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Arresting the decline, does the RYA need replacing
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zippyRN View Drop Down
Far too distracted from work
Far too distracted from work


Joined: 14 Sep 06
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Posts: 437 		Post Options Post Options   Quote zippyRN Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Arresting the decline, does the RYA need replacing
    Posted: 28 Jan 17 at 3:23am
Originally posted by Cirrus

Got to be asked .. How many contributing here raced last weekend, are racing this weekend, or intend to race next weekend ? .. or even going for a recreational sail ?

Are you perhaps part of the problem if the answer is a solid 'did not' ... 'not this w'end'  and 'will not' next weekend ?   FFS - leave the damn keyboards alone and get out there.  The major winter handicap events are maxxing out this year because much of the rest of the world are just getting on with life and doing stuff for real.

Rant over  (!)  But lets just see a few more 'keyboard helms' on the water - it really can be that simple....  Wink

 the end of January is very firmly the wrong time of year to beasking that question , as  a good number of clubs  don't programme  much if anything  on the water between boxing day or new years day and the middle / end of March 


Edited by zippyRN - 28 Jan 17 at 3:24am
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Do Different View Drop Down
Really should get out more
Really should get out more


Joined: 26 Jan 12
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Posts: 1312 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Do Different Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Jan 17 at 6:32am
Usually very much in agreement Cirrus but as zippy says rather a ridiculous rant in Jan.
March through Nov satisfies my ability to tap the keys with a clear conscience. In the heydays of long long ago Jan/Feb was when people had their boats indoors and did other things. I'm with the traditionalists on that one.
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RS400atC View Drop Down
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Joined: 04 Dec 08
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Posts: 3011 		Post Options Post Options   Quote RS400atC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Jan 17 at 9:31am
Originally posted by Cirrus

Got to be asked .. How many contributing here raced last weekend, are racing this weekend, or intend to race next weekend ? .. or even going for a recreational sail ?

Are you perhaps part of the problem if the answer is a solid 'did not' ... 'not this w'end'  and 'will not' next weekend ?   FFS - leave the damn keyboards alone and get out there.  The major winter handicap events are maxxing out this year because much of the rest of the world are just getting on with life and doing stuff for real.

Rant over  (!)  But lets just see a few more 'keyboard helms' on the water - it really can be that simple....  Wink

I've sailed about 80% of the races offered by the three clubs while I was a member of last year.
A bit hit and miss as I've moved house and then changed club again.
We sail on the sea. That's the real thing. We don't do ponds or winter.
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Sam.Spoons View Drop Down
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Joined: 07 Mar 12
Location: Manchester UK
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Posts: 3398 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Sam.Spoons Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Jan 17 at 9:51am
I've been to my new club every day there was racing scheduled since I joined in November except New Years Day. :)
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Rupert View Drop Down
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Joined: 11 Aug 04
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Posts: 8956 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Rupert Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Jan 17 at 10:01am
Was working last Sunday, hope to be out tomorrow if not too foul, then back at work the Sunday after.

But I do pick and choose at this time of year!
Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686
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Guests View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Jan 17 at 11:40am
The sport is on a hiding to nothing if it requires all competitors to race 52 weeks of the year.  
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Sam.Spoons View Drop Down
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Posts: 3398 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Sam.Spoons Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Jan 17 at 11:59am
The Holiday club has each weekend as a self contained event. The inland club counts around 50% +1 of races depending on the series so it's possible to get a result without being there every weekend. I've noticed that many events/series allow more discards than was the norm 20 years ago when 80% to count was common for short series.
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NickM View Drop Down
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Joined: 27 May 09
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Posts: 328 		Post Options Post Options   Quote NickM Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Jan 17 at 3:42pm
Two out of three weekends so far this year had no wind so no racing at my club (and it came late on the third.) But an impressive number made the journey and hung around, coffee mug in hand, in hope just in case the wind came...

Changing subject, an interesting article in today's Times (P46) about an alternative approach in France. "French Schools create world-class skippers." It does highlight the French success in RTW racing but not in the Olympics. "The French Sailing Federation has 300,000 card carrying members in 490 schools....   It estimates 3 million French people go sailing each year but wants that number to increase. There is a policy backed by the government of encouraging primary school pupils in schools by the sea of lakes to learn to sail. The Federation has a budget of EU 11 million, a third of it from government subsidies to promote sailing in schools and clubs."

Of course this reflects long standing French government policy to pump money into sport at grass roots level. Pity there is no chance if it happening here.

Edited by NickM - 28 Jan 17 at 3:42pm
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DiscoBall View Drop Down
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Posts: 305 		Post Options Post Options   Quote DiscoBall Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Jan 17 at 3:51pm
Been racing fairly regularly since the autumn. Taken a few weekends off to do more suitable things where it was obvious that we'd spend the morning watching a beautiful, glassy estuary drain of water or were it was going to be wall to wall fog.

Every race I've sailed as been with someone with little or no prior experience in sailing (as will be tomorrow) - have a list of people to rotate through as time goes on. It's been a really fun thing to do, and while a cheap old Tasar is a bit pedestrian, it's a perfect combination of simplicity and speed (so long as there's a reasonable breeze) to give people a good idea of what a dinghy race is really like.  100% hit ratio of them asking to come back for another go thus far.

Of course the percentage who will actually become new sailors (and members) is going to be tiny, especially considering the amount of hurdles that need to be overcome, and mostly because many are already heavily invested in other activities - often those that require them to train multiple times a week to do a handful of races per year (who would have ever though such a crazy idea...?! :) ).

The winter handicap events are a great example of the diversity of the sport, but the popularity could just be a symptom of club fleets dwindling. Those serious about their racing have to get on the road.
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RS400atC View Drop Down
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Posts: 3011 		Post Options Post Options   Quote RS400atC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Jan 17 at 5:39pm
Originally posted by A2Z

The sport is on a hiding to nothing if it requires all competitors to race 52 weeks of the year.  
That would be pretty silly.
It's quite different from offering sailing 40 or even 52 weeks of the year.
AFAIK the local golf course offers you the chance to play every week of the year unless weather is silly?
A lot of people only sail perhaps one week in 3 at my club(s). That's not a problem to anyone else, but of course it erodes their duty/racing ratio.
Some people of course don't sail regularly at any one club and just do open meetings. This would seem to be a bit like what you're asking for? A lot of parts of the country you could do opens in Solo or Laser or various other classes, more than once a month, without ever travelling too far. Obviously opens are not generally geared to the less experienced. Maybe there is a market for improver's opens? But I doubt it.
The sport is pretty flexible in many ways.
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