The State of Club Sailing

We exist largely without reference to the RYA or anyone else for that matter, were it not for a group of us windsurfers the club would have died years ago and we frankly find the RYA more of a hindrance than a help.

I suppose Rupert that I am talking about young people with little interest or aptitude being dragged into sailing for 'social' reasons. Every year I look at those new juniors waiting to spot one with spark and enthusiasim but I have not seen one for a long time. Adults returning to, or discovering sailing are a different kettle of fish!

Originally posted by iiiiitick I suppose Rupert that I am talking about young people with little interest or aptitude being dragged into sailing for 'social' reasons.

Yes, I can see that.

Go back 50 yrs and kids HAD to do what the parents did at weekends. Not many kids will put up with it these days.

I suspect that sailing will not disappear as suggested in the OP, it will decline somewhat though. Sailing does tend to be populated with more than it's fair share of conservative types and as such has been slow to adapt.

A few of us discussed this topic at the club yesterday. I suggested that the broader public see the sport as overly pompous and pretentious. Clubs still using the titles Commodore, Vice Commodore etc. Some still calling the younger sailors "Cadets".....what is it with all this silly military rubbish. It's like kids in the playground playing wars or a navel version of cowboys and Indians.

With a sport that is not seen on TV and has very limited other media coverage most folk know very little about what sailing is really like. All they have is some weird caricatured image that includes dotty old buffers running around in blazers calling each other Commodore and Rear. Whilst this image may have had some appeal post war, it now comes across as the height of absurdity.

Improving the image of sailing is paramount IMO. It might not stave of the decline but it might help.

Whilst this image isn't true of my club (thank goodness) and many others, it still fits the broader public's perceptions and it's sadly still true of some of the more affluent clubs.

I didn't take up sailing until about 11 years ago. All of my old friends do not sail, I don't mention it to them any more, sailing measures negative on the kudos scale with most of them.  They are not unusual in any respect being well educated and reasonably well off, they just see sailing as something similar to free masonry: a pointless pastime that they don't understand complete with absurd rituals. 

As I said, my club tends not to be too formal, in fact I would say it's the best club I have ever visited in that respect. There are loads of great folk there too......and....there are a few good folk who think me a heretic. 

Edited by transient - 28 Jun 15 at 4:00pm

I suspect most on this forum were weened on the traditional terms, it doesn't sound odd to them. It makes you wonder How many other institutionalised blind spots there are.

And as for replacement terms: Chairman/Chairwoman, Deputy Chairman/Chairwoman, Secretary......use by all committees and sounds relatively neutral to me.

Don't get me wrong, I've become used to the traditional quirks of sailing. What I'm saying is: Consider how ridiculous it all sounds to your average non-sailor. 




Edited by transient - 28 Jun 15 at 8:40pm

Originally posted by transient > Chairman/Chairwoman, Deputy Chairman/Chairwoman, Secretary.. ... Consider how ridiculous it all sounds to your average non-sailor.

Not half as ridiculous as the other stuff sounds to your average sailor... Any worse than Golf clubs and their Captains, and nine dozen other examples I imagine...