Spinnaker future

We have polled the membership on this subject and the message is clear.

86.2% are opposed to using spinnakers in adult Hobie 16 racing.

83.6% are opposed to using spinnakers in Youth Hobie 16 racing.

Many members wrote me explaining their positions on this issue. I have listed a few of those comments below.

Bob Merrick
HCA Chair


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They killed the hobie 18 class by basterdizing it with the magnum and then sx. Now you want to kill the 16 class as well? The 16 is a huge class because of its simplicity. Spinnakers are not for the beginner. If we dont bring new beginners into the sport than it will continue to die a slow and painful death. That old adage rings true once again.....dont fix what isn't broken!

Kitsy
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Rod
Division 7, North America

It was very disconcerting to receive this questionnaire. I can't imagine that the Class Association would even consider this proposal.

Over the years Hobie has repeatedly tried to introduce new market niche products. While that may have been beneficial to Hobie Cat Company, it has been a disaster for the Class Association. The strength of the North American Association has been the Fleet, Division and Continental racing program. This worked the best when it was a simple organization with limited classes. With around 20 different types of Hobie boats, the Class racing program has become nearly non-existent in many areas. Few continental championship events draw even close to 50 boats. The H16 is the one exception. This proposal would splinter that fleet and quite likely reduce championship participation.

Hobie regattas are often nothing more than open events with Hobie only boats. All too often I have been at a competitors meeting that went from negotiation to debate to argument over how to start and score one, two or more odd class Hobies. This proposal would add another class to the already over saturated field. Contrary to Hobie Cat Company's marketing strategy, it is the program, not the variety, that made the Hobie Cat a successful product. If Hobie Cat Company wants to put out an after market spinnaker, that is not a compelling reason for the Class Association to change the one-design rules to accommodate it as a new racing boat class.

Each time a class has been modified it has been diminished, i.e. H14-H14 Turbo, H18-Magnum-SX. Even though there are sailors out there that like to sail with a spinnaker, Hobie cats with spinnakers have historically never caught on. People sail Hobies because they are simple recreational boats.

This simplicity translates to being a challenging racing boat. Not because it can be tweaked and endlessly adjusted, but because that simplicity makes racing a Hobie a true test of sailing skill. That is the reason the H16 is one of the largest active one-design classes.

Right now there are a lot of Hobie 16's out there available as a starter boat for less than $1500. Adding a spinnaker just doubled the cost to get into the Hobie way of life.

Rather than tinkering with the classes, the North American Association would be better served by strengthening the racing program with the boats it has.

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To Whom It May Concern:
My wife and I will be taking delivery of a new Hobie 16 in February of next year and plan to race it. I haven’t joined the HCA since I don’t have my boat yet, but I thought I’d add my two cents to the discussion of the spinnaker issue. My background is that I have been a dinghy and big boat sailor for over 25 years and have sailed a Hobie 14 in college and have been exclusively sailing Hobie 16s at UCLA for the past year and have become an assistant instructor with their instructional program (I’ve got my US Sailing Small Boat Instructor’s certificate). I put a great deal of thought into which boat to purchase and decided on a Hobie 16 for, among other reasons, because it is essentially “race readyâ€

So to answer italianhobie's question about the Hobie 16 "Spinnaker Future"
as the man says, "No Future."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z2M_hpoPwk

Bob,

Just to satisfy my own curiosity, what was the total number of responders and when was the poll done?

Brian C

189
That's about 20% of membership.
I haven't calculated the error but I'm guessing it's not more than +/- 1%

(That 189 is real members. We only counted real members but interestingly the result did not change when non-members where added in. )

Yeah... I didn't think it was going to be a lot of people.

Brian C

A bit of a history lesson for all to consider:

Some of this I knew having sailed Hobie's since I ended my term of service to our country in 1976. However, I leaned on our resident board "Yoda" for some of my facts, thanks Matt.

H-14 Built from 1967 thru 1994 27 years,(no formal announcement made)
(still in production in Europe)

H-16 Build from 1969 thru Still in production (Hulls laid up by Hobie AUS) - I have heard recently (from a dealer) that US hulls are still being made. 39 Years so far and still going strong

Hobie 17 Built from 1985 thru 2003 and one run of 10 or so boats from 2004 thru 2007 22 years

Hobie 18 built from 1977 thru 2003 --- 26 years

Hobie 20 built from 1992 thru 2007 15 years
Hobie FX One built from 2001? thru still in production (Built in France) - best guess - first one I saw was at the Mega.

Hobie Tiger built from 1997(?) thru still in production (Built in France) Best guess - first Worlds were in 1999, first boats into the US in 1998

Since Hobie has told it's dealers that it is building 16 hulls in the US, you can add a 2nd dealer telling you that they're built here. The information is published on the dealer website. Any dealer can confirm it.

"Going Strong" depends on your point of view. In the five years I've been involved, the cats-sold ratio of rotomolded to fiberglass is easily 10:1.

So if 16 is "going strong", I'm not sure what description I'd use for Waves and Getaways. Maybe Nuclear Detonation sales?

And that's why I think the H-16 spinnaker has gone away. It has nothing to do with the Class Association. Spinnaker users are a very small part of the H-16 user group (as noted in the poll). But the reality is that new H-16 buyers are a relatively small part of the new Hobie buyers group for at least the last 5 years. And I gotta think that it's the same in other parts of the US.

If the Class Association wants growth... Figure out how to get all the Getaway, Wave and Bravo buyers onto a starting line. As far as I can tell, the Hobie racers are the same people I was hanging with 20 years ago.

Brian C

Just to clarify...

The 16 spi is definitely available from Hobie here in the US. It is the European snuffer launched spi compared to the US tramp launch from a bag. The Euro spi is the one being run around the world anyway, so the product that was eliminated was the US duplicate of the Euro spi. No need for 2 of the same.

_________________
Sail Revolution
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Hobie P/N 20999002? Nope. Not any more. That's the chute I'm taking about. Which one are you talking about?

Brian C

PN F16032110 H16 spi available.

...and the complete H16 snuffer spinnaker kit from France shown in the catalog for the past few years as #20999020 is still being offered.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Didn't you use the phrase, "till they're gone"? Or am I thinking of something else?

Brian C

That would have been in reference to the older US made spinnakers and systems.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Isn't 20999020 considered "older"? Or is it just a reuse of a US part number to represent a Euro product?

I'm sooo confused....

Brian C

20999000 was the US spin hardware kit we are discontinuing.

20999020 is the euro "snuffer" version.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)