Division 9 Hobie Sailors,
My name is Mark Van Doren and the HCA recently asked me if I’d take on the roll as HCA Division 9 Chairman. Some of you have corresponded with me via email and the Hobie Forum, my username is “MVD”. I look forward to meeting and sailing with guys over the course of the summer. One of the things that I’ve enjoyed over the years is camaraderie with other Hobie sailors, particularly at Hobie regattas. I don’t have to tell you that there hasn’t been a sanctioned Hobie Class Association regatta in our area for several years and some of the fleets have become inactive. I’ve spoken with several folks about that and there seems to be several reasons. The most common one cited has been that HCA “Hobie Only” rule drove a wedge between the HCA and other cat sailors that most of us Hobie folks enjoyed sailing with. I’d like to work towards rebuilding HCA participation within the construct of the current realities of multihull sailing in Division 9. As I see it, one of the best things that we can do is to partner with the EMSA (Eastern Multihull Sailing Association) and the yacht clubs in our region rather than try to go off in our own direction. I think we’ve seen that approach fail in Division 9. I hope that we can work with regatta organizers to establish HCA sanctioned Hobie Points Regattas within the framework of existing regattas. All you need are enough Hobies to have their own start, regardless of what other boats are in attendance, whether they have one hull or two. The HCA has written a new “Yacht Club Rule” and an “F18 Inclusion Policy” that will help build and maintain relationships with other sailors. Maybe they’ll want to join us on Hobies. Hopefully, we can create a win-win situation: increased Hobie one-design racing while increasing the total attendance in support of EMSA or Yacht Club events.
I’ve contacted a few of the of the folks listed as Division 9 Fleet contacts in the Hotline. Most don’t have email addresses listed. I hope to contact more over the next few weeks, but I’m concerned that the list is outdated and I know that at least some of the fleets have become inactive. The Fleets listed in the Hotline and their commodores are:
Fleet 12, Atlanta, GA, Tammy Duran
Fleet 92, Charlotte, NC, no contact listed
Fleet 97, Raleigh, Sam Evans
Fleet 100, New Bern, NC, Kyle Harrison
Fleet 170, Lake Waccamaw, NC, Ron Walters
Fleet 191, Greensboro, NC, Tom Sutton
Fleet 53, Charleston, SC, Steve Shapiro
Fleet 164, Simpsonville, SC, Dave Strickland
Fleet 174, Myrtle Beach, SC, Ted Watts
Fleet 520, Hartsville, SC, Buzz More
Former Division 9 Chairman, Garland Ayscue
If any of you know these folks, please contact them and help me get in touch with them. These are folks with Hobie experience that I would love to see become active in a revitalized Division 9. Let’s use the Division 9 section of the Hobie Forum as our bulletin board.
On another note, I just pre-registered for Spring Fever at Lake Hartwell, GA, and I hope that we can recruit a bunch of Hobies to attend. I’ve got three Hobies, but I’ll bring my 16 to this one. I am going to focus on sailing the 16 this season for a couple of reasons. For one thing, I think that growth in the Hobie ranks hinges on the popularity of the H16 (the Wave will also be important as a starter boat) since it’s currently the only glass Hobie sold in the states other than the expensive Wild Cat (I’d love to see some at Spring Fever). For another, I hope to compete at the Hobie North American Championships in Galveston this year and I need time on the water in the H16. Please don’t get the impression that I’m a hot shot racer, I’m not, but I enjoy making steady progress. You guys will like sailing against me, I routinely do stupid things and am pretty easy to beat.
At Spring Fever, I’d like to have a meeting with all the Hobie sailors, whether they hale from Division 9 or not. Saturday evening looks like the best day. I’d like to get some ideas from you guys as to what you want our Division to look like. I’d like to see some HCA sponsored regattas, whether they’re stand alone or run in conjunction with established events. There are probably other things we can do as well. One thing we can consider is how to recruit new sailors, especially kids. Once we get some sanctioned HCA events going, a Divisional Point championship would be fun. I’m open to any ideas you guys have that might help invigorate Hobie sailing.
I look forward to getting feedback from you guys and meeting as many of you as I can at events this year, starting with Spring Fever. Here’s the link to their site,
http://www.twinhulls.com/springfever/, click on the 2013 icon, please pass it along. In case any of you are really fired up, here’s a link to the Ocean Springs MS Yacht Club, host of the Hobie Midwinters East,
http://www.osyc.com/, and to the NOR,
http://www.hcana.hobieclass.com/site/ho ... %20NOR.pdf. I’m also going to work to generate some Hobie enthusiasm over here in Knoxville. A fall regatta here may become reality, we’ll see.
My 16 is a Seabreeze, yellow, lime green and blue sail. Find it at Spring Fever and come over and say hello.
Mark Van Doren
HCA Division 9 Chairman
Knoxville, TN