Is Hobie for me?

I think sailing my h16 is a VERY economical hobby.. I invested $700 in the boat w/trailer.. then $375ish for a new tramp, and another $100 or so in new rigging.. and it sails great! It's original sails, but they were nicely stored for 10 years... my '82 rocks!

Then I spend $100/season to keep it on the cat-dock down at the lake...

Cheaper than my last bicycle purchase and way more fun! Way cheaper than operating my jet skis used to be and also way more fun.

Well good deal. It turns out my wife is friends with Tom's daughter! Small world. So I have been invited to the Hobie Fleet 25 Regatta at Lake Keystone this weekend to get a better feel for what's going on and learn a few things. I have been pretty well convinced to get a Hobie 18 to start with so I guess I am not in the market.

Wish me well. Thanks for your tips and feel free to toss your 2 cents in if you haven't yet.

Just be aware that the racing crowd is a very different breed than the cruisers. Racers will go out in any conditions including dangerous. For them the bigger the wind the more fun and if it's a survival contest then fine. They seem to be proud if a third of the fleet doesn't finish a race due to capsizes and three boats get dismasted and trashed.
While I've raced and have raced other stuff too (younger days), I think novices can get disillusioned by racer mentality.
I've met scores of guys ("I used to sail a Hobie but...") who can't find crew for their cat anymore, especially their wives. Then they proceed to tell me how they capsized in a blow five miles out and funny thing, their wife never wanted to go on the boat again. They tell me this all proud and smiling like it's some sort of accomplishment.
Some of us know how fast we can go and like to go sailing with wife and friends. We tend to keep the windward hull under two feet off the water and power down when the spray is going over our heads.
I'm not trying to badmouth racers, they're a hearty and funloving crowd. But maybe not your cup of tea. I just want you to know you can have a bunch of fun on a Hobie without racing and it will probably lead to a happier married life.

I'm going to have to take great exception to your statements, Beachboy.

I've been racing Hobie Cats for over 30 years. I've raced practically everything that Hobie's built including the 14, 16, 17, 18, 20 and Tiger.

Racing, especially buoy racing, is a controlled environment. There are mark and safety boats to provide support in case you get into trouble, so people do tend to push the envelope a little. However, in all the time I've been in the sport, I can count the number of serious incidents on one hand. Usually those were at national championships where you expect the limits to be very high.

Part of the thrill of sailing (at least for me) is testing your limits to increase your confidence and ability to handle challenging conditions.

My wife still crews for me occasionally and we have a rule that when she says "enough", we head in. Same goes with my 14 year old daughter who will now go out in conditions that scare my wife silly (big surf).

It's all about knowing your own limits and having a grain of common sense - not whether you're a cruiser or a racer. To apply your experiences to all racers is not appropriate.

Me and my wife have that same deal. When she says 'enough, that means we stop'. I know exactly what you mean. I just wish I could get her to go out on the Hobie with me sometime.......

Whoa! Did I say earlier that I agreed with Beachboy's comments? After this tirade? What a shame!

I'm sure you're right Beachboy, Fleet 25 hosted the "Learn to sail day" just so they could have fresh meat for the race course...get some newbie out there, watch his boat break, ruin a marriage, better yet even get some one hurt, hey what fun to drive over someone while they're capsized.

Saturday night their having a Disco Party...well Disco SUCKS!! After the contests and give-aways their having an acoustic jam session, and even though I play guitar, I won't be bringing mine. Darkness is the perfect time for me to go to the beach and sabotage my competitors boats, just hope I don't have to drown any other guys with the same idea.

And Tom's daughter has friends? Damn near impossible, being the offspring of a racer and all.

Cannon, Hope to meet you this weekend.

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hobiejohn at earthlink dot net
Fleet 297

Flipped over while racing is very slow. Racers don't flip much.
It's usually the "Ranting Reachers" who claim to be sailing in 25knots thats really 15 that are flipping because they are not very experienced.
I raced with my wife for more than 10 years and my daughter Sarah who is now 12 for the last three.
I have'nt flipped Sarah yet and we have competed in the last three 16 Nationals is some very good breeze.
She is now driving our Fleet races and doing better than me.
She got a second in an 18 boat fleet last week.

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Pat Bisesi
Fleet 204 Syracuse, NY

Come on now, who doesn't love a good scary reach?!

Reaches are fun.
Who remembers the old course 6
ABABC
Boats reaching at each other.
Now that was a scary reach.

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Pat Bisesi
Fleet 204 Syracuse, NY

We should try that at the 14s if its windy. Be fun. Most likely the only way I'll place high too if I take Cinderblock and ram her into everyone else with my unsinkable 14.

any PRO that called that course in a nice blow would qualify as a "different breed".

Beachboy...sorry man, I've eaten lunch and my headache is subsiding now. Come back to a regatta, fleets aren't as big anymore, less looney tunes out there.

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hobiejohn at earthlink dot net
Fleet 297

Jeez John, seem a bit cranky today. I have heard there are people who like to just go out and sail around the lake/ocean and not try to run other boats into irons or C mark or whatever. I don't get it, but I heard they are out there. You leave Dr Phil alone and worry about how you're gonna keep up with me when we race 20s.......

LOL... now the pot has really been stirred up!

I love to cruise.. wish I had crew to speak of... not quite confident enough to push the envelope.. gusting 25 is the highest wind I've had the h16 out in.. and it was a blast!

I tend to be a cautious person, but as a 27 year old I damn well know I will go out one morning after learning the basics and a nice breeze will pick up. I'll take my beatings as will my poor boat. I know this. I can see the day now, I will be out with a a guy my age and we will want to fly a hull with both of us trapped out - hey, I saw it in pictures so I know it can be done. And I can do it, and how. The good news is I can flip her back over and keep moving.

So I'll be sure to keep everyone informed as to whether or not I make a habit of flipping my boat, if I kill my child (faster dad, faster) and if my wife will continue to tolerate me. I imagine the answers will be yes, no, and grudgingly.

See you Saturday John (and Tom). I'll be the guy hovering around looking for someone to show me what the hell is going on. My wife will probably find Tom's daughter and go off to cause trouble. My son will run off to build sand castle and "save" the local wildlife as soon as the doors open, unless someone offers to let him sail (the kid loves to steer, must be a control freak). So I will be standing there, alone. Poor, poor me. But hey, at least I'm not a racer (yet).

Some of the funnest days I've had were when I couldn't keep the boat upright. I only tip over in really light wind now. The last regatta I was in dead last and falling behind. It was a wild and frisky 4mph of wind and we were trying to do the "wild thing" going to weather. It was working pretty good till a little puff came and I got knocked down. Point is it can be fun to tip over.