Active Classes

Here's a general thought:  Some of the most interesting and enjoyable classes to race struggle to attract a significant following.  Those that immediately spring to mind include the Cherub, Moth, Tasar, B14 & N12, RS 300.   Is it a British thing or the fact we mostly sail on restricted waters or simply we are just comfortable with the fact it is that racing that's important and the boat is secondary ? 

Originally posted by boatshed is it a British thing

Compared to who? I think you will find that the UK dinghy fleet actually has a higher proportion of modern and high performance designs than most of the rest of the world, and in particular more than most of mainland Europe and the USA.   

But to answer your question: personally, I've always bought for the fleet and the circuit. The boat is secondary.

Well this is bound to produce a lot of "us too" comment !  So I must put in a word for the Blaze in this forum as most of our discussions are held in a 'yahoo groups' environment and 'active' must surely mean more than busy on this site !.  The Blaze class is perhaps one of the best 'born again' examples of recent years.  This year climbing up to 53 at the nationals and 29 at last wekends Inlands at Oxford.  The association and its members set out a few short years ago to revive the class and embarked on a programme of low cost rig refinement and a concerted membership drive - We got away from all the manufacturers hyperbole and simply got people to try the upgraded boat.  Used boats are highly sought after now and the earliest examples have DOUBLED in price in the past 2 years.  If  people liked the boat after first hand experience they quickly get hold of one and new fleets were born.  It's not rocket science, and successful class needs to have real appeal to a section of the racing community, be backed by those who love it and be prepared to change it if its needed.  The other thing we set down very early on was - never knock other classes in any way -  we should all be pleased that others race in whatever turns them on.  Perhaps those of us who really pay for it in the end should leave all the pushing and shoving to the manufacturers !    

In the meantime have a look at  www.blaze-sailing.org.uk  and maybe a quick look at the video extracts.  Even if you never intend to own one yourself, all are welcome to come along some time and give it a go as well. 

Cheers - Mike '720'

 

    

N12 numbers are not that small,

while the champs entry was down for this year (Abersoch is a long way from any 12 sailing clubs) and opens were a bit quieter than usual (lots of new additions to various 12 sailing families meant not hitting the road so much) the champs average is still 55 boats over the past 5 years.  Thats pretty much in the same ball park as many of the other hiking two handers:
Larks 48
Fireflies 53
Scorpions 63
Merlin 64
Albacore 43

As has been said above, these things go in cycles and with more and more modern 12s starting to turn up on the 2nd hand list at attractive prices I think things will begin to pick up again soon.  With the 70th anniversary next year the champs entry should be one of the best for years.
 

Edited by DiscoBall

Your normal club sailor who does a few open meetings often picks up a new crew on the offchance, very difficult to do this with an Int14, you need to be committed (in both senses probably).  You can't overestimate the influence of the class association, particularly where it works hard to encourage club sailors.  Everyone talks about the class they sail because it's the one they know, but the success of the Merlin is not just because of the better availability of competitive boats.  Even that was from an initiative led by the class association and required some rule changes.  There is an excellent, affordable training programme and regional as well as the national circuits of open meetings.  However good the boat is you won't get the competitive racing we all enjoy without this (voluntary!) infrastructure