Is inflation impacting Nationals Attendance?

Originally posted by Sailerf Originally posted by ClubRacer Unfortunately it looks like for the 400's a lot of people have selected the Carnac/ Rs games route (where they are getting a 3 day regatta) instead of going to Scotland for the nationals The 200's have done the opposite, hardly anyone going to the RS games (2 day regatta) and 120+ for the nationals in Hayling island.  Realistically the location of the nationals plays a big part and Scotland probably puts a lot of people off compared to the south coast. I would agree some of the event organising this year has not been great. Multiple events cancelled days before the event and even loss of accommodation costs because of it.   Having been to North Berwick last summer I would choose there over Hayling and Cornwall every time. I believe it's a shorter distance to Berwick from London than going to Mounts Bay. Great food great sailing great beaches. And you don't need to sail five miles to get to the race course.

TBH I don't think cost of living is really  a big deal to all that many Nationals entrants. It's once a year and it's one of your 5 weeks holiday. A lot of people are spending similar amounts in other ways. But it still has to offer value for money. So the traditional 'family week in Devon with some sailing thrown in' package still has a lot of appeal. It helps if you can be sure of having a decent day if the sailing's binned for no wind. We might even see some people do a Nationals because it's cheaper than a week in France or Italy. 115 Merlins in Salcombe this week.

You'd have to dig quite deep to understand the finances of a nationals. Clubs charge a fair bit, CA's have expenses like trophies, secretarial effort etc. Some costs like buying in extra safety boats or hiring race committee members, on the water judges might be paid either by the class or the club. It may look like a club is making a mint, but you have to value the volunteers' time. That's the way clubs work, people volunteer a) because they enjoy it and b) because it funds their club, keeps fees lower, subsidises youth training etc etc. Most week-long nationals seem to be in the £225 to £275 area. When it comes to 'Value for Money', look at the Value as well as the Money. In my limited experience, a lot of the real value comes from the other competitors. To me, the VFM of paying top-end money to enter a small event somewhere North of Northampton looks poor due to the low turnout, as well as the geopraphy. Classes need critical mass to put a good sized fleet in less favoured locations. Seems to me it's not just those of us living South of the M4 who prefer South Coast events, but also a lot of people who have to travel roughly similar distances whichever venue it is?

What I have noticed last month or so is lower speeds on the motorway, will be interesting to see if there is a similar drop in accidents, due to lower speeds.