Dinghy Sailing Project

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.

Originally posted by KateBT    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.

Considering only "competitive" outdoor sports, I think sailing fares pretty well when getting people into the sport. Most sailing clubs, even if you have just learnt to sail, and only have a very basic or old boat, people will encourage you to join in the race meaning there is a very good gradual transition between starting and "being good" whilst still fitting in.
I know very little about mountain biking, but my impressions of it from outside are that there is a huge difference between riding a bike for a few miles along a dismantled railway track and taking part in competitions. To make the step between the two appears to be far more difficult.
I think this is probably because, for the vast majority of people, before you go sailing the normal method is to join a club to get access to the water, particularly in inland areas. I think this leads to far greater proportion of "recreational sailors" (i.e. those who just go for a cruise around on a nice day) being members of clubs, and hence in my opinion officially participating in the sport than you get with other apparently "accessible" sports (mountain biking, football, tennis, and swimming come to mind). Very few people who "claim" to take part in these sports do so as a member of a club, and as such probably have a greater barrier to development within their sport than you get with sailing.

Originally posted by Ian99   people will encourage you to join in the race meaning there is a very good gradual transition between starting and "being good" whilst still fitting in.

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 !

Originally posted by Ian99   I know very little about mountain biking, but my impressions of it from outside are that there is a huge difference between riding a bike for a few miles along a dismantled railway track and taking part in competitions. To make the step between the two appears to be far more difficult.'

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'

Edited by damp_freddie