your responsibilities as a sailor

Responsibilities of membership - hmmm...do I hear the little 'whoosh' of the vacuum seal as a new can of worms is opened?

Originally posted by pondmonkey Finally, I've noted that amongst dinghy sailors we all seem very keen to promote the sport to outsiders- bringing in fresh blood, boost membership numbers.  However we stick our heads in the sand when comes to the participation figures showing sharp declines, buoyed up maybe with our own class or club minor victories shielding us from the big picture.

I took up sailing as an adult. Initially I was full of obvious enthusiasm, talking about it at length with non sailing friends. It soon became clear that the cool response was not just about a lack of interest or knowledge on the sport, it was more about other folks pre conceived ideas of what sailing is all about....Sailing has a negative image for most of the non sailing public. Nothing new there.

 As a person not raised on sailing most of my life experience comes from outside the sport. This didn't cause much a problem initially because I was focused on learning the art, reading books and absorbing info with great relish, it was all new. I did have some niggling discomforts with certain aspects though, aspects that had disappeared (significantly) from the wider environment from which I had come.  The slightly militaristic hierarchy within sailing clubs, the raising of flags when certain people arrived at the club, the strange titles,  it all seemed a bit bloody weird in a slightly masonic, ritualistic, elitist kind of way.... it all seemed a little bit kinky to be honest.

Other aspects like attitudes towards women and to a lesser extent kids. My partner who is a professional with a high powered job (as with many women nowadays) found the 50s style sexism difficult to tolerate. Puerile, misogynistic boat names, bad jokes about dumb blondes etc.

(I guess this last issue is prevalent in most specialist circles)
Sailors tend to be judged by their ability to sail with little thought given to other personality traits, thus an otherwise incompetent arse can be acclaimed as a great person because they've won a nationals. An instructor would be considered a great instructor if they are good sailors, never mind that they have the personality of a rabid hyena (I read the slow learner thread with interest)......Good sailors that eat children are worth speaking to, newbies with glowing charm are not.


......anyway, my days of promoting the sport to a wider audience are at an end. So much of the baggage that goes with being a member of a SC is not, in my opinion, worth promoting. Don't get me wrong, I have met some lovely people and hopefully made some good friends, it's just that the general attitudes within sailing are at odds with the rest of the world. 

I enjoy sailing so I shall persist + my influence will only be effective if I stay within the sport.  

some great posts guys...    A lot of food for thought!

I do wonder why clubs stick with the navy terminology. When I was one, I could tell someone that I was "Rear Commodore sailing" and they would have no clue what I meant... However, "Sailing Manager" sounds horribly corporate. Is there a better way? And should a commodore be a chairman? Surely the alternatives are taking words from a business model which is as irrelevant as the navy is to most clubs?
 

Originally posted by RS400atC These days, it's often 'chair' not 'chairman'. Which ties in with abbrieviating Commodore to 'Commode'.

I'm not sure I'd want to be a Rear Commode to be honest :-(