Hobie University, Dallas

Hey Folks,

Fleet 23 has scheduled their annual Hobie U starting on April 7, 2008. This is a free 5-week long Learn To Sail event. Free. As in No Money. And pre-registration is not required.

So if anyone out there wants to get a taste of cat sailing for FREE, you can find the details at: http://www.mariner-sails.com/Hobie_U_2008.pdf

Brian C

I am about 2 hours away, but being pretty much a noob, I plan to be there. Sounds like just what I need. Thanks for the heads up Brian. I will mark my calendar.

If I can throw in my 2 cents worth...

When we started Hobie 101 in Seattle, we decided to charge a small fee. Why? Because we figured if someone wasn't willing to put out a little green, then they probably weren't that serious about our sport, and we didn't want to be wasting our time. So we started by charging $10. The other part of the rationale was that if you give it away free, they will value it at that level -- worthless.

Of course, the whole Hobie 101 idea (it wasn't called anything at that time) was conceived over a few beers and a bar napkin. We just hoped we could get 3 boats and maybe talk one of them into joining our fleet and doing some racing.

Our first 101 had about 17 people and 10 boats! It was so well received that the participants screamed for more. So at the end of the day, Hobie 102 was instantly invented. We set the date for a month later so it would give us time to figure out what to teach!

At 101, we encourage racing. At 102, we take the gloves off and expect racing! I'll spare you the details here. But 6 years later we are teaching the class to 35-40 people!! We raised the registration to a whopping $25, and have turned it into a fund raiser!!! This thing just got a life of its own!! I have our marketing package and class outline if you like. I am at nelson.peter(at)comcast.net

Separate from that, Caleb Tarleton of Fleet 95 heads up the 'Fast & Fun' program every spring. We take a bunch of Waves over to a local downtown Kirkland park and take whoever wants to go out for a 15-20 min. sail for free with a fleet member on board. That event continues to get high exposure for Hobie Cats.

Finally, we have a non-profit sailing organization here in Seattle -- Sail Sandpoint -- where you can take 6 week lessons on sailing Hobie 16s. I don't know what SSP charges, but I figure it is probably about $150.

While I understand and empathize with your logic for wanting to do free classes -- maybe it will attract more people -- there are some compelling reasons to charge at least something. I hope I have presented an argument worth considering.

_________________
Peter Nelson

I don't know if the local fleet ever charged for the course or not.

I believe there were 40-50 people in it last year.

But I know what you mean about charging a token fee increasing the "value" of a course. The only issue with charging money is that it does increase your liability if something should go wrong.

Brian C

Sadly, There are too many attorneys in this Country for that to prevent any non-liability. Waivers help, but they don't mean much either anymore. I wish we were more like europe where if you sue someone and you lose, you pay for their defense and court costs.

I'd been happy just to ship some of our lawyers to other countries... Like all of them.

Apologies to any lawyers present. I like to tell "Lawyer Jokes". The problem is that lawyers don't think they're funny and I don't think they're jokes.

Brian C

Whadaya call 500 lawyers on the bottom of the Ocean?


A good start.


Apologies to all attorneys. In our sailing club the construction types come up with the knowledge and plans to get things done and let the "suits" do the physical labor. Nothing better than seeing lawyers using post hole diggers and shovels Put 'em to work!

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

Don't get me started.... Seriously. I'm so bad I've been fired by an attorney that I hired. Mind you, he probably did my a favor. Since he fired me, he couldn't figure out how to bill me for firing me.

Gotta love it.

Brian C

p.s. If you line up all the lawyers in the world, how far would they reach?




They'd reach into the pocket of the next lawyer.

Badump boomp.

Did you know that sharks don't attack lawyers? Do you know why?

Professional courtesy!

Sorry . . . I just had to.

_________________

Happy Sailing,

David

whats the difference between a lawyer and a leech?


a leach will stop bleeding you dry when its full.

_________________
Rich Vilvens
F-18 5150
[email protected]
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/f-185150sailing/

What's the difference between a lawyer and a catfish?

One is a slimy, bottom dwelling, scum sucker.

The other is a fish.

What do a UFO and an honest lawyer have in common?


People have heard of them, but they've never actually seen them.

Brian C