What did you guys do before this forum

i couldnt imagine not having this forum
Thank god for technology
How did you old cats get by in the dark ages

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1971 H16 (sail #1768)

To all of you on the Hobie Forum... I love you guys!!!
thanks for all the help!

Sgt.P. - We joined Fleets and learned from the more experienced members. We also experimented a little. We had racing clinics, boat tuning clinics, and safety checks occasionally.
This forum is great for those of us who have some experience with our boats. I've been sailing our H 16 for 29 years and I still learn a lot from this forum, but nothing beats one on one with a more experienced hobie sailor. In fact, one on one is really the only way to go for most novice Hobie sailors. Look at how much you learned from other more experienced sailors at the S.D. Classic a few months ago.
Good luck with your studies in San Francisco.
Richad levy

Well that stuff isnt so readily available today. Back at home in Dana Point i never saw anyone else out on a cat except for once.
Long beach was a different story but i couldnt get up there too often

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1971 H16 (sail #1768)

To all of you on the Hobie Forum... I love you guys!!!
thanks for all the help!

The Hobie Hotline mag. , and just rigging our boats and sailing a LOT, that is not waiting for a regatta just sailing all day and in big wind i must say. The guys that got into racing had books from P Berman, and of course the bible, welcome to A fleet.

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Bodhisatfa

We popped corn on the stove and watched TV with an antenna.

We went sailing instead of playing on the computer.

Well... the real life Hobie community or Cat community in general was a lot bigger and more organized than it is now. Unfortunately, interest in the sport has declined an awful lot. As a kid, my parents had a 19-22' monohaul (dont remember exactly) and it was scary to me as a kid cause my dad would always have it on it's side in the face of a storm with water rushing into the cabin... it turned me away from sailing, I wanted more "control" as I perceived it, so I turned to powerboats and jet skis for most my life... until I got bored, then I sold my jet ski and took a sailing trip with my uncle on a bigger monohaul (37' at the time.. now 43').. had a blast! Bought my hobie a month later.. I did lots of research and reading.

Plus, I have an older friend who grew up sailing cats locally... so he showed me the ropes and after going out with him twice and reading catsailing start to finish, I was ready to solo... that was years ago.

Now, I see that the local yacht club is actually doing well but they have no interest in cats, it seems. I see no information on their website for them and I know they stopped reserving dock space at the park for them. I'd love to share my interest and possibly even show some kids how to sail on a hobie at their events but I just don't see myself paying their high member fees when I will not get to use their facilities. It's a shame really... cause there use to be a huge cat contingent in Oshkosh.

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1982 H16 (C:\Worthy)
Yellow/White Prism type sails

I've never seen a boat that can grow...

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1992 Hobie Cat 18 #16943
Hobie Fleet 198, Rapid City, SD

Sgt. P,

I sailed by myself for years and through a whole lot of trial and error (lots of errors!) learned the in's and out's of Hobie Cats. I love this forum as well, and the information on it is super. As for the decline in Hobie sailing that remains a mystery to me. In Tampa where I grew up, on the Gulf Beaches you could see 50+ Hobie's on any given weekend, especially in the summer. But that was in the early and mid 80's.

I hope that more people will find these great boats and take advantage of the new thechnology (this forum) to get the most out of them. Spare parts are readily available, if you have decent hulls everything else can be replaced. I wish that Hobie would start producing the 14 again here in the states. Alot of old shool guys I know would buy one in a heartbeat. I was so lucky to find my girl and she's in wonderful condition, but that can be rare. To all on the forum, take care and as always....

Have a Hobie day!

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Sean Wheeler
[email protected]
http://hobie-14.ning.com/profile/SeanWheeler
'83 Hobie 14 Turbo "Rio"
Blue Hawaii Sail #40954

My Dad and I learned to sail on a 16 together back in the late '70s. Our first boat was an '81 16, blue hulls and cat fever sails. We still have that boat but it is no longer sea worthy. I switched to the H18 in '84 and have sailed one ever since. In Myrtle Beach where my boat sits today there was a group of 15 cats, up the beach another group of 10, down the beach a group of 30+. Today you rarely ever see another Hobie on the water, its just me. There were more than 100 boats at my first regatta and we sailed in "C" fleet, in the past 10 years I haven't been to any regatta where there were enough boats to need a "C" fleet.

Video games and the computer have taken away the need to physically experience sports. I know many kids that can slay the Tony Hawk game but cant do a 360 on a skateboard. My brother plays Tiger Woods golf for money but can't drive a golf ball with a real club 200yds. My nephew loves to play surfing games but can't swim, get the picture! And we wonder why overweight children are such a problem!

I'm 45 now, my body will not recover like it used to and I find myself slowly giving up some of the sports I have enjoyed for years. 2 years ago I gave up riding 20" bicycles, but I still dirt jump on 26" Mt Bikes. 5 years ago I gave up racing BMX all together and this year I gave up gravity(downhill) racing. I think I'm just about old enough to pick up golf again and I'm really enjoying fishing these days. Some need the thrill and excitement and others don't, there seems to be more that don't!

This post says it well, where i live there is a large mono fleet, i did belong to, but Hobie sailing is more fun. The mono guys do not enjoy hobie sailing. Also hobie pleasure sailing is all but dead and that IS a shame.

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Bodhisatfa

You hit it right on the head. About 1/3-1/2 of the kids we get out sailing have a hard time moving quickly. Some, it seems, have never used their arms--"What are are these things attached to my torso?" My wife and I working to correct that, as much as possible.

Barren/Oshkosh--Can we chat sometime about the Lake Winnebago Hobie revival? Recently discovered the site--not sure how to get in touch with you, my Hunter 23 is at Menominee Park, leave a no. BTW--I'm not a "friend from Langley", no pay-offs to drug-smuggling brothers of appointed presidents.

Thanks, Steve

I started Hobie pleasure sailing this year to be able to introduce all my friends and family to speed on the water. I have introduced at least 10 new people to sailing this summer and they all ask to sail again. I know the water is cold and you can't just relax on a Hobie, but I really think when I blip every mono-slug on the lake at least 2-3 times their speed whopping and hollering that, for a few seconds they wish they were on my boat. Then they realize that they might have to move around when you tack and jibe. Sometimes I pass them a few times while I am going from shore to shore. I really love passing them on their lee side as they think this cannot happen and I smile as wide as I can when I leave them in my wake.

This is the same as the sport of windsurfing. There are only a few getting into the sport as the expense has gone up and there is way to many sit-on-your-a$$ things to keep you from exerting any energy.

Keep introducing everyone you know to cat sailing and if only 5% take it up it would be a good day.

I learned to sail when I was about 13 at a Sailing School. Thats what I did before forums.

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Division 10, Fleet 185
Hobie 17 and Hobie 14

Wiscandia - sent you an email about Lake Winnebago Hobies! Lets get this thing going again! There is a guy from Sheboygan and another from Madison that all have expressed some interest in a meet-up/sail-in type of thing for 2010. My trailer isn't in great shape... so I'm not sure if I want to venture out of town with it.

Tom - the 37' mono didn't grow to a 43' per se... but it went from a 2003 Tartan 3700 to a 2007 Tartan 4300. The 4300 is an amazing yacht! So smooth and pretty easy to handle too! Luxury and speed! The 37 was more of a racer though.. 43 is definitely more luxury but still fast... if not faster, depending how it's rigged.

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1982 H16 (C:\Worthy)
Yellow/White Prism type sails