Yuletide yardstick - is a change on the way

Originally posted by JimC I think it would be very easy to read too much into classes' attendance at the big winter events. My experience is that a few keen crews will jolly along a bunch of their mates who aren't that bothered abut doing these events to come along, and a class will have big numbers for a few years.

While most thinking people would agree that fleet racing is the 'best' racing the fact remains that the majority of cruiser racing in the world is done on handicap. The Sydney Hobart, the Round the Island, the Route de Rhum and dozens of races around the coast every weekend. Many people, for whatever reason, refuse to be herded into one designs.  In the dinghy world, I don't think many regattas would survive without a substantial handicap class. Sure you will sometimes find that the 200s or 400s get their own start, but year in year out all the regattas near where i am (Moray Firth) have to be handicap events.

Originally posted by Mark Antony http://www.rya.org.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Racing/RacingInformation/RacingCharter/Class%20Racing%20Initiative.pdf

While I have enjoyed dougaldogs articles (it was me that brought it to the forum after all), and I agree in several cases that the RYA have lost their way in terms of the local governance of our sport, I am not entirely sure if I agree with the statements about the RYA advice.
If I was sitting down to brainstorm potential reasons for lower club attendances and ways forward to encourage local club sailing, I'd very likely come up with similar advice. The vast choice of dinghies on offer does tend to lead people into trying to find the boat that fits them like a glove, and often prevents them from getting the most out of the sport. If I look back in my clubs history it's clear that when we have had fleets we have had bigger turnouts and possibly a more sociable club. In the last 15yrs we have predominantly moved to purely handicap racing but we have a couple of fleets which are starting to build which is having a good effect. In part this is happening because we have implemented some activities to favour these boats without going all out and saying only this type of boat is allowed. I think if you read the RYA advice on this as simply someone's brain dump of ideas that might help build classes then it's fine, and it is difficult to argue that handicap racing is better than fleet racing.

I am disappointed that more isn't done with regards py, as I think it could be improved, especially NHC which in my opinion is a disastrous system for small cruiser racing clubs, and I see to some degree that the PY system for dinghies would go the same way if those in the ivory towers got their way. In part I hate dual scoring, it's simply an excuse for not getting the system right in the first place.

Originally posted by Rupert Dougaldog, do you have a link to any online documents with those quotes in, please? The RYA website is so full, it can take years to track stuff down. Or is it on paper? It might be advice to clubs, but I'm not sure if anyone at my club has ever read it, or if they did, no one cared, which seems to me to be the right attitude to pronouncements from on high.

http://www.rya.org.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Racing/RacingInformation/RacingCharter/Class%20Racing%20Initiative.pdf