The 4th (annual) running of Hobie 101 occurred Saturday, May 14th at the Sail Sandpoint facility in Seattle. Despite the best efforts of the event organizers to limit attendance to maintain some semblance of order, a surge of late and on-site registration resulted in a class that exceeded last year’s class of 35 people. This year’s class included 38 people in 19 boats, including 12 Hobie 16s, one Hobie 18, 4 Hobie Waves, and two Sol Cats.

We specifically told people they had to pre-register because we wanted to limit the class to a manageable size. But people showed up with friends, relatives, the family dog! It was amazing! We can’t seem to keep them away! exclaimed Peter Nelson, one of the event organizers and teachers of the class. Each year it keeps getting bigger and bigger! We figured two years ago the numbers would peak and start falling. Instead, they just keep growing and growing. People can’t seem to get enough of this class! he added.

This year was the first year event sponsors were formally recognized and introduced to the participants. They included: Hobie Fleet 95; Sail Sandpoint; Hobie Cat Co. and the local dealer, Hobie Cats Northwest; and Harken. Each participant received the Hobie University booklet, a Hobie calendar and waterproof credit card holder from the Hobie Cat. Co. and Hobie Cats NW, and several Harken promotional items. The items were devoured by the attendees, and nothing was left at the end of the day!

The class started out in a jam-packed, standing-room-only classroom at Sail Sandpoint’s sailing facility. After a couple of hours to chalk talk, it moved out to the floating dock. There, Nelson and his regular 16 crew, Laura Sullivan, discussed clothing, safety, and rigging, and demonstrated many boat handling skills. After a delicious box lunch in the parking lot where attendees had the opportunity to informally ask questions and meet and make new friends, those who brought boats set about to rig them. Fleet members from the local Hobie fleet walked around the parking lot and assisted participants with the rigging of their boats.

Rockledge Engineering Inc Multimedia Services and the organizers of the 2005 Formula 18 North Americans are pleased to announce the addition of live webcasting to the event’s growing list of exciting news. The F18 North Americans will take place at Buckroe Beach, Hampton, Virginia from August 8th through the 12th, 2005.

Real-time updates including video, audio,, photos, results, text updates, and interviews will be hosted on the multimedia website www.F18NAOnline.com. Don’t miss the exiting Formula 18 sailing preview already posted to the site.

The Formula 18 North American Championships will be the qualifying event to select the US Multihull representative to the 2006 ISAF World Games taking place on Lake Neusiedl, Austria.

“We are truly excited to have live coverage of the event”, said Tracie Van Houten, event chairman for the F18NA.’s. “This is exciting news for those who are interested in following the F18 North Americans and the ISAF Qualifiers. We hope that the exposure generated from the high-tech coverage will provide considerable exposure to Formula 18 Catamaran Racing in North America.”

It is at 4 am (GMT), on Monday, April 25th that the CROSS Gris Nez informed us of the capsizing of Médiatis Région Aquitaine. A Chilean cargo boat diverted its road to take in Yves Parlier who is now outside danger. He suffers from contusions and from a broken rib. The cargo boat made at present routes towards Spain. It should arrive on Thursday, April 28th at Tarragone.

The capsizing took place during the second attempt of record of 24-hour distance run.

Joined on the cargo boat, Yves Parlier returned on the circumstances of the capsizing: «the boat began accelerating by lifting the hull. I had difficulties to

4-13-05 Titusville, FL - We are extremely pleased to announce the Vectorworks Marine Inc has entered in to an agreement with Bimare of Italy to be the licensed builder in the United States of their A-class catamaran, the XJ (Extreme Javelin).

This year, 2005, Bimare is celebrating their 30th year of producing catamarans. In 1978, with the introduction of the Bim A, they were one of the first companies to build a production A-class catamaran. This model sailed to multiple World, European and national titles. The A-class being a developmental class, has often helped lead the way in advancing "beach catamaran" design. Sail design, canting hulls and what is commonly referred to as "wave piercing" hull shapes, are all examples of features refined in the A-class and now being used in many of the new generation of production catamarans being manufactured. Bimare's long history of staying in the forefront of technology is represented in their Javelin hull shape. The XJ is a third iteration of this hull shape, building on the strengths of that concept. Early race results, from around the globe, are proving this design is going to make this the boat to beat.

Vectorworks Marine's history of quality tooling and contract manufacturing ties in perfectly with Bimare's concept of creating a US based manufacturer of their design. The growth in A-class participation in particular, has been severely hampered by not having a production builder located in the US. The majority of boats have typically come from Europe or Australia. The problems associated with pricing, exchange rates, shipping and customer support have made the commitment to own an A-cat beyond what most people are willing to put forth. Recently VMI has successfully transformed the Phill Brander designed Blade F16 in to composites and introduced it into the US market. The tendency towards performance and the detail involved in the F16 and A-cat designs makes them fit very well on the manufacturing floor.

VMI and Bimare look forward to helping catamaran sailing in the US expand by making models more readily available than has been typical in the past.

Damons Note: Recently a Hobie 18 was listed in our classified ads which claimed to be the "last Hobie 18 to ever leave the Hobie factory". I was intrigued by this claim and contacted the seller to find out how he ended up with such a special catamaran. Here is his story.

In the fall of 2004, I was looking for a new Hobie 14 Turbo. I did not know that Hobie Cat USA had discontinued selling the 14 in the states here some years ago. When I called Hobie Cat to inquire about the 14, I not only learned that the 14 had been discontinued, but was also told that Hobie had just announced the discontinuance of the 18 as well.