage caused, and the penalty turn done, creating no cause for redress. The question will always remain – was this in intentional act of dirty sailing? Was Mischa Heemskerk merely using the rules and hoping for the right outcome? We will never know, but ultimately it didn’t work out in their advantage as they were ruled as DSQ in race three which dropped them to 6th overall, but Thomas was still scored a 9th, which dropped him from a possible 2nd place overall to 5th. I can’t imagine that Thomas and Bernier were all too happy with the outcome.

Race four was run with out incident and Figueroa walked away with another bullet. He ended the day with three bullets and a third, and a Hobie Tiger world championship trophy. All in all a good four days of racing, and I do believe that the best sailor out there won. Some places down the line are in question in this reporters mind due to some questionable tactics on the course, but this is a different playground than what I am used to, and not everyone plays the game like I do when there are jobs and sponsorships on the line.

The awards ceremony was a pretty swanky affair, held at Café Nu on State Street. They had produced a video of the week’s events combining still and live action for our entertainment. I hope that they offer copies for sale as I would certainly buy one, besides; it shows your trusty reporter on the signal boat in a few scenes! I have to say Damon, that the girls on State Street at 11 pm on a Thursday night are quite a site! Eric was quite impressed – but you know what they say, “You can take the boy off the ranch, but you can’t take the ranch off the boy.” Or something like that.

Again, Damon, sorry for this being so late. When we got the private charter plane ticket for our trip home we had to sell them for some refreshments on the island with our new friends. You would not believe how much they want for a Buffalo’s Milk these days, and well, when you buy the whole place a round it tends get a little expensive. Hey, what’s the deal with cutting off the credit card? Do you know how embarrassing it is to have a $475.00 dinner bill rejected by the card company? Eric and I spent two hours washing dishes before we could sneak out the back.

And now I leave you with a surreal moment from the signal boat that pretty much sums up our experience for the week. In the cockpit stands Paul Ulibarri, PRO for the event. If any of you know Mr. Ulibarri you will remember him as very conservative and very serious when it comes to putting on a good event for the competitors. Now meet Daniel, first mate on the signal boat, and best described as the quintessential California soul surfer. Now picture Daniel coming up from the bowls of the 45 foot cruising cat dressing in an adult sized panda suit, complete with head (I’m not kidding about this…) and the following conversation ensues –

Daniel – “Good morning Paul!”

Strained silence.

Paul – “Daniel, I am not feeling the Panda suit!”, and Daniel turns around to head back to the berths below.

The last we saw Oggie and Daniel, the cat was speeding along the shore of Santa Barbara at what had to be close to 3200 RPM, diesels screaming under the strain with music blaring through the speakers and the disco ball flashing in the main salon. Oh, and Oggie and Daniel enacting the battle between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader on the forward tramp with light up light sabers. As Daniel dropped his light saber into the bay the last thing you could hear as they motored out of site and into the sunset was Daniel saying “Luke, I’m your father…”

Until next time Damon,

Dave Atwater and Eric Finley – Good Night!

A special note of thanks to the 3 guys who got me out of the RV when I broke my leg/ancle!! As I said, Dave's bum just happened to be the closest thing to grab as I was maneuvered out the door of the motorhome and I bet he won't forget that grab for awhile!

The shots I have posted are for Monday, when I was able to get on the water thanks to the generosity of the Hobie Cat Tiger Worlds providing a boat for us camera geeks. The wind was blowing 20+ plus out past the point and I would guess up to 35+ in the puffs. The photo shoot quickly turned into a rescue mission and I was asked many times to use my zoom to determine if 2 sailors were still on a capsized boat.

We saw at least half the fleet turtle during the first race and on the beat back to the beach after the postponement flag was raised. I witnessed the most perfect pitchpole I have ever seen and one boat did a reverse pitchpole. It is amazing to think that my stepping on a 2 inch wooden block was the worst injury of the day, but I was glad that it was and the sailors arrived back on the beach basically in one piece.

I posted new photos in the Tiger Worlds Album and please take a look at my son's photo coverage. I did think he did a great job!

Thanks to all of you for your wonderful support. What a great group you all are. Don't worry I will be back before the seasons end!

Sail fast and have fun and see you on the water,

Connie Brown

The rumor yesterday of everyone on the line at once bore out to be true and a long line was set and a course two posted. What an amazing site! 87 boats on the course this morning all on the line at once for the start. The racers were fairly aggressive with four boats being flagged as OCS. It looked as though some local knowledge might be helpful as local sailor Larry Harteck waxed the fleet in the first race. He was greeted on the finish line with not only a horn from the signal boat but with a blast from several spectators air horns as well.

The second race was run in similar conditions with the competitors being a little more cautious on the line - except one that is. Taylor Booth took a huge chance with a port start and smoked the entire line. And Taylor is all of 17 years old. There were quite a few exciting moments as the fleet rounded the downwind gate, and everyone stayed much closer together during this race. The finish line provided some entertainment with some overlap, room at the mark, and port starboard situations as most everyone came in at the same time.

In race three, the breeze started to lesson and the racers were struggling to get the race finished. Not much exciting happened other than a boat that got hit by a gust at the finish line and drifted over on his side. Finish any way you can, I say.

With the wind dying and large holes forming in the course, the officials decided to pull anchor in search of some wind. The wind clocked around again 180 degrees to come out of the east so the race was on to set a course for the new heading. A course one was called again and with a clean start everyone took off up wind. A few lucky ones sailed around "A" mark before a huge hole developed and sucked the rest of the competitors into a black hole. With giant wind shifts and monstrous gusts coming down off the mountain range behind us the abandon race flag was flown and the competitors headed for the beach.

The Spanish team had wine and snacks set up to celebrate the fact that they have been awarded the venue for the 2006 Tiger Worlds. The Puerto Rican team was serving rum and cokes just to celebrate being Puerto Rican. There motor home was easy to find, it had the Puerto Rican flag hung on it with a picture of three girls in thong bikinis. I just love how un P.C. Hobie sailing can be some times!

The city has now towed off the motor home Damon. They said it was an abandoned vehicle. That might have something to do with the fact that Eric was so diligent in selling the parts off of it. He just couldn't close that last deal for the body. I think that it had no wheels had something to do with it. We got free food (Triscuits and canned squirty cheese) from the Spaniards, and filled up on free rum and coke from the Puerto Rican's so dinner was covered tonight. Oggie, the skipper of the cruising cat that has been serving as our signal boat, has offered to let us sleep on the forward tramp tonight. I am a little scared though Damon. He has the disco ball up and he says I have to dress in the panda suit for him. Don't ask, you really don't want to know.

We took the signal boat out at 9:30 (it's a 45 foot Leopard cruising cat by the way, rough detail you know...) and were met with shifty wind directions and variable speeds. The wind was clocking back and forth between 210 degrees all the way to 300 degrees. At "A" mark the wind was measured at 17-20 knots 1.4 nautical miles away from us, and at the signal boat we sat in 0-2. The question wasn't if we were going to get some wind - it was how much and from which direction.

The race officials decided to set the course and they set it in the right direction, and that's when we saw the wall of wind coming at us. It was a repeat of yesterday, but with swells at the up wind mark being measured in the 8-10 foot range. After yesterdays carnage a cautious race official decided to call the race for the time being and send the competitors back to the beach. I think the coast guard cutter anchored to the north of us may have influenced the decision also.

We waited out in the channel for a few hours to see if the wind would subside to a manageable level for racing but it never did. We motored back to the harbor to wait it out, but the wind and waves never did let up and racing was called for the day.

An informal and unscientific poll taken by yours truly revealed that about a quarter of the fleet would have liked to race today but the rest were content to wait it out. I think today gave quite a few teams time to repair bodies as well as boats. There were a few main sails that blew out yesterday; with one team driving theirs to Ventura to Morelli's to be repaired. The sail was fixed as the competitor waited and they were back on the water this morning. What great service. Others weren't so lucky with one team's sail looking like Wiley Coyote had blasted through it in a deranged Hobie Cat / Road Runner cartoon.

The wind is supposed to diminish somewhat tomorrow so hopefully we'll get some races off. Time is running out on this competition and we need three for a regatta, and I am sure the fleet would like four so they can all throw out that first race. The fleet has been divided up into four groups with races being run in two flights of about 45 boats each. Rumor on the street says they might all be run together for the next two days so we get some results in. It will make for a very interesting line with 90 plus Tigers on it - should be very exciting!

We are completely out of money and booze Damon. We tried pan handling but got busted by the police. The dog bit me and I required 10 stitches. The doctor bill is in the mail. Eric came up with a brilliant idea to take the coil out of the condenser of the refrigerator of the motor home and fashion up a still. Corn is cheap here now, the shine is a little rough on the throat but you get used to it pretty quick. Some of the French team came over and we made a few bucks selling a few quarts but they paid us in Euros and as you know the exchange rate isn't so good right now. I'm starting to get worried how we will get home, the plane tickets are on their way, right?

The signal boat with Eric and me on it pulled out around 9:30 a.m. and the sea was already at 3 feet and breaking white caps all around us. We set up a photo op for the press and started all 90 boats at the same time. It was a beautiful sight until one Tiger mounted another in a mating frenzy! At one point the crew of the bottom boat was literally holding the hull of the top boat up so to prevent it from crashing down on him. And we hadn't even started racing yet!

We took the signal boat off shore about 3 miles to set up a course but with the wind and the depth of the water couldn't get the hook to set. In a futile attempt to get one race off we set up a start line but promptly drifted towards the pin boat and closed off the starting line. The decision was made to pull up and move the course closer to shore.

We finally got the course set with the up wind mark 1.8 nautical miles away. It was a fair distance but with the way the wind was building the race officials felt the Tigers would be there in no time at all. Carnage ensued with groups of boats going over as they all got hit with guts at the same time. There were sometimes five and six boats over at once, and the safety crews had their hands full as they raced to make sure everyone was all right.

Being on the signal boat gave a great vantage point of the down wind gate and we were treated to many near flips in today's trying conditions. Many teams suffered equipment failures with one team losing their mast. Two dagger boards were found floating in the water, hopefully they were returned to their owners. Others were injured physically with a broken nose and twisted ankles being reported.

We got one race off and the wind continued to build to a point that the Harbor Patrol came out to keep an eye on things. Many crew and skippers were being separated from their boats and were being picked up by other competitors. There were three official redress notices up for picking up stranded crew. After the first few finishers crossed the line the race officials decided to call it a day as the wind was still increasing in velocity and the safety of the competitors was coming into question.

Many boats were towed in and some even ended up on a southern beach away from the venue just to pull down the jibs and secure the decks for the ride home. Some boats waited on the beach for well over an hour for the wind to subside (it didn't) and to just catch their breath and collect their thoughts before making the trip back.

Right now they are calling for 25-30 mph tonight with gusts to 50. All the boats have been secured for the night and repairs have been made. Tomorrow they are calling for a lighter wind, but it will still be 20 plus. It should make for an interesting day once again.

Still no money Damon, I am beginning to doubt your integrity. The constant buzz that we have attained is starting to dull due to the fact we are now drinking Thunderbird wine and my stomach just can't handle it. I am afraid that a champagne taste does not go well on a Boone's Farm budget. I think we may need to renegotiate our compensation package when we are done here. Eric did get a good price for the generator out of the motor home though.

We have finished with the weighing and measuring of boats today and it looks like all the teams have registered. The water was flat and the air still in the morning, but picked up mildly in the afternoon. We headed out on the signal boat about one p.m. for some practice racing and starts. As we anchored about a mile off shore and set the course about half the fleet came out to play.

We had about 45 boats on the line for the first practice start and sent them off on a number one course. The up wind mark was set a little under a nautical mile away and the fleet was an impressive sight as they all crossed over clear for a clean start. The fleet soon split up with about half going over to a port tack. The starboard boats seemed to have the advantage (perhaps from a shore lift?) and reached "A" mark first and there wasn't anyone who was hesitant to pop the chute to head down wind. Conditions at this point were just about perfect for the down wind sleigh ride with the wind speed in the 10-12 knot range. Greg Thomas and Jacques Bernier were over the finish line first and looking very good. We did one more practice start and headed back in because it was almost party time!

We took off for the welcoming party that evening that was held in a very nice park that overlooked the ocean as well as the city. The beer flowed freely (Gordon Biersch, very nice choice...) and we noshed on BBQ tri-tip, chicken, and veggie kabobs for the weird people. And we had some more free beer. There was a small raffle and some great prizes were given away like hobieHobie sunglasses and a Gore-Tex dry top. And we had more free beer. Steve Leo, the host of the event, got up, said a few words, thanked a bunch of people, and we had more free beer. And after all that free beer, Connie Brown was kind enough to drive us back to the motor home.

Yes you heard right - we had to give up on the hotel and move into a motor home in a parking lot just like the lowly masses. I would like to tell you Damon that we made this choice just to be close to the working man, and to get down in the gutter with Joe Racer, but the truth of the matter is we got kicked out of the hotel. You will be getting a bill for some repairs, but what ever they tell you, those holes in the wall were there before we got here, and we never saw the 60 inch plasma screen that they say is missing.

It's a good thing that the beer was free tonight Damon, because we are still waiting on that money transfer. Eric goes to the Western Union office every day like a lost child looking for the drunken mother that has abandoned him. Please don't break his heart like this Damon, besides; we are down to Pabst Blue Ribbon in a can in the fridge. It was on sale at the Piggly Wiggly $4.98 a case. If we don't get some funds soon we will have to resort to drastic measures. Eric thinks we can part out this motor home for some pretty good money..."Eric! Put down that wrench! Not yet, let's give Damon another day!" Send money soon Damon, soon!

Eric and I were jacks of all trades yesterday doing multiple jobs while we floated around the venue. We did a short stint in the sail measuring room and had a great conversation with Eric Olsen, the official measurer and also a member of the ISAF board of directors. His take of the future of all small two handed boats (dinghy as well as cats) is that they will all be sailed with three sails. Apparently in Europe it is all that the sailors want and the traditional rigged cat is a thing of the past. The Tiger is currently very dominant in the F-18 class with about 75% of the boats competing being Tigers and taking the top spots in all competition. Mr. Olsen feels that the future of youth sailing lies in a spinnaker rigged Hobie 16 as well. Time will tell if we see this movement in the US as strong as in Europe, but from the beach here in Santa Barbara, it sure looks to be headed that way.

The great wind we enjoyed yesterday when Eric tried to kill me on the Super Cat has subsided to a mild breeze in the 7-10 range. Quite a few of the teams made it out on the water playing games with each other to see who was faster. I can only imagine at this level of competition that there is a fair amount of sand bagging going on as well. The chutes were out in full force with a few teams showing their prowess at flying the windward hull while going downwind. Most of the competitors on the beach are jovial and very friendly, but there are also quite a few very serious game faces on already, but with a title of "The Best Tiger Sailor in the World" on the line I can understand why.

Eric and I also did a stint selling the official clothing of the event with t-shits, sweatshirts and ball caps available. High quality merchandise at a reasonable price. I know that you sent us some money to buy you some mementos, but we found an adult bookstore on State Street and all of a sudden your money was gone. I don't even remember what I bought...

Speaking of money, that last Western Union transfer that you sent is already gone. How long do you think we can last working in these kinds of conditions? Eric and I have even moved out of the presidential suite to a "mini" suite to save money! Do you know how much they want for one of those little bottles in the fridge?

Until tomorrow,
Dave Atwater