Classes fading in popularity

Yeah that is another thing about a CA it maintains a wealth of knowledge about the boats, how to repair them, what makes a good sail, the best way to help righting it from a RIB, anything realy and provides a way to make sure that this is passed down.

One very good point you mentioned was the maintanance of resale value. Most non racers will at some point sell their boat and it is the CA that makes sure that it is worth a similar amount at the end of a good time sailing it. If you buy a boat on the strenght of the name of the class then you rely on the name to sell it on.

I like that 999 analogy, do u think we could get CA fees to be funded by taxes lmao.

excuse the bad wording its had to get it to sound correct

Originally posted by Rupert As far as being a member of a class association to race at opens, the only time most classes allow leeway is when one is borrowing a boat to do a class open at one's own club. Even then, the result will often be removed from traveller series results.

It is usually the owner of the boat who has to be the class association member, rather than the helm. In fact I got into this debate with the RYA when I helped run a class association. The class, like many others, has its rules "held" by the RYA and changes have to be approved by the RYA Technical Team as well as the class association (and for SMODs, normally also by the manufacturer). As a class, we wanted to amend the class rules to say that you had to be a class association member to helm. The RYA said we couldn't do that, because in the ISAF model, class rules relate to the boat. So in the class rules we could require the owner to be a class association member but not the helm.

However SIs/NoRs can also require the helm to be a class association member, and for events like Nationals they often do.  This is because for events like Nationals, the class association will often have input to the SIs/NoRs whereas for run-of-the-mill opens it normally does not.

Originally posted by Matt Jackson  And this is the discussion I was trying to stimulate - how to make joining the CA more attractive. I have to admit that the MPS class is particularly good at this - good marketting I guess

From my experience (Class Sec for the Laser 3000 Association) I understand Matt's point.

The average Joe sailor has no appreciation of what the classes do, and clubs don't educate their members and encourage them to becimoe involved with class racing ... note the conflict of interest here (how many clubs suffer from their best sailors dissapearing off on the class circuits each summer?)

Cards on the table ... out of 530 boats sold we have just 22 members paying £15 per boat per year. Do the sums, it's not much to work with! We wouldn't survive but the the contribution that Noble Marine Insurance make to us each year.

And yet we very much want to make our events appealing ... it's great to be able to put on a band or disco now and then, and maybe sandwiches after the last race before people pack up and depart. It all costs, but it's the little things that count.

Nearly all our members are active on the circuit, although there are one or two like Knightmare who have been active with their families in the past and, even though their kids no longer sail (e.g. away at University) they appreciate what we do and are prepared to continue supporting us. In fact, the number of parents at events sailing boats originally bought for their kids is growing rapidly and we're getting a good balance.

And whoever said the clubs do all the organisaion for class events is way off the mark. I spend 2-3 hours on my PC every night after my two pre-school kids are packed off to bed ... doesn't do much for marital relations, I can tell you!

I expect most class committee members get a lot of personal fulfilment when things go right, but it can be very frustrating and time consuming at times too. You often feel you're beating your head against a wall. Every bit of extra cash to make balancing the budget a bit easier helps.

Classes (and their members who do cough up) make a huge contribution to sailing which, because it's not in the public eye, get very little recognition.

Originally posted by Stefan Lloyd If, as the class association, you are putting huge effort into organising opens, then with respect, I think you should find ways of leaving that to the organising clubs, who have the people and experience to run events (if they don't, go elsewhere).

Think you're exaggerating a bit Stefan, surely its got to be a partnership. Obviously the Assoc shouldn't be telling the Club about getting rescue boats, race commitee, food etc but it should have useful inforation for the club on how to make the event attractive to the fleet, format etc etc. The class association has also got to have a big role in publicising the event - after all who goes round a 100 club websites to see which one has an event for your class that week... And at the very least the Class association are the best body to make sure there aren't two events for the same class at adjoining clubs the same day!

Originally posted by Guest#260 If you are on the committee for a CA then good for you; but if you have a low number of members your challenge is to sell the benefits of membership.

Many classes put small ads in the classified pages of Y&Y and DSM, to try and attract members (more expense). We're putting 30% of our budget this year into a Y&Y advvert. But there's only so much you can fit in a 70mm x 30mm ad.

It's difficult to capture the hearts and minds of owners at clubs where you don't have a presence. Clubs enforcing class association membership for boat owners participating in racing would help this. The majority of owners would then see class magazines, etc, providing a conduit for encouraging them to class events and getting involved with their "extended family".

I suspect all classes suffer from the same basic lack of understanding by many owners ... maybe the classes should club together to take out a regular one-page Ad in the yachting press to drive home their contribution to the sport. Needs to be in every issue to catch people who only dip in to the magazines every now and then. Could be one of those articles with "Advertising Feature" at the top of the page. Some quotes from the material here might be worth using, positive and negative !