Sailing Modes these days

I should have added that in contrast to WSC, my club, Deben YC has slow and handicap racing only. With the annual training course mainly in Toppers, it is not surprising that racing is nearly all in single handers. The slow mainly Toppers and the fast largely an 'orgy' of Streakers plus a Vortex, a couple of 300's a couple of 200's and a couple of AltOs. The junior fleet used to be Mirrors but these now only come out during the Family sailing week in August and then about 20 of them. Unfortunately that great little boat is hardly suitable to keep as Club owned boats for training purposes due to maintenance.

 

[see later post]

Edited by JimC

Originally posted by JimC . I leave it to the rest of you to comment on obvious trends visible...

Interesting figures. The most obvious "trend" is how little change there has been over a 20 year period. A change from 35% to 45% single-handers is significant but hardly overwhelming if taken over two decades. Even the growth of asymmetrics seems a case of "revolution stalled".

It's a curious contrast to many other equipment-based sports: for example nobody uses the same kind of skis that were around 20 years ago. The answer has to lie in the enduring class basis of the sport,  even though the turnover of individual sailors through classes is quite rapid.


Edited by Stefan Lloyd

Originally posted by Chris 249 maybe the sheer expense of the gear is a major factor?

Don't really think so, at least not at championship level, which is where JimC draws his data. Case in point: the Merlin Rocket class. Numbers have been more or less constant (with ups and downs) over the last couple of decades but you don't see 20 year old boats in championships too much (the vintage class notwithstanding). Neither, with a few exceptions, are the same sailors involved. Nevertheless the class carries on strongly. There are many similar examples. The more I think about it, the more I believe good class associations are the bedrock of the sport.


Edited by Stefan Lloyd

Originally posted by JimC Heres some numbers from my racing classes review data. Its not complete, hence some missing years etc..

Again some interesting figures, but they start at the beginning of the SMOD/asymmetric era. I believe that it is the flooding of the dinghy racing sport with so many SMOD classes in the UK, that has contributed to the sad state of our club racing which is now so dominated by single handers.
It is interesting that the pre SMOD/asymmetric era successful classes were double handers and these classes are largely still thriving. Why?

One reason would be because Clubs, especially smaller clubs, where they were established classes did not allow in new classes unless perhaps the new class could guarantee a fleet of say five boats. In clubs that did allow new classes and wanted new members any class was allowed. Since the nineties this has resulted in a multitude of different designs. The exciting looking new designs were either too fast and dangerous with their big asymmetrics, or too slow being of skiff shape and possibly rota-moulded. Such boats have put off others from buying similar boats  who have opted for the easy safe single-hander.Those with such boats either joined the handicap fleet or  abandoned it in favour of a single hander!. Others of course joined the new SMOD circuits perhaps keeping a non SMOD single hander at the club.

I assume most new to the sport seldom  join an 'old' class, unless members of a club like Waldringfield SC that only allow certain traditional two person classes or Lasers! From previous topics it appears there are few clubs that are so restrictive, but WSC is dominated by successful double handed classes!

The opinions seem to show a big preference for double handed sailing of some form, so surely our Clubs ought to find ways of bringing it back before it is too late. But this could be difficult when the body looking after sport so supports the traveling youth classes which take so many parent sailors away from our clubs!