18th Hobie 16 World Championships - Fiji

18th Hobie 16 World Championships
Laucala Bay,Suva, Fiji
8th - 19th October 2007


The Hobie 16 Worlds in Fiji is shaping up nicely. Event is in Mid October. Already 117 paid entries. I am told that the Masters / Grand Masters registration has closed (full).

60 boats are being supplied by Hobie Cat Australasia (Hobie USA company). (56 plus 4 spares)

Looking forward to it!

hobieworlds.com

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

We leave today for Fiji. We will post stories and photos when possible!

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

Well at least with the numbers on the insides of the bows it'll be tougher to get called OCS!!

_________________
Peter Nelson

Look again, Peter. The numbers are on the outside.

We finished placing the (60) boats on the beach today. We have 4 different color schemes. Each color has a different color jib and sail number set. Say the blue jibs are on boats 1-15. That color is used to remind sailors where their boat is to land on the beach when they return. The beach is set up with 4 sections and colored banners will guide them in. We have to keep them organized or it is impossible to find a boat number on the beach during the event. You have to remember... at the provided boat events you get a different boat for each race. We do as many as 5 races a day. You may have as little as 20 minutes to find the boat and tune before being ordered off the beach. Most teams meet the boats coming in so they can easily find their boat. Once all the sails are up and you have so many boats on the beach, you can imagine how hard it is to find a certain boat / sail number.


Check out the office Kevlar and I have for the next couple of weeks! We have wireless, but no plug in power in the check in/out tent.



Here is the whole beach set up.



Boat shots...







We do get mud though in the grass areas when it rains. It was pretty wet this morning in some places.

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

Dumb question I am sure but I am new to all of this. What does someone need to do to "qualify" to participate in one of these events?

New boats always look so GLAMOROUS.Better find a way to keep all that mud off the boats.

A FICO score of 700 or higher!

_________________
2003 Tiger - Don Atchley

The process is explained [url=http://www.hcana.hobieclass.com/site/hobie/hcana/downloads/2006/Hobie%2016%20Worlds%]here[/url].

(If that doesn't work, go to hca-na.org and click on "Rankings", then "Worlds Qualifying")

The site is ready.


Opening of the event!

BIG celebration last night. Lcal officials and a blessing of the event Local dancers and music. Very festive. The on site bar was hopping after that. THE EVENT IS ON!!

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

Local time 11 AM Tuesday the 9th

Note: Fiji is 5 hours earlier than PST and a day ahead.

OFF THE BEACH!!





Here is a short video of the First Off the Beach complete with Fiji drummers...
http://static.hobiecat.com/linked_images/worlds/Fiji_01.mov

The first race. Masters and Grand Masters start with a back to back 2 races.

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

First two races are done...

Masters and Grand Masters are done for the day.

Results here: http://www.hobieworlds.com/h16-2007/results

Event site here: http://www.hobieworlds.com/h16-2007/index.html

Womens and Juniors teams are on the water.

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

Let's try http://www.hobieworlds.com/h16-2007/index.html

Brian C

We got five races in today. Womens and youth results are up.

Looking like another beautiful day here in Suva. The weather has been nearly perfect. Nice breeze keeps the heat down. We have been having mid to high teen wind speeds, but for yesterday. It was pretty light. Not much trap work. That is good for the beach team though. Little or no damage! Only problems have been on the launch and retrieve. It gets pretty busy with 56 boats all trying to head out at once. On the return they were running down wind onto the beach and trying to turn up and stall at the last seconds. Makes for some hairy moments as they start stacking up on the waters edge!

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

a) it's a 16, and b) not yours. Run em into the beach!

_________________
Tim
Unofficial Fleet 72 Communications Officer and Div 4 Webmaster
http://www.hobiefleet72.org
http://www.div4.hobieclass.com/