What did you do this summer?

I'm always curious to know how other Hobie Sailors pass their time on the water. Who went to Regattas, sailed socially in fleets or just passed the time in their own company?

Lets hear it. What Regattas did you attend? Did you spend most of the time on the water with with Hobie Sailors? Was the main focus of your season spent on racing or social?

I myself attended the H14 NAs and met a few guys from the local fleet for a weekend sail but didn't get out nearly as much as I would have liked.

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Division 10, Fleet 185
Hobie 17 and Hobie 14

Sailed in seven divisional regattas on both a Hobie 17 and 18. Fun-sailed a handfull of weekends with my girlfriend and one day sail this summer with a group of fleet members.

Also have been windsurfing a couple days a month since the middle of March. A pretty good season...and I wouldn't call it over yet.

sm

I only got to one regatta in the spring. Set my boat on the beach in June and sailed every weekend until the end of August. Had a couple of crazy windy experiences, threw crew thru my mainsail and had a new sail made. Raced with a bunch of monos and blew their doors off. I think I got to 3 regattas this year, one had no wind. Still tweaking my boat and currently on a quest for a custom jib.

Being unemployed this summer certainly had it's advantages . . .

Let's see - I didn't sail in as many regattas as I would have liked. Madcatter, Regata de Gatos, North Cape Regatta (CRAM), Hobie Kenobi, 16 NAs, 14 NAs. Six regattas in a season is really low for me.

Where I went nuts was race management - Havasu & Hobie Reunited (PRO), Hobie Midwinters East (PRO), Sailing Anarchy CHAWS Regatta (PRO), Bayview YC Spring Invitational Match Race (signal boat staff), Detoit NOOD Regatta (signal boat staff), H-16 Women & Youth NAs (pin boat), Thistle Great Lakes Champs (PRO), Soling Canadian Nationals (PRO), Beneteau 36.7 NAs (pin boat), Bayview YC ISAF Grade 2 Match Race for the Detroit Cup (signal boat staff), Canandaigua Multihull Open Regatta (PRO), Thistle Icebreaker Regatta (PRO), Canadian F-18 Nationals (PRO), Bayview YC Alumni Regatta (PRO) and still to come - the Hobie HAVAMEGA Regatta (PRO)

I also took the US Sailing Judges seminar & exam (passed) and taught a mark boat operators' course in Canandaigua, NY.

There were also a few days of practicing with my daughter for the H-16 NAs and a few days of practicing for the H-14 NAs. I got the 17 out for a couple of evenings. That really hurts - only sailing the 17 twice.

But other than that, it's been a hell of a season!

But soon, I will need to return to the real world and find a job that pays real money to support my sailing habit.

I sailed the "holiday in dixie regatta" (SHreveport LA) and placed 2nd in the handicap fleet on my Wave.

I crewed on a 20 in the Dallas Leukemia cup regatta, some regatta in Little Rock AR (where we smashed in both bows), and Daggerboard divisionals east of Dallas after the 20 had been repaired (Lake Tawakoni, I think I learned the most here).

I crewed on a 16 for Juana good time regatta in FL - this one was the most fun, but the drive was hell.

On vacation I sailed the Mississippi sound part of the Gulf of mexico and Lake Ouachita in AR on my Wave.

Other than that, I sailed my local lake (grand bayou reservoir, LA) as much as possible on the Wave.

I bought my Hobie 16 after a long search. Sailed all summer long at the local lake (Brookville Lake). Had a ball sailing with my son who is home from the army!(we pitchpoled the boat our last time out and that was awesome!) Sailed the Juannas Good Times Regatta! That was the most fun i have had in many years, myself and my three brothers sailed that one together and man did we have fun, we were awarded the Carlton Cup and we were truly honored by that! We will definitely be back for that one next year. The best thing was the new friends I made this year while sailing. Now i am fixing boat up with new goodies, I have spent about 1500.00 so far.... when my wife finds out she might be a little mad! Almost forgot, I got a Hobie H tattoo! Thanks to everyone that posts on here, I have learned alot.

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1978 Hobie 16 31743

that one's called "Sand Snakes" (sorry man)

Was PRO at our regatta (Frayed Knot) which was fun, but the tornado sure put a damper on things!
Went to the NCAC's in Minnesota and got SCHOOLED on racing the Hobie 16 (that got better as the summer wore on...many thanks to Wally Myers, Jim Sohn, Slim Johnson, Ron "the whitecap killer" Means, and special thanks to my crew, Mr. Dave Clark, for putting up with my crap through a complete season)
Raced a Hobie 14 for the first time, was 15 seconds from beating Wrinklie...then I pitch-poled (finished DFL for the event)
Raced a Prindle 15 for the first time and figured out #1...I don't know how to tack. #2...Dave Webb (on his own) has screwed the P15 portsmouth rating. moral? fun boat, don't race it DPN
Held a Hobie University (albiet to a small group) both couples ended up buying a boat. Jeff's purchase (H18) got the girl (Donna), they're engaged know. Nathan's purchase (H16) got attention from wife Ginny (a broken arm on his fifth outing when the wind suddenly kicked up to over 30 knots!)
Took the Boy scouts, and Weblos, out one Saturday afternoon. Sailed with a H16 newbie couple (twice). Helped a local with a N5.8 get his boat on the water.
Oh ya, Fleet 297 had a fun Sail and "ball hunt"...that was a big hit!
Took the wife for a couple of sails.

Even though it was unseasonably cool, it was a great time. What a life!

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Sheet In...Max Out
www.fleet297.org
sailflatlands at gmail dot com

Did a whole mess of regatta's this year

MWE, FL
Frayed Knot, KS
Flashlight Regatta, WI
Worked a mark boat at the Lake City MN Regatta
Bald Eagle Regatta, MN
Broken Rudder, WI
Yankton SD
Lighthouse Regatta, Racine WI
Rock N Roll Regatta, WI

Did two training camps with Robbie Daniel, one in Florida, one in Racing WI
Sailed on Lake Superior in the Apostle Islands again.
Did, I think, three fleet fun events.
and maybe got out 4 or 5 times just to sail around.

I probably spent almost 30 days on the boat this year. Not too bad.

I only put about 800 miles on my motorcycle, the jetski only got taken out a few times.
Did alot of road trips. Went to the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming to go snowmobiling in February. Drove to Tennessee, then Dallas, then home to deliver some car parts, and a car. Drove to Florida, twice. Once via New York to drop off a trailer.

Also ate the biggest frickin' burger thanks to Dkrueger. The Double Coronary: 3/4# patty, 8 strips of bacon, 5 kinds of cheese, two fried eggs, all put in between two grilled cheese sandwiches. I wanted to barf while choking down the last few bites, but I was determined to put her down.

Where are all these regattas in wisconsin? Any near Lake Winnebago?

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

Hi, my name is Jerin Collins, I'm 23 yrs old from Ocean Springs, MS and I've been sailing a Hobie 16 since i was about 12. I started off my summer getting my US Sailing Instructor certification - Level 1. I then spent all summer teaching kids (8-18yr olds) how to sail at Ocean Springs Yacht Club. I also got my level 2 - coaching certification halfway through the summer by an awesome paralympic coach named Betsy Alison. We teach beginners on sunfish and advanced sailors on Hobie 16's and Flying Scotts. Luckily, my job was to teach kids how to sail Hobie 16s . It was by far the best job I've ever had. It was frustrating at times but very rewarding in the end. I definitely learned a lot teaching that class. Spending a lot of time on the water, watching inexperienced sailors make mistakes and correcting them gave me more experience than I could have ever imagined. Once they were ready to sail on their own, i would follow them on another Hobie 16 and it was really nice to test different theories while having another boat sailing at a relatively constant speed right next to me.
I also attended our two local catamaran regattas hosted by OSYC, the Slip to Ship and the Horn Island Hop. They are both races in which we race to the local islands which is about 12 miles, and then race back. Both races were disasters. I crewed on a random Hobie 16 the first race and we t-boned someone on a port tack . The second race i skippered my friends Hobie 16 and the hulls were soft... We tested the boat a few times the week before and it seemed ok. After a pretty good start about halfway out to Horn island after flying the hull for most of the race, the port hull buckled in front of the cross bar and I had to turn around and sail in on the other hull. We still had fun and i guess we got to practice starting.
Well I just invested in my first boat, finally. I got a Hobie 18 for real cheap, and it has some soft spots but im excited about fixing it up and getting out on the water. I still have a lot to learn about the 18 and im glad that I found a place to go get expert advice thanks to members of this forum, Thanks to all.

Jerin,

You picked a great time to buy a Hobie 18 !
The 2010 Hobie 18 North American Championship regatta is right in your backyard.
See you In June !

Stephen

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If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, maybe it is time to water your own lawn.

Yea... i don't know if my boat is gonna be in good enough shape or class legal for national racing how many boats usually show up for these events?

Forty one days of sailing my H17 Sport and still counting. Sold the wife's Bravo and got her a WETA.

Well looks like my sailing season has come to an end. Forty six outings, not bad, though outing 44 was a bit on the short side….. The wind at the Gap (Wallula Gap on the Columbia River, just a bit up stream from Columbia Gorge) was nukin (25+ knots) with 3 - 5 ft swells. I was dying to sail, but my wife wasn’t. So after hemming and hawing I decided to go solo. Well, I tried to beat upwind for about a 1/4 mile but was not able to sheet in at all without being totally overpowered. I also realized I wasn't going to even get close enough to the wind to be able to get into irons and back rudder a turn, so I threw caution to the wind (pun intended) and attempted a jibe. I let out the traveler and main sheet, steered off wind and took off like a bat out of hell. I made the transition of the traveler/main ok, but even with my weight all the way back on the windward side, it just wasn't enough and over I went. (quite spectacular according the Misses). I was actually flung from the boat and had to quickly swim about 10 ft to get a hold of the hiking stick. The boat turtled almost immediately. I made sure I was pointed back toward my launch point so I wouldn’t have to attemp another turn. The boat righted quickly and I was able to luff back to the launch. The whole trip lasted about 30 minutes, but I was done for the day. Fortunately, the wind for the final two sailing trips was near perfect 10-15 knots.