Future of Sailing Clubs...

That's a cynical view James.Whilst it is fair to say that the majority are likely to be middle class (whatever that means) with a reasonable disposable income, I spend less on sailing than someone of whom I know spends on just watching football.

Also, there are clubs around - one near here for starters - which make the effort to show 'disadvantaged' kids what dinghy sailing is about. That takes cold, hard cash to provide equipment to appease the 'Elf n Safety brigade with appropriate kit - not loaned or hand-me-downs, in addition to the small army of volunteers who give of their time. No doubt sailing is not unique in this respect, but any incoming grant cash is not only going to support those who arguably don't need it.

It's not about entitlement, but if UK plc wants to encourage an active lifestyle, for general public health and/or pathways to medals reasons then the gov't is handing out our taxes to NGO's such as RYA, FA, RFU, UK Athletics, Cycling, and others (incl dance for all I know). Given that there is a pot of money there then we as a sailing community should ensure it is spent in support and furtherance of our sport.

Originally posted by Eisvogel If dinghy sailing becomes even more of a minority sport it will be very hard to get grants (eg for training boats or facility upgrades), and everything will become more expensive (as economies of scale disappear). .....

Why are we entitled to handouts for training boats?
Why should we expect other people to subsidise our facilities?

If dinghy sailing becomes even more of a minority sport it will be very hard to get grants (eg for training boats or facility upgrades), and everything will become more expensive (as economies of scale disappear). Surely that has to be a bad thing for everybody.

Originally posted by Sam.Spoons It's a pretty depressing outlook but, it's mainly concerned with 'yachting' as opposed to 'dinghy sailing' (and in fact, he refers, briefly, to dinghy sailing as a possible solution). I would have thoughtt the things the report identifies as causes are more likely to effect the dinghy sailors.  Most sports have boom periods (dinghies with the DIY building boom in the 60s, windsurfing when it was a new sport) and often decline when something new comes along. Most sports are now in decline.  (google "sports participation falling") I guess the causes identified in the report are taking their toll right across the sporting sector  If they have anything going for them they usually settle down to a base level (as dinghy sailing and windsurfing have). One thing is for sure, things will change but I don't see sailing going into terminal decline anytime soon. According to sport England sailing has been in decline for at least the last 10 years so I'm not really sure what base line you're thinking of.