Getting begginers into club racing
Printed From: Yachts and Yachting Online
Category: Dinghy classes
Forum Name: Dinghy development
Forum Discription: The latest moves in the dinghy market
URL: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1709
Printed Date: 15 Aug 25 at 11:07pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.665y - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Getting begginers into club racing
Posted By: 29er397
Subject: Getting begginers into club racing
Date Posted: 02 May 06 at 10:28pm
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Hi does anyone have any particular pearls of wisdom, perhaps a stratagy that your club used or just a suggestion you may have. http://pub27.bravenet.com/forum/2288404568/show/612376 ------------- http://www.kielderwatersc.org - Kielder Water Sailing Club |
Replies:
Posted By: m_liddell
Date Posted: 02 May 06 at 11:22pm
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A club I know considered some way of identifying the boat as a racing newbie (red ribbons on shrouds or something) so the rest of the fleet would take it easy if they screwed up. The biggest thing if for oether people racing to not take it too seriously! It’s a club race on a Sunday morning, not the Olympics it should be a bit of fun. Another idea if to get new people into it by crewing a few times with experianced guys in the fleet, it's less scary this way. I don’t really understand the need to push people into racing. Yes, you may want a bigger fleet to sail in - but the priority should be getting just getting people out sailing at all and then the racing may well take care of itself. A much bigger problem is retaining people after courses. How many sailing clubs offer rescue cover when there isn’t racing/a course going on? None that I have ever been a member of. I don’t like racing, and I don’t think I ever will. I’ve done some open meetings and a season of club racing and I just got fed up with all the bickering, arguments and people taking it way to seriously even at club level. I sial to have fun! In kitesurfing and windsurfing most people do not race, it is not necessary for enjoyment of the sport and sailing should be the same. |
Posted By: Olly4088
Date Posted: 03 May 06 at 8:12am
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We are currently putting into place some kind of buddy system for the less experienced sailors. You just give them a buddy of someone who sails regularly who then gives them tips on how to rig the boat and also tips on the water whilst out racing. ------------- Phantom 1298 |
Posted By: getafix
Date Posted: 03 May 06 at 9:18am
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Some things that might help 1. Encourage newcomers to sail one of your clubs "supported classes" - it means there's usually going to be other people out sailing the same boat and inevitably they can swap thoughts/tips after racing or just give your newbies someone to follow and observe for a while 2. Make sure newbies to racing do at least one stint a year in the assistant OOD chair - helps understand the mechanics of racing and how the flags, course setting and times work as well 3. Encourage the sort of environment the RYA Racing Charter is promoting - a hoard of shouting, barging and rule-bashing sailors isn't a welcoming pool to go swim in for the first time 4. Make sure your onshore facilities encourage everyone to stay behind after racing for a cup of tea or a pint, likewise if there's breaks in the racing on a given day - nothing like swinging the lead to encourage the free flow of ideas 5. If all else fails, issue magic potion 
to all newbies then laugh when "uptight boy" in his laser and
"shouting couple" in their Fireball are passed by newbies in Topaz
Uno's  ------------- Feeling sorry for vegans since it became the latest fad to claim you are one |
Posted By: MRJP BUZZ 585
Date Posted: 03 May 06 at 10:08am
 i like the last idea------------- Josh Preater http://www.bu22.co.uk"> BUZZING IS FUN
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Posted By: Olly4088
Date Posted: 03 May 06 at 10:15am
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I think the buddy system works quite well. It was used at a nationals that I went to a few years ago and it worked well cause all of the top boys/girls were very helpful and helped some of the lesser crews move up the fleet. You then sometimes get the problem that happened at the fireball nationals a few years back where the buddies were getting beaten by the people that they are trying to help. ------------- Phantom 1298 |
Posted By: MRJP BUZZ 585
Date Posted: 03 May 06 at 10:29am
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------------- Josh Preater http://www.bu22.co.uk"> BUZZING IS FUN
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Posted By: Matt Jackson
Date Posted: 03 May 06 at 12:54pm
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At Scaling we have a very active Junior and newbie scene and having read this thread and had a think I believe it's to do with the racing program. We have casual racing on Saturday and Sunday morning and 3 races on Sunday afternoon which get progressively more intense. 1200 Novice race race - anyone can enter but realistically it's a fun race, 1400 Class race - 4 classes generally with less than 10-15 in each and 1600 ACH - all boats off one start. Like heavy wind sailing it's easier to get the hang of it if it get steadily tougher rather than going straight out in a F6. I guess we have a large turnout already (a critical mass if you like) but it works well if you can get to that point. ------------- Laser 203001, Harrier (H+) 36 |
Posted By: laser47
Date Posted: 03 May 06 at 4:04pm
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at Hawley we allow beginers to do one lap and average it out this makes it less intimidating as being lapped several times is a horrible prospect also we've just introduced a start club racing thing (similar to the RYA start racing program) for the junior sailors who have completed at least a stage 1 course where they have to be sufficently good at a skill to get it ticked off on their certificate but it's all done in a fun way with games and prizes so they hardly even notice they're racing. i think the eventual aim is to have a hawley junior topper squad
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Posted By: getafix
Date Posted: 03 May 06 at 4:42pm
average lap is a good thing for newbies - nothing worse than
sailing round dead last while everyone sits there looking at your in
resentment, or worse shouting "retire" as you pass - I actually
witnessed this once ... only prob for those of us with tidal waters to deal with is that you have to start and finish from the same spot! ------------- Feeling sorry for vegans since it became the latest fad to claim you are one |
Posted By: blaze720
Date Posted: 03 May 06 at 4:57pm
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At Burghfield we run a very popular personal handicap pursuit series on Wednesday evenings in the Summer (as well as running other introduction to racing days). The handicaps on the experienced can be swinging but it really really encourages the 'new to racing' to work at it - they then win or finish near the front and are seen grinning from ear to ear - It's fun for them, they work at it for the whole race to keep ahead - and this is what will get them into more serious racing in time. Each week a formula is applied to update the handicap based on results. The more serious also get to try and work through the large mixed fleet - excellent practice for them as well. As others have said already the secret is not to take it too seriously or have a go at the novice wobbling around in front of you. This series is also very social and good catering is provided resulting in a very crowded club house and bar. Last week - first of the year with very iffy weather - 62 boats out and more expected this evening. It's not magic - just make it fun and social. Blaze 720
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Posted By: Think_again
Date Posted: 03 May 06 at 9:00pm
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I have had this happen! At an open meeting at a club I wont be returning to... |
Posted By: mike ellis
Date Posted: 03 May 06 at 9:07pm
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we just ran a team racing weekend in fevas and i think weve got a few more people interested. the important thing was to make sure it wasnt serious! ------------- 600 732, will call it Sticks and Stones when i get round to it. Also International 14, 1318 |
Posted By: MRJP BUZZ 585
Date Posted: 04 May 06 at 8:26am
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yea when i started sailing i was a bit scared to race as the people who did race were i thought really experienced, knew the rule book entirely and were in my eyes really fast. The best way to get into racing is to crew for sumone experienced
------------- Josh Preater http://www.bu22.co.uk"> BUZZING IS FUN
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Posted By: jpbuzz591
Date Posted: 04 May 06 at 8:16pm
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What they do down at chew sometimes on a saturday in the summer is to have races then for newbies to get used to racing and its not serious at all and just gets them used to the racing starts, and atmosphere ------------- Jp Indoe Contender 518 Buzz591 Chew Valley Sailing club Bristol |
Posted By: tickel
Date Posted: 04 May 06 at 9:29pm
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If you are a very small club like ours, Combs S.C. in Derbyshire, every member counts. If a new member turns up to join with or without children and wishes not to race but just sail round looking at the spectacular view, then they soon get bored and leave again. The members who stay are the ones who get bitten by the racing bug. Usualy. The best way of encouraging young people is to get them crewing on successfull boats then they get a feel for winning and want to do it them selves. We are lucky in having an elderly GP sailor who prefers nice light children and will usualy win in light airs. Countless children have started with him including two of my own one of whom has gone on to considerable success. Re reading this there is no inuendo intended. ------------- tickel |
Posted By: Ian S
Date Posted: 05 May 06 at 1:53pm
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For smaller inland clubs racing is probably the only way to really keep people interested, you can free sail around a 200 acre reservoir in about half an hour, you're not going to do that too may times on a Sunday without getting bored and giving up. From a management perspective it's also easier to provide safety as the crews are rota'd on to cover the racing and need comfort breaks which they can't do if people are just pottering about. We're trying a different approach to our usual 3 RYA level 2 courses this year, putting on a single course but expanding it to include guidance on buying a boat, introduction to running a race, a short course based on the introduction to racing and so on. For me a key priority is to stop people buying cr*p boats.. I don't mean the constant bickering over rota moulded vs asymmetrics vs symmetrics etc, but simply stopping them spending a few hundred quid on a boat they are proud of only to get it to the club and have people say "you paid what?" and fall about laughing while they point out all the knackered rigging, bent mast etc. Yes it's all fixable but it's a big extra expense and puts people off. Less volume of trainees and improve the quality of training.. it'll be a drop in revenue but if we get more active club members as a result then so much the better. We'll let you know how we get on.. |
Posted By: Calum_Reid
Date Posted: 05 May 06 at 2:31pm
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Plan Number One
We have a very small club where every member really matters. During the Club Championship part of the season (our club championship involves sailing 7 series each of 6 races. We have the even numbered series on a wed nigth i.e series 2,4,6 and then we have series 1,3,5,7 on sundays. We usualy sail like series 1 and 3 race 1 on a sunday and so a serries takes 6 weeks.) Back to the point. We have 3 races on a sunday and up untill now they have just been a sort of warm up race and didnt count for anything. This year we have decided to put a real push to get bums on sidedecks and have decided to include entry to these races in the fee for our training sessions (these happen on a sunday morning). These races will be begginers either teamming up with an experianced sailor (probably in a club 2000) who will crew and generaly help the begginer out or they can race a club laser pico. We are going to be pretty relaxed and let experianced people who have just got a new boat or whatever sail in this 2 to allow them to practice but the emphasis will be on making it fun and not competative. This we hope will give the begginers a chance to experiance racing and hopefully get the bug and then team up with each other and sail in the normall races as they get more confident. One big plus of this is that to begin with the experianced sailor can do alot for the begginer but as the series goes on they will be able to do less and let the bigginer do more and more. The experianced (good guys if u like) have had to give up a competative race which may have been more fun for them but hopefully this will bring more people into our competative racing in the club championship and increase the number of boats in the hunt for prizes. Plan Number 2 We always had a handicap trophy which ran along side the club championship trophy and without going into detail rewarded improvement as well as consitancy. It was almost impossible for someone to win both though it has happened. What was happening tho was that the runner up in the club championship would win it. The reason we have a seperate trophy is that we all agree that a rolling handicap system (which this isnt) doesnt incourage mid fleet sailors to improve as they get an artifical impression of how well they are going. We made the desision to say thatr the top 5 boats in the club championship that year are to be excluded from this trophy to allow for almost a silver fleet trophy. This has been a real hit for the boats about 6th -10th in the club championship as they were regulars who realisticly were't going to be in with a shout of the club championship or race wins but were doing well concidering experiance etc... It was great to see these sailors crowded around the results sheet (like we do the club championship) and working out what positions they needed to get to win that. It has given these people a reason to turn out each week. Third Plan We run a pairs challange trophy where the top boats are paired with the lower fleet boats and give them help and advice. This is really taken up by some but even the people who dont help there buddy out much but sail regularly can help there buddy to win some silverware and give them some enjoyment which lets be honest is wat its all about. ------------- 
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Posted By: Calum_Reid
Date Posted: 05 May 06 at 2:53pm
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Just to add... We also runa race day a the end of our second block of training where the people who have come through the training have a big race. This used to be a team racing even but this became increasingly hard to find helms for and we now feel the begginers take more satisfacton from wining themselves.
Finaly... We got a grant to put 6 of us through our instructors courses and all other bits and pieces. And some of these people were the sailors who do the most traveling and do the most competative sailing. They are having to put alot of there time into doing this instead of there own sailing but hopefully the end result will be worth it. -------------
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Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 05 May 06 at 3:28pm
| We have a personal handicap (as someone mentioned in previous post) system for one series of races, this gives newbies a chance. Also provide safety boat cover for free sailing and Bar B Q cruises along the coast for those not into racing. And lots of silverware at the laying up supper for beginers:- most improved Helm/crew, a cup for the most capsizes and a bent cup for the most spectacular cock up on the water. |
Posted By: Phat Bouy
Date Posted: 05 May 06 at 11:17pm
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One of the things that novices can't get to grips with easily is all the shouting that goes on. People only shout at you if they are angry with you - right? To many this is acutely agressive and it has been known for the some of the more experienced sailors to give novices a hard time and make ridiculous calls to confuse them. Hold the novice events on a separate day to nornal club racing, perhaps Saturdays and make it a fun event for all the family but especially for the wrinklies. Get the mums & dads happy and the kids will get dragged along in their wake. Reward enterprise and offer prizes even bars of chocolate are greatly appreciated. But best of all is a a jolly good de-briefing. People really want to know about situations and events that happened during the race. It really does matter to a novice! ------------- Je suis Marxiste - tendance Groucho |
Posted By: 29er397
Date Posted: 06 May 06 at 6:01pm
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To be honest sailing at kielder is never really serious. It is a small inland club (huge resevoir though) with a few regular racers, All the core racers want to get more novices into their boats and out with us. we have tried the buddying and there is a personal handicap series that works quite well. I think we will publicise the personal handicap better so that novices know that it is more for them. I think we will also try the debrief idea so that they know what has gone on and can think about it more for next timev they go out. thanks for all the feedback guys. Fergus ------------- http://www.kielderwatersc.org - Kielder Water Sailing Club |
Posted By: vscott
Date Posted: 08 May 06 at 8:53am
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Some really good ideas and tips here - for which many thanks! We are reading and learning and will refine some of what we are doing - and maybe even let you know how it's going. |