Spring Fever at Lake Hartwell, Georgia, (April 14-16) is a professionally run catamaran regatta that is one of the top events in the Eastern USA. Lake Hartwell, located on the border of Georgia and South Carolina is a great place for a regatta, great camping right onsite. See Spring Fever 2005 Pictures

This year it is also the Southern Area Formula-18 Championship. (See Calendar Listing) All beach catamarans are welcome and Forumula 14, H16, H18, Isotope, Mystere 4.3, NACRA 5.8, NACRA 20 fleets, as well as others, are expected.

The event is presented by Nigel Pitt, well known catamaran sailor. Since this is a large regatta, Nigel has an urgent need to have a good idea who is coming.

"Our original concept for Spring Fever was to bring together all makes of catamarans and rebuild the fun that we all used to enjoy at the large regattas. Our goal was, and is, to have 100 or more teams and their families getting together in a fun but competitive atmosphere."

So please, if you are planning to attend Spring Fever, fill out the registration form: 2006 Spring Fever Pre-Registration Form.

Hans Geissler introduces his new G-Cat F16 at the Tradewinds Regatta.

There are Catamarans and then there is the G-Cat. Designed and built by Hans Geissler, this catamaran is known as a vessel of unique, if not revolutionary design. The hulls, being its most unusual features, are symmetric and use no dagger-boards. Leeway is resisted by a its deep-V lateral surface coupled to deep rudder blades which prevents leeward drift and actually causes lift via their low profile and hydrodynamic shape below the waters surface.

And now, after nearly ten years, Hans Geissler has resurrected his legendary G-Cat Catamarans. After 2000 G-Cats he built until 1994 this is the first boat not built by himself but by Vectorworks Marine in Titusville, Fl. The new line takes the form of the Formula 16 High Tech racing version, with a 28’ mast and spinnaker, and a family and rental fleet version with 24’ boomless mast for casual sailing. In addition, the new and improved G-Cat 36 will be introduced, with the first model being a Power Cat that will sleep 5-6 comfortably, and a sailing model with similar accommodations. There will be a full line of options available for your comfort and safety. This represents the resurrection of the G-Cat Catamarans the first production in almost 10 years.

It's winter up here in NJ/NY. We're waiting for spring, and it's already itching. Some folks are fixing their boats, some are working on upgrades, some are hanging out in this site here, but we're all basically just keeping busy.

In our club (SHBCC), we just decided to make our Statue of Liberty Race this season something really special. It's our clubs' 30th anniversary. So just for the fun of it we pulled together this invitational video clip . We're hoping to see MANY of you at the start this year. Sailing New York harbor and rounding the Statue of Liberty is a "once-in-a-lifetime-must-do-can't-miss" event for every catsailor . We're inviting you early cuz we know your season will be booked up before you know it! Click here to view the clip.

By Gary Friesen -- I was about 21 years old and had just bought my first Hobie 16. It was a beat up, old red thing with plain white sails. I wasn't proud of her appearance, but I could afford her. I think that I paid about $350, on the trailer. As usual, I had no crew.

My niece who was about 9 years old at the time, was a good swimmer, body-surfer, and had taken some kind of a junior life saving swimming pool class. The two of us had swum like fish together in the ocean surf, many times. So I invited her along for a possible boat ride. I invited my parents too. It was a ploy. I could tell them that they were needed to baby-sit my niece in case I found it unsafe to take her on the boat. This way, I did not have to admit that I wanted my father there in case I couldn't raise the mast or get the boat back onto the trailer.

I had sailed my friend, Dan's Hobie 16 in a lake and had sailed my 12' mono hull in another local lake. Both experiences were lacking much wind. I knew where to find wind; the Pacific Ocean. I was familiar with where all the public motorboat launches were and I chose the one that I thought looked like it had best access. I was not too far from a well-known catamaran beach at Claremont Street but did not know anything about Claremont.

Los Angeles harbor is huge, a hundred square miles. It seemed like a good place to get ocean breeze while not being too affected by the surf. I headed to Cabrillo Beach public boat launch in San Pedro. When I got there, the wind was already blowing pretty hard and I was noticeably intimidated. I spoke to one of the locals and asked about how windy it gets there. He found out that I was a rookie and immediately told me that I was at the wrong place. I did not know that I was at the windiest hole in Los Angeles that carries the nickname "Hurricane Gulch!"

The Hobie HOTLINE, the original publication for Hobie Cat news, has returned. The Hobie HOTLINE started in 1971 as a little newsletter for Hobie Cat owners but grew into a full-fledged magazine thought the 80's and early 90's. In the mid-80's, the HOTLINE began to loose its way. It became more of a marketing tool for the Coleman Company, promoting Alpha sailboards, Hobie Power Skiffs and other Coleman products. The Hobie Class Association started the NAHCA News newsletter in 1992 in part because the HOTLINE was trying to serve too many masters. Eventually the HOTLINE became a financial burden on the Hobie Cat Company (now independent of Coleman), who ceased publication in mid-1995.

For ten years after the demise of the HOTLINE, the NAHCA News/HCA News kept plugging along, filling the void. In the last ten years, the HCA News has grown into a professionally produced magazine, comparable to the original HOTLINE. So, the Hobie Class Association has changed the name of its bi-monthly publication to the Hobie Class Association HOTLINE. For many the name change will bring back memories of "the good old days." Not to mention the fact that Hobie HOTLINE rolls off the tongue more easily than Hobie Class Association News.