204 Play – February 2020 Newsletter Commodore’s Corner Greetings to all. Warm wishes to all Hobie Sailors in Central New York. Actually, all this warmth might be overdoing it. This is not the regular winter weather we are used to. Skiers are getting by, and plow operators are struggling to get the snow they need. Meanwhile, we Hobie sailors are saying, “Just a couple degrees warmer and we can go sailing on Oneida!!” Before sailing on water, we need to come together and get a great CNY Boat Show going. Darcie of South Bay Sails and Kayaks has a signup doc on Facebook for everyone to sign up. The signup was first up on Sat. 2/1. As of Feb 3, there was one name. Our website will direct you to the same doc as on Facebook. Rob and Darcie count on support and we should not let them down. Sign up today! Looking at our calendar, we have the 44th Madcatter just around the corner in May. This is our premier event. We expect a big turnout of competitors, lots of fun, and great weather. (Well, two out of three ain’t bad.) A signup sheet for committees will be available at the February meeting. I am counting on those who helped last year to do the same this year. How you help is not in stone, changes are fine, but we need your support. Be sure to be a part of the experience! In addition to Madcatter, there are more regattas in the Division area: Oswego, Saratoga, and Hooper’s Harbor. There are even more regattas in NJ, DE, CT and the 2020 Hobie 16 North American’s will be in September 14-18 in Michigan City, IN. February meeting is 2/11/2020. Time is 7:30p. Place is Borio’s. Put it on your calendar and meet with your Hobie friends. It’ll make you feel closer to summer! Sail on warm winds. Commodore David 1 204 Play – February 2020 Newsletter Fleet 204 Meeting Minutes January 14, 2020 Submitted by Theresa White, Secretary Commodore Dave Witmer opened the meeting at Borio’s Restaurant at 7:45 pm and welcomed the 16 members in attendance. Only two officers were in attendance: Our Vice-Commodore Tom was in a warm place somewhere and Treasurer Bill was at Bluster on the Bay or on a cruise or something. We all had a moment of silence for Chuck Borio, a long time supporter of our Fleet who passed away suddenly January 6. We will all miss him. Secretary Report – Fluffy said that last month’s minutes were included in the newsletter. People thought that they were mostly correct. Someone thought that there was a correction, but we couldn’t remember what it is. Rob moved that we accept the minutes and Katiee seconded the motion. We accepted the minutes. Treasurer Report –Bill Whalen sent his report via Commodore Dave. Bill said that we still have money. You should pay your dues anyway; the 2020 dues are now due. Four people have already paid, so if you haven’t, you’re behind. The dues are only $50 per family. Membership is important; please make your check out to Hobie Cat Fleet 204, and mail it to the attention of Bill Whalen, Treasurer, 8254 Honeysuckle Dr., Liverpool, NY 13090. Rob moved that we accept the Treasurer’s report, and Darcie seconded the motion. The report was approved. Division Update - No updates from either Div. 16 Chair, Ken Knapp or Robbin Mocarski – HCA Woman’s Rep, as neither could make the meeting. Both of them say (via their spouses), “Mark your calendar for upcoming events and go sailing”! Old Business – Purchase of Electronic Race Starter, Regatta Box – To be ordered in the spring; we’re still waiting to purchase the timer. Bill Whalen will order so that we get the maximum warrantee. We circulated the pool again, because the ice is STILL not formed! The Ice ON the Lake pool went around for $1 for a day. Good for one month only, because who knows if the lake will freeze this year. Rob wanted to put $1 on the lake not freezing. We decided that the bets could only happen once a month. New Business – Press release to announce Worlds results. Kevin Walma volunteered to write it to try to get people into the boat show. We’re all in favor. Fluff will check Kevin’s grammar. He’ll need pictures from the Worlds, so if you have them, send them to him. 2 204 Play – February 2020 Newsletter Madcatter 44 will be a lot like 43. So, Madcatter committee chairs: If you don’t want to do what you did last time, please let Dave know. Dave and Rob will work together to get the NOR posted - the sooner the better. We’ll work on the $ for 44, after we talk to Bill W, should he ever stop travelling long enough to tell us. Our costs are the same at the park (even after Burning Man), but we’re worried about the cost of the tent because the company that we had been using seems to have gone out of business. Bruce will look into it. Katie has been busy with the Sponsorship Committee. We have sponsor forms! With 2-3 more sponsors than last year, we could be in the gravy (helping the sheriff’s boat camp). Lynn wondered about the timing of last year’s responses. Katie said that she was beating the bushes and that there were possibilities with other sponsors. It’s worth noting that the sponsorship is no longer just for Madcatter, instead it’s for all of the regattas that we support. In essence, it’s an annual sponsorship with web presence. We were concerned about the fact that we don’t have a charitable status (despite acting like one) and we also wondered about whether the HCA now has a charitable status. Madcatter 45 - homecoming. Erika K. came up with the idea of trying to get the Fleet kids to come home to Madcatter next year. We would need to track them down and invite them by saying something like “Now that you’re legal - come back and enjoy Madcatter!” People were generally in favor of the idea. Facebook - Thanks to Hondo, Fleet 204 now has two groups: One closed group for members, and one for the general public. The closed group “Hobie Fleet 204 group” is private (or the group grope, as it was called at the meeting) for fleet members. The open “Hobie Fleet 204 center” is the welcome center (page) for new people and is available to all. We should post our NORs in the welcome center page, and she’d like the page to look inviting. Hondo will set it up while she’s watching the Jerry’s dogs this weekend. If you build it, they will come. Bruce will help her with pictures on smugmug. Bob also offered to share some pictures. The old ones are probably a little blurry - go figure. Hondo self-appointed herself social media person, and we heartily approved. So, if you’re wearing your gear, take a picture and send it to her. Boat Show Details - South Bay Sails and Kayaks needs your help in setting up the display on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before the show, which is the 17th– 23rd, and the Fleet still needs your help to tell other people about the fun of Hobie sailing at the show that goes on during the 20th -23rd. It will be in the Expo Center, in the new building at the Fairgrounds. The 43 North booth is in a different building - the Toyota building exhibit center. The fleet should support both of these sponsors. To do that, Hondo set up a Boat Show signup in a google doc. It’s on the closed group Facebook page, with a link to sign up for slots. Get going and sign up to help out! 3 204 Play – February 2020 Newsletter Website management meeting will be held on Sat Jan 25 at 10 a.m. with a small select group of people at Bill Whalen’s house. We’ll evaluate software, and look at who has the ability to modify the website. Part of the conversation will be how to get the information to the people who can post it. Sheriff’s camp on Keuka Lake - They are pulling the boats out on June 13- Can we make June 20 – a help them day? We want to help them get the boats together for their campers on the 28th. Rob motioned for adjournment, but he was declared out of order. Wave North Americans? Mimi asked us to host a North Americans event for the Wave class. The last couple of years, it’s been about 15-19 boats. We could combine it with another class, but we should consider it. We have a bunch of active Wave sailors, and we could probably get a good group of people for it. We’re thinking about a 3-day (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) event with a clinic (Thursday) on Oneida Lake. Rob moved that we set up a committee to investigate it. Bruce seconded the motion. Motion carried and will look into it. Dave will form a committee to figure it out - especially where and when. Safety Report - Safety Coordinator, Mimi The thunder and lightning on the lake a few weeks ago were incredible, but lightning and Hobie Cats don’t mix. So, know the weather when you sail, if you possibly can.