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SEPT – OCT 2006VOLUME 35, NUMBER 5
The Hobie Class Association HOTLINE is the offi-cial publication of the Hobie Class Association ofNorth America (HCANA). Contents © 2006 HCANA.All rights reserved: reproduction in whole or in partwithout permission is prohibited. It is distributed sixtimes a year to HCANA Members. Its goal is to keepthe North American Region informed of the businessof the Class Association. Questions and suggestionsshould be directed to the address below. The HCANAis proud to be a member of the United States SailingAssociation (US SAILING).
The purpose of the Hobie Class Association of NorthAmerica is to establish and promote the higheststandards of Hobie Cat sailing/racing in its geographicboundaries in collaboration with the National andInternational sailing authorities.
HOBIE CLASS ASSOCIATION HOTLINEMatthew P. Bounds, Editor3798 Damas Dr.Commerce Township, MI [email protected]
The name Hobie Cat®, and the “flying H” logo areused by permission and are registered and li-censed trademarks of the Hobie Cat Company,P.O. Box 1008, Oceanside, CA 92051.
The Official Publication of the HobieClass Association of North America
OfficersChairEd Muns
1st Vice ChairBob Merrick
2nd Vice ChairRob Jerry
Youth Program Dir.Mimi Appel
Membership ChairDiane Bisesi
SecretaryKathy Ward
TreasurerKathleen Tracy
Race DirectorPaul Ulibarri
HOTLINE StaffEditorMatt Bounds
CoverPhoto byBrian Joder
Review CommitteeLaurie BoundsTheresa WhiteLiza ClevelandCindy PhippsMatt MillerChris Wessels
ContributorsJacques BernierDiane BisesiJamie GriskoKaren GriskoErin LaPortaJeremy LeonardHeather MorrisonLaura SullivanTodd Stevens
cleanairflatwater
Thanks, and Fair Winds
I was fortunate to attend (on the signal boat) the final day of the Hobie 17 North American Championships on the San Francisco Bay just east of the Golden Gate Bridge. The St.
Francis Yacht Club was our host and did a wonderful job for theclass. Race management was superb and three windy races wereheld each day for a 15-race series. The prestigious StFYC was
an extremely gracious host with its members, officers and staff warmly welcoming ourpeople in their facility. It is an exceptional venue and it was unfortunate we had asmall-ish turnout for the event. The Hobie 17 sailors did the class proud, thoughwith their professionalism (no protests), camaraderie and graciousness.
This is my last column as HCA Chair. New officers will be elected at the HCAAnnual General Meeting to be held September 12 during the Hobie 16 NorthAmerican Championships in Narragansett, RI. I’ve enjoyed serving for the past twoyears and look forward to the new leadership coming on board. I’d like once again tothank all the great volunteers that make our class strong. You’ve been a tremendousasset to me in my role. I’d like to particularly highlight four individuals who not onlygive their best to the class, but have been contributing tirelessly for many years, longbefore my time.
Paul Ulibarri was one of the first Hobie dealers and has committed himself to thesport and the HCA since the early days. PU has been focused on the improvementand growth of Hobie racing, and because of his influence, the quality of HCA racemanagement is second to none worldwide.
Lori Mohney, the HCA ‘Energizer Bunny’ and 2005 HCA Sports Person of theYear, has been PU’s counterpart for the event coordination portion of our activities.We are always assured of top quality events when Lori is involved, whether as advisoror primary event organizer.
Matt Bounds, former HCA Chair, keeps finding ways to endlessly give back to theclass. As our current HOTLINE editor, he has ratcheted up our association newsmagazine to a premier class publication that professional media houses would envy.Not only is the publication excellent, but Matt insures that the content itself is meatyand entertaining. Additionally, Matt is one of North America’s top Hobie sailors,currently among the leaders in four different classes: Tiger, Hobie 14, 16 and 17.
Finally, Rich McVeigh, another former HCA Chair, continues to support the classin the background and also as our webmaster and eBlast administrator. Like Matt,Rich has been able to significantly impact the HCA whether in an official capacity orsimply by doing whatever needs to be done to strengthen our class association.Another top region sailor, Rich seldom misses a Hobie 16 event.
I, too, hope to continue helping the HCA in any way that is needed. Thanks againto all, best wishes and fair winds.
Ed Muns, HCA Chair
2 SEPT / OCT 2006
features A Little Bit of Everything on Sandy Hook BayThe H-16 Women and Youth North American Championships
The Old Men and the SeaSt. Francis Yacht Club Welcomes the H-17 North Americans
The French Conquer CangasThe 2006 Tiger and Dragoon Worlds
Skeeter’s ReturnThe Story of One Sailor’s Sacrifice
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sept / oct 2006
contents
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photo / illustrationcredits Cover – Chris Ray www.printroom.com/pro/crayivp
Clean Air Flat Water – Teri McKennaContents – Hobie Fleet 250, Chris Ray, Pierrick Contin, Todd WalterHobie History – Hobie Cat USA / Hobie HOTLINEWomen on the Water – Teri McKenna, Heather Morrison, Stuart Crabbe,
HCA Division 4, Hobie Fleet 250Hobie 16 Women & Youth NAC – Hobie Fleet 250Hobie 17 NAC – Chris Ray, Jeremy LeonardTiger Worlds – Pierrick Contin, Teri McKennaSkeeter’s Return – Jennifer Renninger, Stuart CrabbeDriver’s Seat – Stuart Crabbe, Matt BoundsMembership Matters – Diane Bisesi
HOBIE CLASS
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resources
Hobie History15, 25 and 35 Years Ago
Just In Off the WireLate Breaking News and Notes
Women On the WaterTurning Over the Reins
Driver’s SeatThis One’s for You, Old Girl
Membership MattersLost Opportunities
columns 6
8
10
28
30
4
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31
2006 Regatta Schedule
HCANA Officers and Council Members
2006 HCA / US Sailing Membership Applications
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on the cover Hobie 17 North Americans – Competitors work upwind toward the
Golden Gate Bridge on San Francisco Bay.
ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA
4 SEPT / OCT 2006
HCA Sanctioned Division RegattasDivision 2—Southern CA / AZ / NVwww.hobiedivision2.com
Division 3—Northern CAwww.hobie3.org
Division 4—Pacific Northwestwww.hobiedivision4.org
Division 5—Mountain Stateswww.hobiediv5.org
Division 11—Mid-Atlanticwww.div11.hobieclass.com
World Championships www.hobieworlds.com
Hobie 16 Oct 9–19, 2007 Fiji
North American Championships www.hca-na.org
Hobie 16 Open Sept 11–15 Narragansett, RIHobie 14 Sept 23–24 Clear Lake, IAHobie 18 / 20 Oct 2–6 Lake Texoma, TX
Area ChampionshipsMidwinter’s West Feb 18–22, 2007 San Felipe, MEX www.hca-na.org
Other EventsF-18 North Americans Sep 18–22 Lake Carlyle, IL www.naf18.com
2006/2007regattaschedule
Division13—Mexico/Carribean/Central AmericaContact: Alfredo Figueroa–[email protected]
Division 14—N. TX, OK, AR, S. KSwww.division14.hobieclass.com
Regatta Scorers - Remember to send your results to:
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6 SEPT / OCT 2006
15, 25 & 35 Years Agohobiehistory
1971
1981
Seaway provided the OEM mainsheetsystems for Hobies well into the ‘80’s. Theywere finally getting with the “max mast rake”program with the introduction of their “lowprofile” system in 1981.
The systems used today probably cut anotherthree inches out of the stack-up from thisSeaway system.
This issue, we go really old school - back 35 years to the summer of1971. Intel had just introduced the first affordable microprocessor. JimMorrison and Duane Allman both died premature deaths. “Patton”won the Oscar for Best Picture. The cost of a first class postage stampwas raised to $0.08 - a 33% increase.
Hobie Cats and the Hobie Lifestyle were really starting to take off.
How’s this for foreshadowing? Threeyears before the Comptip is developed,O’Neill runs an ad in the HOTLINE with thetagline “Class Action Suits!” (The Comptipwas introduced in part because of litigationbrought upon the Hobie Cat Company.)
The Hobie Cat Hot Line was all of twelve pages long, yet it containedfull information on the upcoming H-14 Nationals in Apollo Beach, FL,the entire class rules for both the H-14 and H-16, and a write-up andfull results of the first H-16 National Championship held October 23–25 in San Diego.
The minimum weight of a Hobie 14 was listed as 215 lbs. (it’s now 240lbs.); a Hobie 16’s minimum weight was 315 lbs. (it’s now 320 lbs., butthat was reduced from 340 lbs. in 1984).
There were 117 Hobie 16’s at the first Nationals. Hobie Alter won withhis wife Nancy crewing. Two of the competitors in 1971 (DaveSparkuhl and Ron Wagniere) were at the 2005 H-16 North Americans.
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1991
1981 The 1981 Worrell 1000 was a true IronMan contest — raced on Hobie 16’s, no stopsexcept to rotate crews. Dan Mangus (currentMarketing Director for Hobie Cat) teamed upwith Miles Wood and Ron Anthony to finish6th out of 11 teams. The winning elapsedtime was 6 days, 18 hrs, 35 min.
OK, so sailing fashions have changed considerably in 25 years.They only made 1000 of these in 1981 – are there any still around? Ifyou have one of these, send me an e-mail at [email protected].
The original , breakable ABS rudders hadbeen replaced with unbreakable (but veryflexible) Lexan on the Hobie 16. Racers werelooking for something better and they foundit in fiberglass rudders like Art Form. (TheEPO rudder was still three years away.)
Watches had come a long way since themechanical ones used before the early ‘80’s.1981 saw the introduction of the first LCDdisplay watches that were water-resistant.
An inflatable anti-turtling device forHobies! Unfortunately, it was a too–complicated solution to the problem. Today,thousands of simple Hobie Bob mast floatshave been sold, making recreational sailingsafer and more enjoyable.
The Hobie Power Skiff is still one of themost sought after small power boats. Itsdesign is well suited to a number ofapplications, but especially as a mark/safetyboat.
8 SEPT / OCT 2006
justinoffthewireLate Breaking News and Notes
2007 Hobie 16 WorldsAnnounced
The IHCA Council hasannounced that Fiji will host the2007 Hobie 16 World Champion-ships. The tentative schedule is:
Women's, Masters Grand Mas-ters, and YouthTuesday, October 9 throughThursday, October 11, 2007
Open QualifierFriday, October 12 toSunday, October 14, 2007
Semi-Finals (112 teams)Monday, October 15 toWednesday, October 17, 2007
Finals (56 teams)Thursday, October 18 toFriday, October 19
A full Notice of Race will be avail-able mid-September
Newberry Sisters Make History at U.S. Youth MultihullChampionship
winning skipper Sarah Newberrywill be too old next year to com-pete in that event, the next eligibleteam will qualify. Eric Raybon andJason Bilow (both fromShrewsbury, N.J.) who finishedsecond at the U.S. Youth MultihullChampionship, will represent theU.S. at the 2007 Volvo YouthSailing ISAF World SailingChampionships in Kingston,Canada.
For complete results, dailyreports and photos from the U.S.Youth Multihull Championship,please visit the event's website atwww.ussailing.org/championships/
youth/multihull.Winning skipper Sarah
Newberry and last year's championcrew Sam Ingham, who finishedfourth overall this year, prove thatby demonstrating good sportsman-ship behavior on and off the racecourse, you can be a champion. Atlast year's U.S. Youth MultihullChampionship, Newberry won theDarline Hobock SportsmanshipAward. This year, the Sportsman-ship Award was presented toIngham.
Miami, FL ( July 17, 2006) -Two sisters from Biscayne Park, FLhave made history at the U.S.Youth Multihull Championship bybecoming the first all female teamto win the event, hosted by MiamiYacht Club. Sarah and ElizabethNewberry established their positionearly in the competition with threewins on the first day of racing andnever looked back. Skipper Sarahand her younger sister Elizabethhad been practicing together fortwo weeks leading up to the eventbecause they usually do not sailtogether.
“I thought we were going to beso bad,” said Sarah about how shefelt going into the regatta. “Weweren't very coordinated to startwith, but Elizabeth turned out tobe a very good crew.”
After the Newberry sisters werepresented with US SAILING'sArthur J. Stevens Trophy at theaward ceremony, the other com-petitors dunked the two championsin the yacht club pool. Like truechampions, the sisters were allsmiles.
The U.S. Youth MultihullChampionship was a qualifier forthe 2007 Volvo Youth SailingISAF World Sailing Champion-ship, an event open to athletes whodo not turn 19 in the year of theWorld Championship. Because
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Penalty TurnsIn the last issue, a number of
photographs attributed to SteveOad were in fact taken by BillEsterley (from Steve’s boat).
IHCA Rules CommitteeMeeting, Cangas, ESP
The IHCA Rules Committeemet during the Tiger Worlds. Hereis an excerpt from the minutes:
• Grand Master ClassificationChange - The proposed changewas withdrawn pendingwording revisions.
• Fully battened jib for the Tiger -At the F-18 council meeting inHyeres, there was a problemwith the full battened jib. It is acostly situation. The TechnicalCommittee recommended alimit of 1 meter to the head onthe mainsail. The F-18 groupwill allow the full battened jib inMarch 2007. They would beTiger class legal in April of2007.
• H-16 spi problems - Thereseems to be several patterns thathave been produced lately.Those made during the last halfof 2005 were different fromprevious years. Some Europeanssailors are complaining aboutthe consistency and measure-ments. They have not beenapproved by IHCA. There wereup to 100 mm dimensiondifferences on the edges. TheIHCA needs to adopt the newsail as class legal and needs toapprove the new measurementsand panel layouts from HobieCat Europe.
• H-14 / 16 Downhaul ruling -There was discussion regardinglimiting the line length on thedownhaul. A longer line couldallow adjustment from the wireusing a turning block on the
tramp lacing. A decision wasmade to pursue the adoption ofa line length limit.
• Tiger rudder blades – Therudder is Achilles heel of theTiger. A revision will be postedfor comments. The RulesCommittee will recommend tothe IHCA Council to accept forApril 2007 legal status.
• Hobie Cat 14 modified bridlewire attachment - OK toproceed to write a submissionfor comments.
10 SEPT / OCT 2006
Turning Over the ReinsA Summer 2006 Report and a New Women’s Rep
By Heather Morrison, HCA Women’s Representative
womenonthewater
It’s amazing to me how the summer flies by. We are more than halfway through theseason and it’s going too fast!Many things have been happeningfor women in Hobie sailing.
Sheila Holmes and I presented aWomen on the Water (WOW)workshop at Keystone Lake inTulsa in June. “Sail Like a Girl”was the theme for the weekend. Inaddition to the women, I thinkmany of the men who attended theworkshop felt they could improvetheir sailing technique if theyfollowed our suggestions! Wegraciously let them attend. With alive demonstration, we explainedhow to tune the boat for different
wind conditions, how the boat isaffected by weight placement, andhow to trim the sails. Even thoughwe didn’t have any races onSaturday for practice, Sundayoffered some wind so everyonecould try out the new tips.
Also, a big thanks goes out toLaura Sullivan for the WOWworkshop she hosted at the SplashRegatta in Kirkland, Washington(see the companion article on thefollowing page). They have a greatprogram which has added much towomen’s Hobie sailing.
The Women’s 16 NA Champi-onships were held in July. Con-gratulations goes to Susan Korzand Diane Bisesi who won the
event! Lynn Myers and JanetPayne followed with a close secondand Kathryn Garlick and SharonWoodruff finished in third place.Good job to all the ladies whoraced in the ten boat fleet.
Finally, in July, Danielle Burnswas elected as your new women’srepresentative at the women’sannual meeting. This is a greatposition and one that can affect alot of change in women’s racing. Ihave enjoyed it the last four yearsand know that Danielle will do agreat job.
See you on the start line!Heather Morrison
Danielle Burns2007 Women’s Hobie CatRacing Association Repre-sentative to the HCABoard of Directors
Danielle hails from Clarence, New York andraces in the highly competitive Division 16 Ho-bie 16 circuit with her husband, Bob. She fin-ished fourth in the recently completed Hobie 16Women’s North American Championship withcrew Jackie Kaine. You can reach Danielle at(716) 759-1908 or [email protected].
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Division 4 Women on theWater and Youth Clinic —Great News from the GreatPacific Northwestby Laura Sullivan
On Friday , May 26th, Division4 sponsored a Women on theWater and Youth clinic inKirkland, Washington. We had thepleasure of a dozen young womenand youths show up for the event.Peter Nelson spent Friday after-noon explaining racing tactics,while I spent some dedicated timewith a very special young ladynamed Laura Davey.
Laura and her father attendedthe Seattle Hobie 101 (BeginningSailing) seminar a couple of weeksprior. She is an incredibly fearless,bright, beautiful and energeticyoung lady, approximately 9 yearsold. Laura also has extremelylimited sight and can only see fromthe front cross bar to possibly thebridle.
Laura and I physically practicedwhere to position yourself upwindand down wind on the boat inlight, medium, and heavy air. Iwould demonstrate how to get onand off the wire, with Laurafollowing my pattern. We reviewedand numbered the steps to performa tack and a gybe. Her Dad (DonDavey) and I would call out thenumbers and Laura would executethem with brilliance.
She and her father have nowsigned up for Hobie 102 (Begin-ning Racing) and plan on joiningus on our racing circuit. She’s beenout on the Hobie 16, and her fathercan’t keep her off the wire. DonDavey is thrilled to have a sportthat he and his daughter can share.Laura is unstoppable and can’t wait
to get out sailing. It’s a credit tothis father that his daughter is notafraid. This young lady is going toexperience life to it’s fullest.
As a result of the Women andYouth clinic, two other youngwomen, Connie and Callie, becameinterested in sailing on a Hobie 16.Callie is a Wave instructor at theSand Point sailing center. At theKirkland Splash regatta last year,Callie won the class with straightbullets. However she had neverbeen on a Hobie 16. Gordo Bagleytook Callie and Connie out for aride Friday night after the Womenand Youth clinic. The windincreased to about 20 knots, andConnie and Callie went out on thewire. Connie screamed in delight.“I’m hooked! This is so incrediblyfun!!!”. Callie crewed for Gordo atthe regatta and had a great time,taking 2nd place. Connie landed aride on Sunday in double-trapweather, and was beaming from earto ear when she got back on shore.They both had incredibly fun
experiences and are now joiningthe ranks of Hobie 16 crew. Wenow need to work with Callie onskippering the 16 – as well as shehandled the Wave. We would liketo thank Gordo Bagley for makingthis such a positive experience forboth Callie and Connie.
12 SEPT / OCT 2006
feature
O n July 20th–23rd, ten women and sixteen youth teams gathered on the shores of Sandy Hook beach in New Jersey for the
2006 Hobie Cat North American Women’s andYouth Championships. As is the standard Hobie wayof life, the food, beer and party were all top notch.Kathy Kulkoski did a fantastic job feeding us and co-ordinating all the events. We can’t thank the SandyHook Bay Catamaran Club enough for their wonder-ful hospitality.
It all started with an excellent guest expert programand training drills on Thursday led by Susan Korz andGreg Raybon. They critiqued our performance byvideotaping each participant during a series of drills.We did starting drills and mark roundings. These werevery beneficial and really helped to improve our skills.Thank you Sue and Greg for your expert advice andtips on sailing.
Our boats were tuned, our crews were ready and theforecast was dismal. Thunderstorms were to blowthrough every few hours for the entire weekend. Therace committee, with PRO Mark Santorelli, did anexcellent job running races between the lightningbolts.
We were all hoping for some good wind on Friday,unfortunately the wind gods did not smile upon us(especially me). Fifty degree shifts had Rico Quattroneand Dan Flanigan moving A mark twelve times in thetwo races held that day.
Streaks of wind and patches of no wind led tofrustrating races for some of us, but it always seemslike the best sailors are somehow lucky (funny howthat works). At one point, there was about 3 knots ofwind above and below A mark, but zero wind aroundthe mark. I was wondering what we had done to makeRico mad, but he later swore to me that there waswind there when he set the mark. Sue Korz took twobullets and we all retired to the beach to avoid thelightning and prayed for more wind Saturday.
Friday night we had the women’s meeting andelected a new HCA Women’s Representative. A hugethank you to Danielle Burns for taking on that job!Danielle belongs to Fleet 119 in Buffalo, New York,as well as Fleet 204 of Syracuse. She is an experiencedskipper and crew, her boat of choice being the 16, andwill do a great job to promote women’s sailing. Sheplaced 2nd and 3rd on Friday so she was in a pretty goodmood Friday night. Mimi’s repeated chant of “Danielleis fast as hell” may have had something to do with it.I’m not sure.
Many things were discussed at the women’smeeting. The agenda included separating the womenand youth events, the length of the women’s NA event,and the age limit on the youths. It was decided thatthe women’s event should be three days racing and oneday of drills, since most of us participate in the Hobie16 Open event and would have a hard time taking anentire week of vacation for the women’s. The majoritywere still in favor of having the women’s once a year(keeps us on the helm).
There was a discussion about separating thewomen’s from the youths. This would allow femaleyouth skippers and crews to participate in the women’sas well. It was suggested that the women’s should be
A Little Bit of Everything on SandyThe 2006 Hobie 16 Women and Youth North American Championshipsby Karen Grisko
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combined with the 17’s rather than the youth. (All thewomen seemed to like this idea.) It was recommendedto run the Women’s and Youth’s consecutively nextyear in 2007 making the women’s a 3 day event andthe youth’s 3-4 days but at the same venue.
A majority of the time was spent talking about theYouth age limit. ISAF age limit is under 21, but HCAis under 19 in North America. This throws our youthskippers into the A-fleet fray and we feel it may bediscouraging to some of them. Another problem iswhen a youth qualifies for an event but will be over agewhen that event takes place; they cannot sail in theevent. We need to take a closer look at these issues. Weall know these youths are our future. We need toencourage them to stay in the sport and introducetheir families and friends into it as well.
A special thanks to Heather Morrison for being ourwomen’s rep for the past four years. We appreciate allyou have done for us!
And now back to the racing scene…Saturday, I got my wish. The wind was blowing
somewhere from 15 to 18 knots, with gusts that Ricosaid “just lifted the boats and flipped them on theirsides”. (Well, he was a little more colorful but we’ll justkeep it at that.) We got in five awesome races, with alunch break to let a line of storms pass. They fed ussubs, chips and soda. At the end of the day, there wasquite a line at the hose to get those sails and mastsclean (including mine). It was a good day.
I love wind! Who cares how you’re doing whenyou’re double trapped out flying a hull! (Carol, sorryabout that flying a hull, downwind, upside downthing!) The same gust took down three boats, just likedominos.
I also have to say a special thanks to Ken Hilk,Carol’s husband, our faithful pit crew. When my brandnew bottom downhaul block decided to meet the topblock in the 20 or so knots of wind, he fixed it forSunday, no problem! He also helped me get the gooeymud out of my Comptip. (Yuck!)
The Saturday night band and dancing was excel-lent. We had some karaoke sailors (who will remainnameless), and all had a great time.
Sue Korz and Diane Bisesi were sitting in first withall bullets. (I think Sue may have won the party too.)Lynn Myers and Kathryn Garlick were battling it outfor second and third and Danielle Burns was sitting inforth. Carol and I were in fifth, hoping for good windon Sunday.
However, the wind gods were not on our side onSunday either. Light, shifty winds with boat wakes totorment us through two races finished up this nationalevent. I don’t know how many times they moved Amark. I think they lost count too!
Congratulations to Sue Korz and Diane Bisesi fortaking 1st in the Women’s North American Champi-onships. Lynn Myers and Janet Payne finished secondwith Kathryn Garlick and Sharon Woodruff in third.Danielle Burns (new women’s rep) and Jackie Cainefinished fourth and I, with my crew Carol Hilk, camein fifth. All the women and youth did a great job onthe course in the tricky conditions. It was a great time,a great race, and a fantastic event!
Thank you to all the sponsors and people runningthe event. Tom Cottingham was a miracle workersecuring the sponsors needed to pull off this event.Princeton BMW was the title sponsor for theWomens’ and MINI USA was the title sponsor for theYouths. Weather-Ex donated money and the use of areally comfortable 32 foot power catamaran as thesignal boat. 3M and Hobie Cat kicked in givies andraffle prizes too.
y Hook Bay
14 SEPT / OCT 2006
Sandy Hook Bay Catamaran Club (home of HobieFleet 250) fed us breakfast, lunch and dinner allweekend and provided great T-shirts, givies, andexcellent race support. We had Steve Oad with RobJerry on his skiff, Rico Quatrone and Dan Flanigan onthe row boat, Steve Smith, Mike and Justin on thatreally nice RIB, and Roger Silvergold and Mark Bradyon the red boat. Mark Santorelli was PRO and led ateam including Bernie Villa, Bridgette, Dan Ward,Ken Hilk, Kyle and Bernie Kulkoski. Behind thescenes we had Bea, Pegi, MB, Irene, Judy, Vic, Jim,Greg, Rondo, Dan and Kat.
Running an event like this takes a lot of hard workand dedication. A very special thanks to KathyKulkoski for coordinating the entire event. Every-thing was wonderful! Thank you to everyone whosupported the Women’s and Youth’s North AmericanChampionships! We appreciate every one of you!
The Youth Perspectiveby Erin LaPorta and Jamie Grisko
At the 2006 Hobie 16 Youth and Women’s NorthAmerican Championships we were given so much inorder to compete and have that good old sailing fun.So first, I would like to thank the youth sponsors –MINI USA and Hobie Fleet 250. I would also like tothank Sue Korz and Greg Raybon for sharing yoursecrets with the rest of your fellow sailors at the G.E.P.Last but not least, I would like to thank any fathers,men, women, and all those who offered to help on therace committee and beach patrol.
Sue Korz and Greg Raybon shared with us somestrategies and tips that become useful on the water.Then after our teachers felt we grasped the idea, they
brought us out onto the water. By videotaping ourtacks, jibes, and mark roundings, they critiqued ourtechniques and gave us pointers. The women attendingthe GEP also contributed a great deal of advice andtips, which were extremely helpful. After a day oflearning, we were ready for racing!
Meeting the competition was exciting, but racingagainst them was an adrenaline rush! We bondedquite nicely after a few hours. Even though we usuallyhave Puerto Ricans or Guatemalans defeating us withbullets across the board, it was definitely a struggle tostay on top because of the skill level of sailors we wereracing against. This year the scores were inconsistent;you would see someone get a first in one race and thena fifth or sixth in another. It was definitely a great joyseeing what the others would do. Throughout theevent we found ways to survive together, whether itwas eating charcoaled pizza off the grill or just lyingon the hammock. Trying to find things to do afterracing was a bit of a challenge on Thursday and Fridaynights. As you hear from the stories, we broke therecord on the amount of youth sailors in one phonebooth; we got 12 on the third or fourth try! We wereinvading ice cream parlors and setting off fireworksthat somehow got into our hands. In the end... wemade it together. Saturday night there was a Luauwith a great band, dancing and great food! “I say theband was awesome and I had a hell of a time dancingthe night away. And it was some great sailing,” MattPerkins added.
Mark Santorelli had a difficult job; he tried tomanage race committee, and keep us away from thedangerous naval base. He had to make the decisionsrelying on the weather and placement of the course.He knew that if he took us off the water because ofthunderstorms and then the wind picked up and itseemed fine, he would get an earful from the competi-tors. In spite of this, he made good decisions.
Mark came through in the end, with an astonishingnine races between all of those storms. When we weresent in because of dangerous conditions, the routinewas to take down your main sail and take cover awayfrom the boats! Sailors fled to the gazebo and waitedin suspense for the storms to clear.
I personally never knew awards could be “In 5Minutes!” six times in one hour, but Kathy pulled itoff! We finally had awards. MINI Mugs were paintedby youths in competition for money, and ‘non-
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Hobie 16 Women’s North American ChampionshipJuly 21–23, 2006 Final Results
Hobie 16 Youth North American ChampionshipJuly 21–23, 2006 Final Results
transformable transformers wereawarded to all youth participants.The top three winners receivedmedals. In third were T.J. Tulloand Niki Kennedy. In second wasfleet 204’s Matt Perkins and crewMike Iames. First place winnersTyler Myers and Ryan Mazzeoraced a handful of great races. Allof the other youths performedsurprisingly well in the changingconditions, and did great. As I saidearlier, we had no idea how thescores would end up because wewere all over the board in finishes.Congratulations to all women andyouth in the 2006 Youth andWomen’s North American Cham-pionships! Next year’s youth andwomen’s nationals are just going tobe even better, so get pumped!
16 SEPT / OCT 2006
feature
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THE OLD MENAND THE SEA
The 2006 Hobie 17 North American ChampionshipsHosted by the St. Francis Yacht Club, San Francisco, CAby Jeremy Leonard
Fifteen die-hard Hobie 17 sailors competed inthe choppy, swirling waters off Crissy Field and
the northern San Francisco waterfront in whatwas the most memorable and picturesque event in
a long time. The weather cooperated for the mostpart, allowing for fifteen races over five days in
mostly sunny skies and 10 to 20 knot breezes.
PHOTO BY CHRIS RAY
18 SEPT / OCT 2006JEREMY LEONARD
JEREMY LEONARD
CHRIS RAY
CHRIS RAY
CHRIS RAY
CHRIS RAY
CHRIS RAY
www.hca-na.org 19
The Old Men who went to sea in San Francisco - (L to R) Steve Acquart (TX), Wayne Mooneyham (CA), Bruce(Wrinkley) Fields (AR) (the oldest), Gordon Bagley (NV), Matt Bounds (MI), Graham McGlashan (BC), Jake Sailer (CA)(the youngest), Dave Wilder (WA), Jan Kristiansen (BC), Phil Collins (OK), Scott Ruggles (WA), Al Leonard (CA). Notshown - Rick Petit (TX), Steve Leo (CA), Paul Tobie (CA).
(Clockwise from left)
StFYC’s trusty signal boat, the Frank S. Cressy. Noticethat the boat is not lined up with the wind. Thatmeans current and lots of it.
The starts were challenging in the ebb tide. Can yousay “General Recall?”
A Mark - Sonnoi, Kristen, and Wayne man “Punnett”
Phil Collins (OK) started slow, but finished fast.
Phil Collins, Matt Bounds and Scott Ruggles head toshore to avoid the current
Downwind from the Golden Gate Bridge
Steve Acquart (TX) charges back upwind
T his year, the Hobie 17 North AmericanChampionship was hosted by one of the mostprestigious yacht clubs in the United States –
the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco. StFYC issituated on the southern shore of the bay just a fewmiles east of the Golden Gate Bridge. It is a very pic-turesque and well known place to hold a regatta. Theraces were run close to shore with the committee boatsituated right in front of the club. However, the realstory behind the Hobie 17 North Americans was thepeople who made it happen. From the staff and volun-teers of the prestigious St. Francis Yacht Club, to thecompetitors themselves, the event could not have takenplace without their contributions. The week before theevent, it almost didn’t happen. A last minute e-mailcampaign boosted the attendance to fifteen – less thanhalf of last year’s, but still enough to call it a NorthAmericans. Since the Tiger NA’s were cancelled, a fewTiger sailors scrambled to find 17’s, and several did.Jake Sailer from Lodi and Steve Leo from SouthernCalifornia dredged up a couple of old 17’s.
Defending North American Champion MattBounds was the odds-on favorite, given his dominancein the heavy air of Rehoboth last year. San FranciscoBay promised wind and lots of it every day. PhilCollins of Oklahoma had not been on a Hobie 17 inseveral years, but given his performance in the Hobie20 (past North American Champion and runner uplast year), he was guaranteed to be in the mix as well.You couldn’t count out former H-17 North AmericanChampion Wayne Mooneyham, either. Bruce(Wrinkley) Fields drove in from Arkansas.
This 17 NAC was full of surprises. They startedeven before the event, when Matt Bounds discoveredwhile practicing on Sunday that the mast on hischarter boat leaked – the hard way. Most people pay tosee the underside of the Golden Gate Bridge. Matt gotto see it for free on his turtled 17 as the current slowlytook him under the bridge and out to sea. He made afew new friends in the Coast Guard and eventuallymade it back to dry land. Thanks go to Mark, theharbormaster at the StFYC, for coming out to helpright the boat and make sure Matt got back to thebeach safely. He took a lot of ribbing for his “adven-ture” at the StFYC hosted cocktail party that night.
At the skipper’s meeting on the first day, PrincipalRace Officer John Craig introduced us to the hazardsof racing on busy San Francisco Bay. Ship traffic wasnearly constant, from the tour boats (charging peopleto see the underside of the Golden Gate Bridge) to theenormous container ships and blocky car carriers. Onseveral occasions, race starts were delayed pendingpassage of a ship. John also introduced us to “The
Sucker” – the thermal breeze that fills in almost likeclockwork every day in front of the club. “Things herecan get kind of extreme,” John said, “We’re going toease into it this week.”
August is notorious for being a brutal month forwind on the Bay, but surprise! — it turned out to beperfect sailing for almost the entire regatta! Thehighest wind reported from the committee boat was23 kts and that was on Thursday during the last race.There were fifteen races total; three per day. Theshortest race was thirty-eight minutes and the longest
CHRIS RAY
20 SEPT / OCT 2006
was one hour and ten minutes. Twelve of the fifteenraces were in less than 15 kts of breeze, so the condi-tions were far less brutal than advertised. The tide wasflooding during most of the races, which kept thewater fairly flat. When the tide ebbs in the Bay it getsvery choppy, but there is always relief from this torrentin the shallow water on the City Front.
The first day was one of the most beautiful sailingdays I have ever seen in the bay! The maximum windwas 15 knots at A-mark. Steve Acquart from SanAntonio surprised everyone with his speed – he wastied for first after three races. Phil Collins surprisedhimself with a back flip off the wing in the first start.Going out on the trapeze without hooking up is notrecommended. Gordo Bagley, hardcore Hobie 16sailor, discovered how much he liked the Hobie 17. Hesaid it almost felt like cheating on his girlfriend, butsince he was by himself, it was OK. I think we have aconvert to the 17. Matt Bounds wired into the currentpattern early and led at the end of the day – despitebeing run down from behind in the last race by DaveWilder who nipped him by inches at the finish line.
On the second day, the Gray Fox (WayneMooneyham) and Phil Collins “got their game on.”Wayne posted a very consistent 3-2-3, while Phil gotthe first two of his eventual six bullets. Matt Boundsstill led, even after he pulled his halyard hook off withthe downhaul in the last race. The current was playinghavoc with the starts, causing the only general recall ofthe series. The ebb tide was really kicking in late in theafternoon. You would have to set up for your startthirty yards dead down wind of the committee boatand let the current take you up to the line.
On Wednesday, the third day, I had the pleasure ofchasing and working A-mark with club membersSinnoi, Kristen and Wayne on a very nice RIB. Theyhad great insight into the local sailing conditions, and
basically schooled me all day. Onething that I really like about beinga Hobie Dealer is meeting a vastvariety of sailors. Most of them arevery interesting, down-to-Earthpeople. On the chase boat we hadgreat conversations about sailingand life in general.
The Saint Francis Yacht club isamazing! Those of you that have
volunteered for Hobie regattas in your local divisionwould appreciate the professionalism that this yachtclub exhibits. Here in Division 3, we always have tohustle to get working boats, drivers and jumpers. Thechase boats and hardware at St. Francis are all topnotch. They have a large pool of volunteers, so thestress of getting people to help out is completelyeliminated. In addition, they have one of the coolestclubhouses in existence. Models of America’s Cup andmembers’ well known yachts are scattered throughout.There’s a case full of members’ Olympic mementoes,including a half-dozen medals. It also has a multi-million dollar view of the bay. After racing onWednesday, they hosted a sit-down dinner for thecompetitors, followed by the Classic Yacht Races -Knarrs, International One-Designs and Folkboats (allclassic wooden designs) starting right in front of theclub. These “woodies” slug it out in the fresh breezeand the stiff current every Wednesday eveningthroughout the summer.
Thursday, Matt Bounds got down to business androlled off three bullets to take the day — no surprisethere. The surprise came when Gordon Bagley port-tacked the entire fleet at the start and went whoopingand hollering out to the right side of the course.Unfortunately, the tide was flooding, and that was thewrong way to go, or else he would have spanked thefleet to the first weather mark, too. The flood tidecaught people napping at the next start, causing a pile-up at the pin. The tide was running so hard, that if youtried to start more than two-thirds of the way downthe line, you wouldn’t make it past the pin! The coursebecame a race track – start, head for the shore, thentack up the shoreline (ten tacks was about average) toA, jibe immediately upon rounding and head out todeeper water. Then head to the right side of the coursegoing downwind, round the left gate and go for theshore again. By the end of the day, Matt had an elevenpoint lead, with Steve Acquart in second, Phil in thirdand Wayne in fourth. There a vicious fight for fifthwith Dave Wilder, Scott Ruggles, Gordon Bagley andRick Petit all in the mix.
Friday started much like every day that week — by8 AM, the sailors would start arriving at Crissy Beachto start setting up. The races started at 11 AM, sharp.Phil Collins finally got his groove on and dominatedthe last day, pulling away from the fleet in every race.
How about this for a view? The competitors’meeting on the veranda of the StFCY. (Steve!
Take off your hat! Not allowed in the Club!)
JEREMY LEONARD
www.hca-na.org 21
Matt was sailing a little more conservatively, yet stillmanaged to come in second in the first two races.Steve Acquart was not having a good day — Phil wasclosing in on second place overall. John Craig an-nounced the start of the last race of the series, and itlooked like Matt had sewn up another North Ameri-can Championship. All he had to do was sail the lastrace, since there were only eight boats left at the start.
Fate is a cruel mistress, though – with four minutesto go in the starting sequence, Matt tacked to get intostarting position – something he had done nearly 100times during the course of the week. Fate intervened,and he flipped over in the tack. Rumor is that PhilCollins jinxed him by congratulating him on the winbefore the start. It took Matt nearly fifteen minutes toright the boat, far longer than the eight minutes hehad to start properly. Despite that, he sailed the courseanyway, coming in last and tipping his hat to the racecommittee as he finished. Meanwhile, the peoplekeeping track of the scores were furiously calculatingwhat a DNS would do to his overall position. In theend, he squeaked out an overall victory with only threepoints to spare. Phil Collins’ late charge allowed himto pass Steve Acquart for second by only three points.Steve had the lowest total raw score, but his “badFriday” relegated him to third. Wayne Mooneyhamwas fourth and Dave Wilder won the battle for fifth.
All during the week, comments had been maderegarding the “maturity” of the 17 sailors. With theexception of Jake Sailer (age 21), there was a lot ofgray hair out on the race course. At the awards, heldFriday afternoon, the participants sat down andcalculated their average age. We were astonished tofind that the average age of the fifteen competitors was. . . 58.3 years. It just goes to show you that sailingkeeps you young!
Regattas don’t just happen, it takes a pretty largecrew to run them, and we have a few super stars inDivision 3 that helped with this event. AdamBorcherding, Johnny O, Mark Sailer and Rolf all tooktime out of their busy schedules to come down andhelp out on the beach. If you haven’t yet this season,get involved and volunteer, it really makes a difference!Overall, this regatta was one of the most organizedand well put-on events I’ve ever been a part of. Theweather was absolutely gorgeous, and the sailingconditions were perfect. The 17 sailors, despite rumorsof this regatta being a “Boat Breaker” represented theirclass expertly to the St. Francis Yacht Club and thethousands of onlookers crossing the Golden Gate andwalking Crissy Field. The race committee wasoutstanding and it was a pleasure to work with John,Nadine Franczyk and the rest of the staff and volun-teers at StFYC! Thanks to all of the participants,volunteers, and committee members.
Hobie 17 North American ChampionshipAugust 7–11, 2006 Final Results
22 SEPT / OCT 2006
feature
The French Conquer CangasThe Tiger and Dragoon Worlds
Editor’s Note: Jacques Bernier posted daily reports of hisexperiences in Cangas with skipper Greg Thomas on the HobieCommunity Forums. Unfortunately, no one reported on theDragoon Worlds held at the same time. There were no NorthAmerican entries in that event, but complete results can be foundat www.hobieworlds.com.
Day 1What a day – we couldn’t ask for much better . . .
winds were lightish and the chop was medium. Wehad three good results placing us 1st overall over theFrench team of Jean-Christophe Mourniac / FranckCiteau. We have six points and they have nine.
In all three races we had good starts and goodupwind performance from our borrowed Tiger. Wehad to dig out of 10th or so in the second race as thewind filled on the right side. Many of the top teamshad to fight for a comeback. We were fortunate toplace as high as we did. Mourniac / Citeau onlyfinished 5th. The third race, we knew we wanted to getto the left; however, there were too many boats waitingto tack. Mourniac went away by himself unchallengedas we clawed our way past two British teams in thesecond upwind leg, giving us second.
The day started slowly and we were delayed aboutthree hours waiting for wind – it even rained a while.
All was good while we snoozed in the rack. Our hotelis just next to the boats so when I hear the horn itstime to rise!
Last night for the opening ceremony, they hadsome great bands and big fireworks. Fun times – butgetting to the rack at 2AM isn’t so good when thebriefing is at 9AM! Hopefully tomorrow we can wakeup at a more normal time... say like around 11AM (itis Spain, after all).
Day 2Today, in the first race, we got our throwout race
out of our system. We rolled the dice and picked a sideto come up short. Winds were not really steady, but wehad much more than yesterday – trapeezing prettymuch all day. We had a couple of average results in thesecond and third races – digging back to top tens afterbeing further down from banging the wrong corner. Itwas a theme today for us. Mourniac was able to beat usafter coming over through the wrong side. We didmanage to beat him in the third race, so he now has adrop of eleven. Any more mistakes by us and he will beright back.
We were at least able to end the day on a positivenote. We finally hit the correct side up the firstwindward leg to come to second. The only bad thingwas Mourniac was 1st – so there went yet anotherpoint.
The young French team is now a couple pointsahead of us. We are sitting 3rd overall. We’re withinstriking distance and sailing fast - just have to cut outthe mistakes on the first beat.
Day 3Today we got in three more races in trying condi-
tions. The sail out to the course was in three knots ofwind with fog, so we thought to ourselves, “Where’sthe starting area?” The starting vessels were furtheroffshore than the previous days, and the haze wasn’thelping either.TERI MCKENNA
www.hca-na.org 23
Once we started the sequence, it was like a switchturned on and the winds filled in nicely. We were notso hot, only managing to post a couple of 10’s andanother throw out. (Too bad they give you only onedrop, so I suppose we’ll keep this 15th.) Our speed innot in doubt, however some problems in roundingsituations and close calls on lay lines have caused ussome grief in these past two days. We are used tosailing to the lay line, however here everyone was sooverstood that if you’re not one of them you die. Itdidn’t help that we ran over the spinnaker sheet in thesecond race. (Our worst result, of course, was partlydue to this.) Climbing out on the bow in high windsand chop isn’t fast.
In the final race, the winds really piped up andmany teams stuck it in hard. There were several tornmainsails and a bent mast or two. Steve Leo bought anew mast this way. We stayed upright to come acrossin 10th. Another notable North American finish todaywas John Tomko / Ian Billings (from Texas) doing wellenough to secure 8th in the overall results. TeamPuerto Rico fell through their main sail - but it won’tput a damper on the rum party they are hostingtonight!
Day 4We’re still hanging in there, but have lost touch
with the French now. Those guys are just rounding thefirst weather mark few spots better than us and that ismaking all the difference. We had some good movestoday; however, our bad ones outweighed the good.
In the first race for the day, winds were stillmedium - around 12 to 15 knots - which suits oursailing. We had a nice start and were in the lead groupat each mark. Mitch and Taylor were pushing harddownwind and passing us by overstanding on the runs.
We were able to get past them on the upwind legs,making for a great duel. In the end, they crossed theline several boat lengths ahead. They’ve beat us in thelast two Worlds, so we really want to get them thistime. Once we hit the beach, we were informed thatMitch was OCS moving us ahead to third for the raceand nine points ahead of them in the overall results.Tomorrow it’s going to all be happening!
The race officials were forced to make the coursesshorter today due to some large tankers anchored nearthe port layline to the top marks. This meant thatthree lap races were posted - there would be even moreemphasis on the starts and the first upwind leg, as wellour boat handling. My hands are a touch on the soreside now with all the raising and dousing of thespinnaker.
For the second race, winds piped up to 18 knots orso. We were forced to tack shortly after the start toclear our air as we were rolled over by a French team.Once clear (we thought), Gerard Loos tacked just infront causing us to have to point a bit too much, losingground to the front group yet again. I think weeventually dug back to around 11th.
Winds continued to increase for race three and wewere positioned well down on the line trying to go tothe left side. With around 30 seconds to go, a group ofboats just below us pushed too far forward on the line.At this point, we knew they were likely going to becalled over, so we had to decide, stay, or push up. Westayed back, and we got absolutely hammered on the
Greg Thomas and Jacques Bernier approach the weather mark
Jean-Cristophe Mourniac and Franck Citeau, Tiger World Champions
TERI MCKENNA
TERI MCKENNA
24 SEPT / OCT 2006
Hobie Tiger World Championship, Cangas, SpainJuly 24–28, 2006 Final Results
start. Once we made it to the top we proceeded to foulone of the young British teams, and had to take apenalty turn. We came around the offset for the firstrounding and placed in the high 30´s. We pecked awayat the boats ahead, each leg getting through a fewmore. We pulled a satisfying 18th after digging out ofthe “Way-Back Machine.”
The French are pretty much gone, so our mission isto conserve our position if possible. In the light air, weare quite accomplished, but it seems we need to workmore on the higher wind conditions. I guess SouthernCalifornia isn’t the best for high wind training.
Day 5What a busy day! After racing, we had to scramble
to break down the boats and get them all loaded intothe containers. The awards were late, and we needed toeat - that left little time to hit the disco beforecatching our cab at 5AM to fly to Paris at 6 AM. Now
we’ve arrived in NYC and I’m still awake. We’ll gethome to San Diego tonight around 10PM.
On the last day of sailing, winds stayed on the lightside. We needed to stay close to two boats - MarkLarrufa and Booth. Larrufa was tied with Greg and Igoing into the day’s races. Mitch and Taylor were justten down. They held three races, in eight knots or less.We were able to get the better of Larrufa, but Mitchslid through on the final race to squeak ahead forfourth in the final results.
It’s really nice to see Mourniac finally win aWorlds; he’s been runner up several times in a numberof classes. They were super stoked. We were a bitdisappointed in our regatta, though we had somesuccesses. Looks like we’ll be focusing our trainingnow more on downwind high wind speed – lightwinds we’re are right in there.
Our next big regatta will be F-18 NA’s in Sept. Sountil then . . .
www.hca-na.org 25
26 SEPT / OCT 2006
Skeeter’s ReturnThe Story of One Sailor’s SacrificeBy Todd Walter
I met Kevin Renninger (Skeeter) six years ago. Hewas a member of Hobie Fleet 137 on Lake Ho-patcong in New Jersey when I joined the Jefferson
Sailing Club. Skeeter and I seemed to hit it off fromday one. We have similar interests, we both served inthe US Navy and love the Hobie Way of Life. Thoughour club has seen its coming and going of sailorsthroughout the years, Skeeter has always remained a
constant. If you need help rig-ging your boat, advice on boatspeed, or just someone to sailwith, he is always willing tohelp.
Skeeter is always easy to find,he can be found helping his bestfriend Todd Stevens out in theboatyard, or sleeping on orunder his Hobie 16. Skeeter andI have been representing Fleet137 at as many regattas as wecan in the past few years. He hasdefinitely made me a bettersailor and is willing to talk abouttactics or techniques. He isalways looking for ways toimprove himself and assistothers.
Skeeter most recentlymarried his longtime girlfriend,Jennifer. Shortly following that,
they further enhanced their lives with the birth of theirson Tyler. In order to give his family a better life, Skeetdecided to rejoin the US Navy in a reserve capacity.Skeeter, his family and friends weren’t expecting thenext big change. In August 2005, Skeeter’s unit wasreactivated and he received orders to go to Kuwait fora 365 day deployment. Shocked that he would have to
leave his wife and newborn son, Skeeter unselfishlydedicated the next year of life to his country. Person-ally, I will never forget how it felt having to breakdown and put away his second love, his Hobie 16, afterthe Madcatter in 2005.
Skeeter did well on his deployment, and he sent e-mails to everyone whenever he got a chance. Earlierthis year, he got some time off and was able to go toQatar for some R & R. Apparently, soldiers are notable to drink with the exception of three beers a day.So for fun on his three day leave he and some friendsdecided to let their hair down. According to sources,Skeeter was dared to have some body waxing done. Alook at any of the pictures that accompany this articlewill give you an idea of what an endeavor this musthave been, being that Skeeter resembles a bigfoot. Henow has a new-found appreciation for the femalegrooming ritual.
It was great to hear that the deployment endedsooner rather than later. Jenn, Tyler and all of us Hobie
feature
TO
JENNIFER RENNINGER
JENNIFER RENNINGER
Skeeter and his son, Tyler
Skeeter, Jennifer (very pregnant with Tyler), Todd Stevens, Barb Laane
www.hca-na.org 27
Sailors were excited to hear that Skeeter would be ableto come home in May of 2006. Ironically, he wasscheduled to arrive home just in time to attend hisfavorite regatta – The Madcatter XXX. The weather atMadcatter was a far cry from the heat of Kuwait, butSkeeter teamed up with Ron LaPorta to take on thecold and wind of Oneida Lake. The smile on his facetells it all.
So if you sail a Hobie, and happen to have thepleasure of meeting this truly unique sailor please buyhim a beer and say, “ Thank you for you sacrifice,” Iknow it would mean the world to him.
Chris RayPhotographySan Francisco, California
STUART CRABBE
Skeeter and Ron LaPorta at Madcatter XXX this past May. (It was a lot colder than Kuwait!)
www.crayivp.comwww.printroom.com/pro/crayivp
In the next issue:North American Championships:
Hobie 16Hobie 18 and Hobie 20
Hobie 14
Another Jagger Family adventure:Cruising the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior
Plus all the usual stuff:Hobie History, Just in Off the Wire, Women on the Water, New HCA Officer introductions
LINDA WRIGHT
28 SEPT / OCT 2006
This One’s for You, Old GirlA little quieter, work a little harder and be that much moredetermined.
by Matt Bounds, HCA HOTLINE Editor
driver’sseat
A few months ago, the neweditor of Sailing World,
Dave Reed (who spentsome time on a Hobie 16 at the2004 Worlds in Mexico), wroteabout Mike Sanderson, the skipperof ABN AMRO One’s winning Vol-vo Ocean Race Campaign. In themidst of the Southern Ocean,Mike had learned that he lost hisblack lab Nikita to cancer. Instant-ly, he felt very far away from home.His grief was palpable, but all hecould do was be “ . . . a little quiet-er, work a little harder, and just bethat much more determined aboutgetting this boat into Rio in firstplace.” Mike did more than that –ABN AMRO One dominated theVOR, winning with a 23 pointlead over some very distinguishedcompetition.
Dave identified with thisbecause the same day Mike foundout about Nikita, Dave lost histwelve year old Rhodesian Ridge-back, Hasani. “His voraciousnessaside, he was a perfect companion– strong, stubborn, loving and lazy.”Dave felt the same way as Mikeand resolved to handle it in thesame way – be a little quieter, worka little harder and be that muchmore determined.
Unfortunately, I too have had asimilar experience. My victory in
the Hobie 17 North Americanswas bittersweet. Upon our returnhome, we discovered my beloved17 year old black cat, Pyewacket,on her deathbed, struck down byrapidly spreading cancer in herbrain. The tentative cancer diagno-sis had only been made two weeksprior. I could not have imaginedthat it would progress so quickly.
What does this have to do withHobie sailing and the HOTLINE?At 17 years old, Pyewacket wasthere when I was crafting the firstissues of the NAHCA News. Shewould luxuriate in the heatemanating from the monitor,watching me put together issuesusing the newly released Windows3.1 operating system. She was shy,overtly affectionate, and myconstant companion when I was inthe house. Of late, she had taken tobeing my arm rest while I as-sembled the HOTLINE on mylaptop in front of the television.She also loved to rub my feet (andbe rubbed by them) as I worked atmy desk computer. Never critical,always encouraging with a purr, arough-tongued lick or a nudge.Rescued by me from the side of amajor suburban boulevard as akitten, she had outlived all herfeline companions to become oursole non-human family member.
The Hobie 17, being a one-person boat, allows a lot of time forreflection when you’re out on thewater. Pyewacket was on my mindduring much of the racing in SanFrancisco. Every race that I won, Iwould say under my breath, “Thatone’s for you, old girl,” as if myofferings would stay the diseaseconsuming her body. A mid-weekreport from her caretaker waspromising – her appetite was goodand by all accounts, she would begreeting us at the door when wearrived home early Sunday morn-ing. Sadly, it was not to be.
So now I am at the samejuncture as Mike Sanderson andDave Reed. This issue is late goingto the printer, but that will nothappen again soon. For I, too, am alittle quieter, work a little harderand am that much more deter-mined to bring you a qualitypublication – on time. This one’sfor you, Pyewacket.
www.hca-na.org 29
Chair
Ed Muns
POB 1877
Los Gatos, CA 95031-1877
408.353.1853
1st Vice Chair
Bob Merrick
141 Short Beach Rd
Branford, CT 06405
203.488.7820
2nd Vice Chair
Rob Jerry
118 Stanwood Ln.
Manlius, NY 13104
315.637.7956
electedofficers
2006hcaboardofdirectors
voting members
DIVISION 1Bobby Wythes
34 White Sands PlaceKailua, HI 96734-1966
DIVISION 2Dave Dixon
16831 Orchard Bend RoadPoway, CA 82064
DIVISION 3Adam Borcherding
522 Columbia StreetSanta Cruz, CA 95060-6511
DIVISION 4Jerry Valeski
20831 SE 213thMaple Valley, WA 98038
DIVISION 5Dan Brennan
17960 Woodhaven DrColorado Springs, CO 80908
DIVISION 6Chris Green
2220 Brae LaneLeague City, TX 77586
DIVISION 7Chris Wessels
5600 Lakeview Dr.Clear Lake, IA 50428
641.357.4577 / [email protected]
DIVISION 8Bob Johnson
906 Woodcliff AvenueTampa, Florida 33613
DIVISION 9Loyd Graves
4709 Glen Forest DriveRaleigh, NC 27612
DIVISION 10Jeff Rabidoux
201 N. Squirrel Road #1801Auburn Hills, MI 48326
DIVISION 11Ron LaPorta
120 Netherwood DrCoatesville, PA 19320-1467
DIVISION 12Dave Heroux
27 Foster Center RdFoster, RI 02825-1326
DIVISION 13Alfredo Figueroa
921 Verdi St., Reparto SevillaSan Juan, PR 00924
(787)[email protected]
DIVISION 14Mark Benge
2341 S. Avery AvenueMidwest City, OK 73130
DIVISION 15Scott Beach
8221 Grand Bay Blvd.Panama City Beach, FL 32408
DIVISION 16Kevin Wilson
8442 Transit LaneBaldwinsville, NY 13027
on the web
International Hobie Class
Association
www.hobieclass.com
Hobie Cat Company USA
www.hobiecat.com
Hobie Product Support
www.hobiecat.com/support
Hobie Community Forums
www.hobiecat.com/community
appointedofficers
Women’sRepresentative
Danielle Burns4601 Shisler Rd
Clarence, NY 14031716.759.1908
1 HAWAII
resources
Membership Chair
Diane Bisesi
8763 Weaver Rd.
Brewerton, NY 13029
(T) 315.699.5453
(F) 315.432.5102
Secretary
Kathy Ward
1331 Robertson Way
Sacramento, CA 95818
916.715.3133
Treasurer
Kathleen Tracy
2625 Jewelstone Court
Ft Collins, CO 80525
970.223.2642
Youth Program Director
Mimi Appel
3357 Collins Road
Marcellus, NY 13108-9647
Race Director
Paul Ulibarri
3334 Fulton
Victoria, BC V9C 2T9
Canada
250.474.7580
Championships Coordinator
Lori Mohney
2812 E Shore Drive
Portage, MI 49002-6581
269.327.4565
Guest Expert Program
Coordinator
Kim Edmonds
13323 Eagle View Land
Roland, AR 72135
501.868.8801
HOTLINE Editor
Matt Bounds
3798 Damas Dr.
Commerce Twp, MI 48382
248.980.7931 (cell)
248.360.7926
Scorekeeper
Bill Jeffers
Hobie Feet 204
Syracuse, NY
585.370-9160
For Local andCountry contacts:
hca-na.org
Hobie Class Association
of North America
www.hca-na.org
Women’s Hobie Cat Racing
www.hca-na.org
Guest Expert Program
www.hc-na.org
Web Master
Rich McVeigh
14813 Fireside Ave.
Silver Spring, MD 20905
301.384.3695
additional resources
30 SEPT / OCT 2006
Lost OpportunitiesAnd we recognize our Top Cat Members once again
by Diane Bisesi, HCA Membership Chair
membershipmatters
With summer winding down here in the Northeast and many of
us preparing for our North Ameri-can Championships, we currentlyhave 935 HCA Members for 2006.We could have had over 1000 bynow, though. I’ve coordinated withour scorekeeper, Bill Jeffers, toidentify if regatta competitors areHCA members. According to theresults submitted, there are morethan 80 skippers who have compet-ed in a HCA regatta across the re-gion that are not HCA members.
“So what?” you say, “That’s not abig deal - it’s less than 1% of themembership.” Well, it is a big deal.That amount of membershipincome (approximately $2,800)would pay for an entire issue of theHOTLINE; send two deservingjunior sailors to a major event;sponsor three Guest Expertsseminars — you get the idea. Thoselost memberships are lost opportu-nities to promote our sport.
We’ve tried to make it as easy aspossible to get a current member-ship list. It’s posted on-line atwww.hca-na.org under “Class Info”and “Member List”. It is importantfor all HCA Regatta chairpersonsto make sure they check the mostrecent web listing to see that everyboat has at least one HCA mem-
ber. We have all heard the excuses— “It’s the only regatta I go to in ayear,” “I sent my membership inthis week” ( Join again, we’ll refundit if you paid twice.) The bottomline is that it costs us all to supportthe non-members who reap thebenefits of participating in ourevents without supporting the classassociation. Do your part andencourage membership in yourclass association.
Also, with the North AmericanChampionships approaching, it isimportant for you to know thatIHCA membership requirementshave changed from previous years.Both Skipper and Crew on board acompeting boat need to be currentHCA members to participate inRegional (North American)Championships. So don’t waituntil you are at the registrationtable at a major event to become amember, send in your registrationform and dues today.
Speaking of supporting theclass, we would like to thank againall those that have donated to theYouth Fund and all our 2006 TopCat members, listed in the columnat right.
Fair Winds,Diane Bisesi
2006TOP CAT MEMBERS
Gordon Bagley
Bill BoneAdam P. Borcherding
Jeff CarlsonPedro Colon
John R. FerrellDaniel P. Flanigan
Jim GlandenTed Lindley
Graham McGlashanMick Minette
Alan MohillMike Montague
Stephen M. MurrayIbrahim Mustafa
Jeffrey NewsomeJohn S. O’Leary
Paul ParizeauCraig C. Parson
Bill PrattEd Romo
Mark A. SantorelliJames Sohn
Brad StephensGerald A. Valeske
Todd Wilson
www.hca-na.org 31
32 SEPT / OCT 2006
WHY JOIN US SAILING?
US SAILING is the national governing body for the sport of sailing and merits the support of you and every sailorthrough direct membership. US SAILING’s mission is to encourage participation and promote excellence in sailingand racing in the United States.
You can become a member of US SAILING, or renew your membership, at a discount, while making certain the MultihullCouncil (MHC) gets credited with your membership as a Multihull sailor. This will help improve the Multihull presence inUS SAILING and save you at least $10 on your annual dues to boot. All you need to do is send your membership duesto the program administrator who collects them all, consolidates them and sends one check to US SAILING so that theMHC gets credit for them.
Will you support US SAILING with your membership?Darline Hobock, Program Administrator
Primary Racing: One Design? Portsmouth? Other? (specify)
