Hobie 18 Class Racing

So this is what everybody means when they talk about the H18 class being dead!?

https://www.regattatech.com/events/Hobi ... ntryRoster

Anyone interested in helping bolster the number of H18's? It's looking like a pretty nice weekend! (I believe at least one of the vintage class boats is an H18 also)

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Mike

'79 H18 standard 'Rocketman II' sail #14921 RIP
'78 H18 (unnamed) sail #14921
'08 H16 sail #114312
'97 H21SC sail #238

Not necessarily. The Hobie 18 class has never been a big turnout at Madcatter.

sm

Why would you want more? You have the win in the bag right now! Haha

Haha, good point! Gonna get a gold flying "H" pendant for sure!

Srm, that's fair enough. I was just surprised that there isn't more H18 participation, given the size of the event otherwise. I thought I had heard that they had almost 10 boats last year. I would think it's a little tough to stay relevant as a class without attending the bigger regattas, but perhaps that is a forgone conclusion. Were H18 races ever all that big in the 80's and 90's, before it splintered with the SX/20/21? Or has it always been a distant second to the H16?

If not the Madcatter, where/what are the "big" H18 races? Is it just casual fleet races and nationals?

I think the only place it's really happening anymore is out in California. There have been a few rumblings here in Div 11 from some sailors talking about bringing out their 18s for a couple races. Out here lately the largest class has been the H14 (unbelievable).

The Hobie 18 class has never been close in size to the 16 class. Even back in the 80's or 90's, if you had 15 H18s at a regatta, you likely had 50+ H16s.

I wasn't necessarily trying to say that the 18 class isn't dying, just that low attendance at the Madcatter regatta really isn't an indicator because H18 attendance at that regatta has historically been low.

sm

Interesting. Well that's kind of a shame then, that the H18 class never really took off as a racing class. I understand a little better why Hobie cut the 18 from their production lineup, and why they're reluctant to introduce another fiberglass boat. (Though I have to imagine that sales were considerably better than the racing fleet contingent; I still see a lot of 18's around).

I am a little surprised that they added the Wildcat to their US lineup, considering that the Tiger seems to have far more likelihood of gaining traction... I've seen about a dozen Tigers, but I have yet to see a Wildcat. I suppose the Wildcat is a somewhat more advanced design than the Tiger, with its wave piercing bows, and its purpose in the lineup is to have a more competitive offering for the F18 sailors, but it seems like yet another "splintering" of the 18' boat class, and one more reason to avoid the "arms race" that is F18 racing.

I wouldn't say the H18 never really took off as a racing class. You were comparing it to the H16. The H16 is one of the largest one-design classes in the world. By that reasoning, you could say that 99% of the boats in existence never took off as racing classes.

Back in the hay day, the H18 class had some large events, and even recently, the NAC's have had some very good attendance with high level sailors. The problem really is that racing as a whole is dwindling. Five to ten years ago, many of our regattas had 30 to 40 boats. 20 years ago, you would easily see 50 boat regattas. Now we're lucky if we break 20 boats. It's a fragile thing really. We had maybe a half dozen solid H18 sailors in our area. One or two stop showing up, that drives another one or two to move to different classes with more boats, and so the remaining group stops coming out because there's no one to race against. It's a domino effect.

sm

We had 7 racing in the Hobie Days Regatta in San Luis Obispo, CA in April and had 8 boats at Woodward last weekend.

We have a pretty good group in CA. The North West is doing pretty well also.

The 18s do great out here because of the rougher conditions in the Ocean. Much more stable boat for the seas we see.

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H18 '85
H18 '89 "Knotty Passion"
H20 '96 "20/20 Vision"
Fleet 259 Central Coast California

Maybe dead in your division, but 18s are hanging on at the West Coast: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... Q/pubhtml#

Building the 18 class these days takes a lot of dedication and passion. Put out the word that you want to build the 18 fleet and show up to regattas even if you are the lone 18 and you may get some others to join you. My division, 3, has a core group of about 4-5 racers who attend as many regattas as they can, and Scott above beats the bushes and threatens other 18 owners to come out, and it works.

On the other hand, there could be something wrong with you and you may want to see a psychiatrist.

Unfortunately it seems that H18 sailors are pretty scattered in the midwest region. My local fleet has a lot of 18's, but they haven't raced in years. The 18 is an excellent boat well suited for the Great Lakes for many of the same reasons that make it popular on the west coast. Some of the most fun I've had with it was in 4-5' waves and 15mph winds! I wouldn't dare try that on a 16!

In terms of the madcatter, it was a great time, and a pretty neat event to be a part of for a first regatta. 105 boats attended, which as I understand it is one of the biggest events in Hobie sailing in the last decade or more! Shame there weren't more 18's. I had a great time competing with the other 18, and tried my best to catch/keep up with the 17's (after some less than ideal starts), but that Matt Bounds knows what he's doing with a sailboat!

On the otherhand, I got some pretty cool race replay data from my RaceQs app! Not really sure why that's not popular either. I do have to say that the 16 is a MUCH simpler boat to set up, tear down, and move around a beach. The 18 is twice the work on that front, and really quite a chore. But I love the way it handles and the way it sails. We were passing 14's & 16's left and right, even though they had a 6-12 minute head start on us!

http://raceqs.com/tv-beta/tv.htm#userId ... eading=293

_________________
Mike

'79 H18 standard 'Rocketman II' sail #14921 RIP
'78 H18 (unnamed) sail #14921
'08 H16 sail #114312
'97 H21SC sail #238

Hi, Mike.

Met you in the parking lot at Madcatter. Good to see you out.

Like I said, come on down to Spray Beach June 4-5. We should have at least 4 18s there that weekend. It is the Division 11 H18 Championship and will most likely be the biggest 18 turn out for the season.

Jim Doty

SBYC is a great venue. Been sailing there for roughly 20 years and it's one of my favorite regattas (unfortunately not looking like I'll be sailing this year). But if you can make the trip, it's worth it.

sm

We are trying to get the 18's back up and running in Florida. We have 5 at our Club in Jacksonville. Focusing on Daytona to try and get some momentum built.
The Hobie 18 is the best for the buck catamaran out there. It is a very forgiving boat to sail and beach. Try to come slamming in on the Beach in the A-Cat, it is hit or miss on breaking stuff. No real worries about pitch poling, just simple fun. So if anyone is in Florida with a Hobie 18, we would love for you to get it back out on the water racing with us.
Sure, if you have the money go for the F 18 Class. However, if you want just some simple old Hobie sailing and racing nothing beat a Hobie 18 for the "larger" sized guys

Hi Jim, It was good to meet you and put a face to the name!

Spray Beach sounds like a great regatta, especially if there's a number of other H18's in attendance! Unfortunately, my June is pretty busy; I don't think I'll be able to make the trip.
The Adirondacks regatta also sounds like a great venue, I can't believe I'm going to be out of town for that one too! I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for other upcoming regattas, it's a nice change of pace to sail "competitively" against another boat, rather than just day sailing for thrills. I was glad for the H17's in my starting group. Without them, It wouldn't have been much of a race.

Kaos, I couldn't agree more. Almost every aspect of Cat sailing was improved upon with the H18 over the H16. It really is an "ideal" beachcat. Faster, more stable, more tunable, greater capacity, more room (if you add wings), better wave handling... the only major drawbacks I've noticed are the weight & added complexity on setup & teardown. The 16's were set up and torn down in 20-30 minutes. My best time with the H18 is maybe 50 minutes trailer launching.

Glad to see all this discussion about the H18 and getting the sailors out, especially on the eastern US. I know the numbers there are scattered, but there are strong fleets along the west coast, Div 2,3,4..... The last couple of NA's have seen 20 or more boats in attendance.
This year we have a double whammy with the 18....
the NA's are going to happen in October in Mexico, partnered with the H16...
But the other event, sooner and closer to you folks in the Northeast.... is the US multihull Championships! Being sailed on the H18!!!
It is happening at Carlyle Sailing Center in Carlyle Ill, August 21-26 ... combined with the H17 North Americans.
Ashley Enders and her team are going gung ho to put on a fantastic event for us all and we hope to see a great turnout. I know that there will be at least 7 boats coming from Div 4 in the Pacific Northwest.
The Event Website is http://www.regattanetwork.com/event/11833 where you can register for the event. There is also a facebook page which can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/790169261094032/

I encourage everyone, especially those of you in the east, to get your boats out and let's get the fleet going again. This is a unique opportunity for us to have 2 big events in one year.
Also, in 2017, Jim Doty is putting together an event to host the 18's (and others) in his neck of the woods... Jim, what are the dates!!

Look forward to seeing everyone in August

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Paul Evenden
NRO, RMMCC, CJ