Classes fading in popularity

So, making events attractive to draw owners into the circuit should be the prime focus for wanabe upwardly mobile classes.

For small (<1000 boat) classes with few (<50) members and consequently limited financial resource, i.e. the make or break classes, what's the key?

No, because they are not participating in a sport. You, on the other hand are racing in a class whose rules are administered by the class association. If you think that administration comes with no effort, try doing it for a few years.

What makes a Contender a Contender? Answer, conformation to class rules. Even if you are racing handicap, it is the conformation to class rules that allows meaningful PYs to be assigned. So even as a club member racing handicap, you are benefiting from the work of the class association. And if you don't pay, you are getting a free ride off the backs of those who do.  

To answer your question on whether class membership is required, for club sailing, it is up to the club. For Opens, you need a valid class certifcate to enter and for any class I've ever sailed in, no class membership, no valid class certificate.

What happened to make the journey such an ordeal? You can get a Contender rigged from being on the trailer in 10 minutes

I'll have to admit to not being a member of any class assocation at the moment. In that time I've been to quite a few open meetings (which incidentally are entirely run by the clubs that host them and not the class assocations). No doubt when I go to the nationals, I'll have to hand over my £25 for each class and then apparently get nothing in return for it (Except perhaps the odd newsletter which I'll already have seen everything in it because it's been on the web site).

Class assocations don't need money - the concept of a class newsletter is pretty much pointless now almost everyone has internet access. What they need is people to help put together travellers' series results, update the website, keep the rules up to date, organise training days etc. Those people won't expect to be paid, so why should the membership fee be any more than a few pounds to cover costs of posting out the membership cards, and pay for web hosting.

If class assocation membership was, say £5 per boat per year a lot more people would join than the effective £50 per boat per year for a two handed boat.

To provide a similar comparison, I am a member of a group promoting the interests of drivers and fighting back against the anti-car lobby. For £17 a year I get 6 newsletters, and a load of discounts off useful items. I'm not what you what describe as an active member of this association, but the benefits make it worthwhile me joining, as well as enabling them to be more effective when it comes to making press releases etc. National newspapers are more likely to listen to a group of several thousand people rather than if it were just the relatively small number of people who are actively campaigning.

Also; there is a big assumption that you can get decent webdesign done for free; you cant unless you are lucky. Because of that most class assocation sites are pretty poor and not frequently updated.

The reality of the time poor modern wage slave is that the level of voluntery labour available is going down all the time so if you want a professionally run class you should expact to pay a little.

It constantly amazes me how tight people are over paying the class association fee. In the scheme of a years entertainment it's a tiny figure.

It's down to the class assocaition to make it attractive with a benefits package.

http://www.mustoskiff.com/class-association-pages/class-asso ciation-benefits.htm

Item 2 means you get your membership fee back in spades if you are loyal to the brand.

Rick

Spot on Knightmare!

I travelled a 500 mile round trip this weekend for an open at Burghfield (Reading). Coaching by Jon Emmett on the Saturday (with team racing, which was an eye-opener to me and great fun - thanks Jon) and then three races on the Sunday. Camping at the club. Good pub just around the corner. Best weekend I've had in ages!

In a small class, spreading the word around the clubs that are missing out is very difficult, where there's only one or two boats at many clubs. Seems to me that very few owners read the yachting press or visit class web-sites.

Class racing is definitely a habit worth developing!