RYA youth awareness campaign

I can understand this obsession with encouraging young sailors, but frankly I think some of the effort is misplaced. It is very clear that the huge effort my club puts into training young sailors merely results in the adults training them when they could be racing themselves, whilst hardly any of those trained are ending up in club races. On the other hand, those of us who do turn out year after year are left feeling rather like second class citizens. Certainly my home club could have spent the huge ammount of time, money and effort it put into youth training, a lot more wisely; as it is, dinghy racing there is in decline.

If you look at HISC as another example, there are hundreds of youth boats, and on many w/ends there will be large numbers out training, but they turn out for club races in ones or twos. Everywhere I look, club fleets are in decline, especially class fleets, and I would support the RYA a lot more if they put some effort into adressing this, rather than a bunch of elite sailors who rare frankly irrelevant to me and my sailing.

As knightmare says, ducks and runs for cover...

Originally posted by KnightMare And to risk stirring things up with allanorton I think one of the main things grants should go for it teams compeating abroad because I know some amazing sailors who were willing to pay their way through sailing in england but when they were asked to go to australia to compeat in the Wolds they just could not afford to have their boats shipped out there and it seemed a shame to have people miss out on that if they deserve it.

don't bother what i or anyone else thinks say what you want! (i'm just a grump old git who's never had or expected to have any funding), when I was twenty my best mate and I went to the 14 worlds on apprentice wages and I was in debt for over a year!

you do have a point there, but rather than attend one event in austrailia, the money would be better spent sending 5 times as many sailors to other venues in europe, or providing something else for a larger number of people.

Originally posted by Laser47 that would eliminate tallented younger sailors from the mix unless the were rich meaning the future for the sport would be very elitist. and there is another reason (aside from age limits) that under 16s don't buy lottery tickets or for that matter join the RYA  - they don't have the money, they rely on their parents

Watch it. Thats jsut not true. the sport isnt hugely expensive and it isnt just the tallented sailors that get the benifit of the funding - although they do get more.
And I think under 16s would buy lottery tickets if they could but still wouldnt pay RYA fees - thats seen as something that is there for the parents to do. I do have to point out almost everyone I have sailed against 'tallented younger sailors' or not have paid some if not all of the cost of their boats. I saved up for my first boat at the age of 13. It is possible and it was done before the funding was realy poured into the youth squads.

In most cases its not a case that familys cant afford to sail mostly its they dont want to if someone else is willing to pay.

And to risk stirring things up with allanorton I think one of the main things grants should go for it teams compeating abroad because I know some amazing sailors who were willing to pay their way through sailing in england but when they were asked to go to australia to compeat in the Wolds they just could not afford to have their boats shipped out there and it seemed a shame to have people miss out on that if they deserve it.

that would eliminate tallented younger sailors from the mix unless the were rich meaning the future for the sport would be very elitist. and there is another reason (aside from age limits) that under 16s don't buy lottery tickets or for that matter join the RYA  - they don't have the money, they rely on their parents

i think that instead of removing funding the RYA should get more so it can be invested in other areas of the sport. sports like athletics and football get far too much money just because they're crowd pleasers

Originally posted by Garry ....... Many clubs' have top sailors and certainly if they got together with other local clubs could put on events at a reasonable cost it just takes someone to organise it.

I believe it all rests with the clubs. Any RYA initiative should be focused on helping the clubs do 'more' for the target groups whatever age.

From my own experience, I quit sailing when I reached Uni age because it is too expensive - a set of sails is beer for a year. I know, times have changed and the cost of living is higher. It struck me then though as it does now that the youth who stay in sailing do so due to support (financial and otherwise) from their parents. Equally, younger kids don't read RYA bullets while they are out playing on their bikes - their parents read them and 'get them' involved or they sail themselves and encourage them off their own backs. I know all this has been said but, given this, it is not hard to see why the catchment is so small, the growth so stunted and we have so few ethnic and coloured sailors in the UK.