A group at my local club have written a Strategic Plan. This seems to assume that dinghy racing is mainly about club racing. Organising open events and preparing club sailors for travelling to open meetings and championships does not get a mention. This seems very strange and quite the contrary to my own experience.

Surely the whole point of owning a dinghy is that you can trail it round to events.

How do other dinghy sailors see this. Is club rcing still the core activity in dinghy racing, or merely a training/learning experience for the open meeting circuit?

Gordon DAVIES

I think it boils down to personal preference. Some people enjoy the buzz of the circuit so much they don't actually belong to a club, and still sail every week between April and November. It means a lot of miles with your boat on tow, and a like-minded or very understanding partner (or partner as a crew, or no partner at all, delete as necessary)

Club racing is more sedentary obviously but if you're part of a competitive fleet, it has its thrilling moments too. All competitors are (or should be) very familiar with the surroundings, the course, the tidal effects etc., so in theory, racing is done on skills alone  

On the other hand, nothing prevents you from getting the best of both worlds: race at your club, get better and, every now and then, join an open meeting to have fun and get to know other guys!

Still, no opens at your club... it must be a little boring at times. Where do you sail, btw?

I can't see myself ever having the desire to:

take my boat apart
trail it miles and miles
put it all back together again
sail
take it all apart again
trail it back miles and miles
put it back together again

and all this with the possibility that the wind may be crap and the whole thing will be a waste of time! I guess for some single handers this process is far easier but for a double handed boat it is a serious pain.

I want my sailing to be as hassle free as possible to maximise time on the water. It all depends on how serious you are about racing and if you sail in a small class with no local fleet.

I sail in Bray CO WICKLOW.

We have a very low turnout for club racing - about 4 boats on average! You could say we are starting from next to zero - except that we have a bunch of Ent sailors who travel a lot, and when we do a training session for Lasers we get 10 boats.

Our open meetings are planned  to break even - revenue accrues from increased bar takings.

Gordon

Ahh the Bar, the nucleus of every club.

I think people do travel less these days, whether it's demographics and those that used to, now have kids, or maybe it's petrol cost or not being able to fiddle you company mileage anymore!

Bough Beech is such a blustery place at times!

Mind you, you might have had more fun today

I'd agree there has to be a balance, for both sailors and clubs. Most sailors enjoy both being a club member, and going off to see new places/see old friends. And clubs can get the message that they exist out into the sailing world by hosting events and getting the club name into Y&Y and class newsletters.

Most smaller classes are willing to hold events alongside club racing, assuming the water is big enough, as this way the club is more likely to hold the event, and the organizers don't have to worry that only 3 boats will turn up, or whatever. The club tends to have more of an on shore buzz, too, rather than the deserted feel that can be there when the only club members around are behind the signing in desk and outin the rescue boat.

yer you should of been down with the camera today bns.    my hands are shreeded though.  wasnt the best direction a very gusty f5 north eastily.  so lots of t-bagging action.

Not for most people I know. The majority of dinghy sailing in the UK is club-level, not opens. When you've been grid-locked on the way to sailing at 07:30 on a Sunday morning, you realise that travelling to events is less fun than it used to be. Maybe Ireland is different. 

I personally think that unless you have a very competitive large (at least 10 boats) fleet of your class open meetings are generally more fun. because there is usually better competition, chance to sail at other venues, chance to sail on different types of water (river/sea/estuary from your lake club for example), make friends from other clubs etc.

But club level racing will for most be the main time to sail, as it is usually close to home, and only takes 2 minutes to take the cover off and put the sails up.

Gordon, please tell me they researched the needs of the members before they wrote the plan ...

I can't say I blame you for not wanting to sail 'alone'. As I think I know where your Contender is I don't think you've sailed it since the start of November? Maybe that's another reason why you feel you're '"going backward" when you do come out to play. A solution for  those classes that are scattered across the north like yours maybe for sailors from different clubs  (but within say 50 miles radius)  to coordinate where and when to sail  at least once a month. This could either be at at handicap events or at a particular club on a semi-regular basis. That way you can get more fleet racing without travelling to the south coast every weekend for opens. We used to do that in Fireballs and had a couple of great years when several good weekends resulted whereas without the effort, we'd have all just sailed alone.

I used to believe it was the responsibilty of 'good sailors' to support the local club sailing, as that is the way new starters get better. We all need to stop thin king about ourselves if we want more participation in our great (but only great after you have tried it) sport.

Its everyones dream to just do the opens and nationals, but what would happen to the sport? Its rhetorical cos we all know...... it would fall into the proverbial toilet of hobbies for wierdos.

I have often remarked that racing sailing boats is an odd sport - in that participants spend more time competing than they do training, indeed many never train at all.

I can't help believing that this is at the heart of much of the disaffection with dinghy sailing. It can be little fun endlessly repeating the same scenarios (otherwise known as mistakes) to acheive the same result. I feel that clubs should be offering all sailors an opportunity to improve and get more fun out of their sailing.

For instance, downwind sailing with a spi only becomes fun when the basic techniques of hoisting, setting, gybing and recovering have been mastered. Most racing does not give a real opportunity to acquire and improve these techniques. A few, well organised training sessions would greatly enhance the enjoyment of downwind sailing... and regular refresher sessions.

Which is why I feel that clubs should be doing more than just starting endless races. Setting up and running a "club team" to sail at open events - with jioint trailing sessions, shared travelling even the use of a club RIB... Getting into team racing (the best way to keep the 18-25s in the sport), and many more ideas.

All this is based on things that I have done - but not in the UK or Ireland