June, 2002 Newsletter
Mike Fahle (Mikefahle) on Friday, June
07, 2002 - 09:07 am:
Mystere 4.3 Owners Newsletter - June 6th, 2002 by: Mike
Fahle
GREETINGS - Everyone say “Hi!“ and “Congratulations!“
to Phillipe Ritter of Fort Worth, Texas as he is the latest smart person
to order a Mystere 4.3! We are starting to get pretty well spread around
- from all over Ohio and Illinois last year and now Florida and Texas this
year. I think pretty soon we may see some show up in North Carolina, too.
Time is running out for getting your relatives, friends, and neighbors into
one of these fun, versatile, and under-priced, cats. Some have noticed that
they are on a list with fewer names. We had to split the group to send these
newsletters because the list has gotten too large. We will share the whole
list with the owners to communicate together after the new boats are sold.
CAT TRAX ORDER - As advertised in the last newsletter, and just like last
year, I will be making a quantity order to Cat Trax for new beach wheels.
ANYONE can order, not just the new buyers. The order MUST be made in only
TEN DAYS, Monday, June 16th. We are ordering the Cat Trax with soft rubber
wheels and carpeted fiberglass cradles that are spaced for the Mystere 4.3
(like last year). These sets will come with 8.5 foot axles so that they
can be modified to use for your other beach cats also by changing the cradle
spacing if you want to - the longer axles also allows the tie down lines
to stay clear of the cradle edges (so they do not get squeezed and broken).
If you want the axles to be narrower than 8.5 feet it will be very easy
to cut the axles to the length of your choice. It is easy to cut but hard
to add on, so we are ordering this way to give you options! Now the best
part.... we are getting these for $100 off the regular price of $479 (in
other words, you pay just $379), but wait, there’s more! We are getting
FREE SHIPPING, a further savings of 6%, or $29 per set, with an order of
six or more, so order now! (operators are not standing by, but e-mail is)
SO call or e-mail Mike Fahle ASAP to place your order. He is guaranteeing
the order which must be paid in advance, so send your check ASAP made out
to MIKE FAHLE for $379 to: Mike Fahle 3065 117th Street Toledo, Ohio 43611
As long as he knows what you want by early morning on Monday, June 16th,
he will trust you to send the money and cover the order. The shipment will
come to the address above in time for the Youth Cat Nationals on July 12th
- 14th and arrangements can be made to pick-up your Trax here (Toledo),
at the Youth Cat Nationals at PCYC, or at a regatta that Mike will be attending
such as OCRA counters, Can race, or the CRAM Cat Fight.
BOAT TRAILERS - Several new owners are asking about trailers so I am placing
an order for galvanized steel trailers like several owners bought last year.
The price for each trailer with an order of 1 to 5 is $435 and with 6 to
11 it is $399. These are dinghy trailers so we would need to add a couple
galvanized steel cross beams with u-bolts and a mast stand extended from
the winch/bow stand, all for about $50 more for each trailer, just as last
year. These trailers will last a very long time with little maintenance
and can be adjusted to fit a number of boats up to about 16 feet in length.
Mike Fahle will be ordering one so we need to get only five more for the
price break (he has been looking for the best deal, and this is it). Let
him know as soon as possible if you want one. Order terms are as described
for the Cat Trax deal above. The only difference will be the final exact
amount to pay which cannot be determined until the order is placed - for
now just call or e-mail your order in ASAP and details will follow soon.
SPARE PARTS - If you need anything from Mystere for your boat, then the
time to order is before they come to PCYC in July. Last year people ordered
sail boxes, harnesses, battens, and other goodies before Yves Sansoucy came
to PCYC in August. This year he can bring things down in July when he delivers
the new boats. As a favor to Mystere, I can still act as a coordinator for
anything you want to order for that delivery. Remember to visit the owners’
website at: http://mystereowners.org/Mystere
CATTAIL REGATTA - We had six Mystere 4.3s race this year which allowed us
to have our own class with three trophies awarded. The weather was excellent
with warm, sunny skies both days and wind on Saturday from 8 to 20 mph in
the puffs and light air on Sunday with 4 - 8 mph wind and smooth water even
with the easterly direction off the lake. Carol Fahle did an excellent job
of coaching Mike around the windward - leeward courses so that they won
four of five races even though they were the “heavyweights” which
is pretty unusual for them. They appreciated Kathy Clark’s offer of
her boat while they wait for their new one to come in July. Dave Sullivan
took the other win (interestingly, in the strongest wind of the regatta)
and finished second for the regatta while Glen Blohm took the third place
trophy. The races were well run by the Jolly Roger Sailing Club and sharing
launch facilities at the Maumee Bay Catamaran Club, aka the Fahle place,
allowed for camaraderie and beer comparing and swapping! The JRSC dinner
and lunch were also very good and they provided nice wood and metal plaques
for awards. Connie and Steve Attard raced their Hobie 18 to allow their
daughter Christin to race the Mystere 4.3 were her boyfriend, Jonathon Wasielewski
in preparation for the Youth Cat Nationals that they have registered for
(go local team!). George Webb worked out several spinnaker rigging problems
all weekend and realized why he needs to go sailing more often. He also
learned the value of keeping extra shackles on the boat and why shackles
work better to hold down the mainsheet blocks than line does! Paul Steed
traveled the farthest (from Chicago) to attend and was most improved, taking
two thirds on Sunday while challenging for second! This is an annual regatta,
first weekend in June each year, so mark it down for next year!
OTHER REGATTAS -
.
The 2002 ROUND THE BAY RACE is Saturday, June 15th. Thanks to OCRA webmaster,
Mark Camden, you can preregister at the OCRA website and see who is attending.
We learned last year that preregistering allows us to better prepare the
event to suit the racers - for example, it was because of knowing what to
expect that we created another class with awards last year! The race is
still the same low cost as it was when started seven years ago and it features
the finest sailing facility, North Cape Yacht Club, of any beach cat regatta
in the Midwest. The course is fun, different, and safe thanks to the patrol
craft. And maybe best of all, everyone leaves with something from this event!
Last year the Mystere 4.3 owners were invited to race in the annual Can
Race in August at Port Clinton Yacht Club (PCYC) with the Interlake fleet
there thanks to Doug Young. It is a race from near the beach to a big navigational
buoy near the end of Catawba Island and back. It was pretty breezy and very
warm last year which made for dynamite conditions with explosive results!
Just ask Jamie Diamond! This will be a great time to get the new owners
involved at a venue where they will take delivery of their new boats. This
year Doug has secured an invitation for us again (Hooray, Doug!) for Saturday,
August 18th. This is for just the Saturday so you get part of your weekend
for something else (just like the RTB race) and we also get a great pot-luck
lunch with the Interlake sailors afterwards (that we should all contribute
to). This facility is as nice as NCYC and has a great sandy beach.
The BIG event will be the Youth Cat National Championship at PCYC from July
12 -14th. Several of the existing owners (Mike Fahle, Doug Young, Dave Fort,
Jamie Diamond, Kathy Clark, George Webb) will be joined by some of the new
owners (Tim Pickering, Bob Everson) to help out. This is a great way to
get our cat well publicized (check out the USSA website) and get more young
people interested and involved in catamaran sailing. This event is being
held at the same time as a major regional Youth Sailing regatta at PCYC,
so if you want to see how involved kids are in racing, do not miss this!
We will be putting boats together probably on Thursday and Mike Fahle will
be providing a racing seminar on Friday for the competitors, focusing on
handling the 4.3. Anyone wanting to get involved should contact Doug Young
at: young@thirdplanet.net , PRO
for the entire event (Includes big dinghy Youth regatta on Saturday) or
Mike Fahle.
The other OCRA events are listed on the website and will feature more 4.3s
than any other cat if we just show up. It is going to be a great summer
of racing and socializing together. Remember, you can learn more about rigging
and sailing your boat at just one regatta by interacting with each other
than you can all summer long sailing by yourself!
THE BOAT DEAL - Yes, this again, but now there is a change! The official
registration for the Cat Youth Champs ended June 1st. The number of boats
delivered will be equal to the number registered at that time, up to fifteen.
Last count was about twelve teams. That means that we may have FEWER boats
to sell, so get the word out quickly to anyone who is interested or who
you would like to see in the class because time is short and there may not
be enough boats for everyone who finally decides to become one of the smart
people! The new boats will come complete with all the changes that we made
during the season last year and will have a nicer traveler, bigger diameter
beams and lighter rudders to make up for the heavier beams. Please note:
after this deal, the boats will cost AT LEAST $500 MORE and delivery will
not be included. It is a long way to Montreal, Quebec! Buy now and save!
These boat are APPRECIATING in value, an extremely rare phenomenon for beach
cats!