Okay, I'm going to give you my experiences and perspective
<br>as to why cat sailing has died out. I began with my first
<br>boat in the early 90's with my first used boat. Where I
<br>lived at the time, the fleet had its own beach and made for
<br>a great social environment for all cat sailors. Even at this
<br>time, I began to hear of how selfish behaviors in the racing
<br>scene were disintegrating cat sailing during the 80's as
<br>people began to get fed up with putting up with the BS from
<br>those self-interested folks that were taking over the
<br>scene at the time, thus causing people to quit the activity
<br>althogether. In the mid 90's, I moved and at one
<br>of the lakes I sailed at, I discovered a fleet that had
<br>split in two, between the serious racers and the social
<br>advocates. I tended to hang out with the social group.
<br>In the late 90's, I moved again, and it was then that I
<br>got a real education on the cat sailing scene. The lakes
<br>I sail now, I am usually the only one sailing a cat. A couple
<br>of years ago, I came in after a day of sailing and was
<br>greeted by someone that turned out to be a major member of
<br>the local fleet. I asked him where his boat was, and he
<br>replied that "I only race". He went on to talk about how he
<br>raced in the Worrell 1000 a couple of years back and all his
<br>racing experiences over the years. My only thought that went
<br>through my mind was the "this guy is the most retarded
<br>individual I have ever met".
<br>In 2000, i finally decided to enter some races with my old
<br>boat, just to get the other side of the story. I discovered
<br>a few things very interesting. For one, my old 17 foot boat
<br>was a bit of a burden. The big 20 foot cats were setting a
<br>pace for the entire day, that was leaving me completely
<br>exhausted. While they finished the courses quick and had
<br>time to rest on the beach, I struggled and had to enter
<br>the next race as soon as i finished with out any rest. I
<br>also noticed that on many races, the fleet members were not
<br>running the races themselves and were instead participating
<br>in them and leaving the work to the division reps. This
<br>appeared to be the case at every race. The fleet members are
<br>so clueless about this, that at the local fleet race here
<br>last year, the trophies were nothing but bricks and they
<br>complained about it. To much is having to be done only by
<br>the division folks to keep it going. I had heard another
<br>story during this time that the Corpus Christi fleet was
<br>shut down by the city because a total knock down and drag
<br>out fight broke out over a dispute on the ruling of a race
<br>some years back.
<br>The only fleet activity that I am interested in is participating
<br>in the annual big brothers/big sisters sailing event which I
<br>have noticed that again many "fleet" members don't participate
<br>in, making excuses of this and that. These people have closets
<br>full of trophies and it is just not enough for them. I guess they
<br>just don't get enough challenge in their professional lives
<br>and feel they have to prove their worth in the races. Well, most
<br>folks that work for a living don't want to put up with them.
<br>I think that the division heads should just quit and let
<br>everything fall to pieces instead of trying to keeping the
<br>racing scene afloat by themselves. Maybe cat sailing then would
<br>be reborn later into something better.
<br>As for me, as I have said, I am just about the only cat on the
<br>lake I sail at and that is just fine for me. I love being
<br>out alone on my cat and not putting up with the self
<br>centered morons that have destroyed the sport.
<br><br><br>