Here in North America, our situation isn’t as good. In North America, most of the regional Hobie events have been cancelled. A few happening here and there, but our infection rates are still high, and some states have travel bans in place. This past weekend there was finally a Hobie regatta in my region, but due to the inter-state travel restrictions we were unable to attend. Meanwhile, some states have no travel restrictions, despite having very high infection numbers. Fortunately, we have been able to sail locally here in Maryland and we have been doing race committee a bit for some of the other fleets at our sailing club. At least my motorboat skills are improving.
It’s not all bad news. The marine industry is suddenly booming, and Hobie Cat Company is incredibly busy and selling a lot of products. There has been a sales spurt in the used boat market, and many people are purchasing older Hobie Cat’s and fixing them up. These are people who are brand new to the sport of Hobie sailing. They are not engaged in our communication channels, and this group of new sailors is a growth opportunity for the class. We have started doing some webinars on Hobie sailing. These are recorded and posted on our Hobieclass YouTube channel. I am working on a couple of new webinars now; it takes a little time to collect the subject material. If you have ideas for topics of interest, please share.
It’s still very hot here in Maryland, but fall isn’t far away now for us. I always joke that there are only 15 minutes a year in Maryland that you can sit outside between it being too hot vs. too cold. Our 15 minutes will be coming up soon. Telework continues here at my house, and it’s amazing how little we drive the cars compared to pre-COVID life. We are fortunate to be in that position.
I am missing my Hobie friends. Hope to see you all soon, in some warm and windy place.
Rich McVeigh