FLORIDA, USA. (December 17, 2004) David Ingram was crowned the inaugural Endurance Sails Series Open Class Champion for 2004. The catamaran series, sponsored by Endurance Sails of West Palm Beach (www.EnduranceSails.com), comprises six distance racing events around the State of Florida. The series had an excellent turnout with 100 individual skippers participating in at least one event. Ingram will be the first name added to the perpetual trophy, "The Endurance Cup" after his excellent finish at the final event, the Steeplechase, held last week in Key Largo, Florida. Ingram sailed on a Nacra20 catamaran.

Asked about the level of pressure he felt going into the Steeplechase against a large competitive fleet, Ingram replied "You always feel the pressure of your competition, the southeast offers a great deal of talent at almost every event you attend. You never know if you are going to be on the starting line with an Olympic medalist, W1000/Atlantic1000 winner, and/or several national champions." Ingram also commented on the popularity of the series and the outlook for 2005, "Now that the sailing community knows the series is for real the amount of talent on the starting line next year will be dramatically different. Every race will be a hard fought contest. The 2005 season promises to be very exciting." When asked if he thinks the series is only for the hardcore racer, Ingram replied "No! Four of the six races are geared towards a more relaxed fun aspect of the sport. The Mug Race and Hiram's Haul are two of my favorites and I have done them almost exclusively with my wife."

1Design.Net (www.1design.net) is very pleased to announce that Harken (www.Harken.com) has signed up as the primary sponsor for a new buoy racing series for 2005! The Harken Buoy Series for the Harken Cup will consists of 6 major buoy regattas in the State of Florida.

The Harken Buoy Series will complement the Endurance Distance Series that will finish its inaugural season this year.

The Harken Series is open to all one design and/or formula classes. Complete rules will be posted in the next couple months, but for a fleet to qualify, it must have a 5 boat fleet at 4 of the 6 series races. There is no registration necessary or no additional entry fee required other than the standard regatta entry fess.

So NOW is the time for your fleet to get together and start planning to attend. Based on past years, A-Cat, Hobie Wave, Hobie 14, Hobie 16, F-16, and I20 should all be able to qualify. 1Design.Net will be happy to provide links on its site for any one design and/or formula class website to help promote your class. Contact 1Design.Net for more information.

On Sunday November 7th 2004, Gunnar Larsen and Xander Pols from the Netherlands started strongly at the fourteenth Aruba Heineken Catamaran Regatta. Last year’s winners were victorious in both races with a northeaster force five to six. The British competitors Stuart Gummer and Gillian Power followed with their Spitfire on the second place. Christopher Sproat and Georgina Burke, also from Great Britain, are in third position in a field of fifty-four catamarans, representing five countries.

"It went very well", was the enthusiastic reaction of Larsen. "We have sailed conservatively, which gave us a good position to start with.” Many teams capsized under genaker and lost their races. According to Larsen, they did not push their Nacra F18 to the limit: "We did not want to start with a discard.” They are again the men to beat. Today, the performance of the Spitfires was remarkable good with four teams in the top ten.

FREE PORT TO PORT SHIPPING TO THE 2005 TIGER WORLDS IN SANTA BARBARA

P&O Nedlloyd, the premiere shipping company in the world, has become a major sponsor of the 2005 Hobie Tiger World Championships. They are sponsoring 6 containers from various ports in Europe and Australia to Los Angeles and return.

The following are the final ports of departure for the containers
Northern Europe – Bremerhaven, Germany – loaded in Reinfeld
Central Europe – Rotterdam - loaded at Hobie Cat Holland
Southern Europe – (2) LeHavre - loaded at Hobie Cat Europe
Australia – Melbourne – loaded at Frankston Yacht Club
Australia – Sydney – loaded at Hobie Cat Australasia

Details will be posted on the website – www.hobieworlds.com - within a few weeks.

2005 Hobie Tiger World Championships Santa Barbara, California March 28-31, 2005

Hobie Cat has negotiated a special rate with Landstar Ranger for a trailer to depart from the East Coast and make 2 stops, picking up Tigers as it goes on its merry way to California. Hobie Cat has obtained 50% OFF Round Trip Transportation for a 53’ trailer. This makes the overall cost of transporting boats from the east coast very reasonable. The tentative current costs for one-way is approximately $4,600. The trailer will hold 12 – 15 boats plus beach wheels and gear. That is less than $400 per boat round trip. Of course the final cost per boat will depend on the exact number of boats being shipped.

This includes the following:
• 53’ Trailer with cross racks to tie your hulls so they do not sit on each other
• Partial loading at initial departure point
• Partial loading at two other locations in route
• Trailer to remain on-site in Santa Barbara for duration of the event
• Return trip with same stops