Dinghy Sailing Project

Relative to other sports i found as a new adult sailor in dinghies 12 years ago that there was B' all help, advice and encouragement and this continued in several clubs I joined- happy enough to say hello and take your membership! but it's hard to break in and say crew on a boat you will really learn in- most good teams are inseperable! Adult courses at clubs are 99% for new beginners, so developing hits a wall !

I used to race mountain bikes before I got into sailing- it's actually a lot more accessible and basically it means riding for 6 hours a week as a teenager and 8 or more as an adult to be able to race and enjoy it!

Back then a grand got you about as good a bike as you could possible need (lester Noble knew a bit about that for sure- best damn bikes IMHO). Clubs were far more relaxed meetings and teams or squads developed around a sponsor or from the more serious in a club. In the beginning bikers used to actually wait for each other at the top of hills DURING races, but that continued in training. There was always mechanical help at hand and lots of advice- a lot better than any sailing club I have been in!!

Clique-ish sailing is - but snobish it is not- I used to crew on a half million quid carbon boat owned by a pub electrician and a dentist both from 'working class back grounds' and also sailed on a well known IRC machine with a bunch of concreters from Brum'

Hi Thanks guys for all your comments and opinions.  I'm looking into the accessibility and growth of a variety of outdoor sports from Sailing to Mountain Biking.  I am wanting to establish if they truly are accessible to everyone and what sort of people are attracted to which sports.

Its interesting as each sport seems to hold its own cliché / stereotype on the surface but once you get past that everyone seems to be in it for the fun and the passion.  Having said that there are a few exceptions! 

To an outsider it is often hard to muster the courage to start a new activity, the main obstacle does seem to be social acceptance and the worry of looking stupid.  If only there was a way for everyone to get over this, i can assure you we would be a lot fitter nation if we could.

Thanks again.

Here's what i want to get from dinghy racing as a sport:  tactics; physical challenge; intellectual challenge (max boatspeed VMG).  I equate it to

Rugby - power and stamina for about a 90 minute race

Sprinting - managing the pressure of the start

Gymnastics/Dance - balanced, controlled movements around the boat...although I am no gymnast..!

Chess - tactics...thinking future....except that you are playing multi-opponents instead of 1 (so, less intense....more volume)

Basic engineering - accuracy and comprehension around repeatable settings is essential.

Clearly the skills are less than required for each other discipline on its own....it is in the blend of those skills that sailing (esp dinghy sailing) becomes unique.

I remember discussing with a championship winning handglider (about 8yrs ago), the technical advances of our relative sports.  He believed, that sailing could not be as advanced as his sport, they used carbon after all.

When I asked if the wing section they used was adjustable in flight, his answer was....why?  So I showed him the inside of our 505....he'd gone pretty quiet by the time we'd done the strut, and the jib cars..!!

So, is the sport growing?.....not sure, and not actually sure that it matters, unless you happen to be selling boats for a living..(he, he,he)!

Chas

I agree, most of the radical changes are coming from britian at the moment like the brand new GT60 etc. You could re-phase prince busters coments; the production and development is quickly growing not turnouts and amounts.

mark