Ovington thingy.....

Great turnouts, results here:

the thing is, the kids LIKE their toppers, and why wouldn't they?  Amazing race turn outs, good club racing at almost every club, plenty of training, good venues for championships, great chances to socialise.  They like the topper scene and they think it's cool.  And for them it is, why change?

The more i think about it, the more i come to realise that there is little the sailing world can do to keep post Uni folk in sailing.  Certainly when i was 17- 25 there were millions of things i would rather be doing then sailing a dinghy of ANY sorts.  I had to much going on in my life like going out, girls, cars, going out, girls, going out oh and did i mention Girls...  The last thing i wanted to do was get up at 9 on a Sunday and drag my arse to a sailing club!  So for me it wasnt the boats, the Byte looks like a lovely little boat.  But its no more cooler than a Laser.  I only revisted sailing once i had met my now wife and had settled down a bit.  This coincided with me having more disposable income.  So i think the way to promote sailing is trying to recapture the 22-28 year olds.  So lets look at the craft which would suit this age set, if this were me 10 years ago :

Perhaps what is needed is a fundamental change to the way sail racing is run, rather than ever faster (and more expensive) boats. A sort of Soft Play equivalent for those in early adulthood - pay & play, no ownership, no ties, no membership, no duties, no large capital outlay,just mucking around with 3 or 4 mates a dozen times a year when the forecast looks good.

Originally posted by Peaky Perhaps what is needed is a fundamental change to the way sail racing is run, rather than ever faster (and more expensive) boats. A sort of Soft Play equivalent for those in early adulthood - pay & play, no ownership, no ties, no membership, no duties, no large capital outlay,just mucking around with 3 or 4 mates a dozen times a year when the forecast looks good.

that's exactly why we bought the vagos - race when you want to, hire the boat for a nominal fee, one duty in a year, plus three of the same boats all for hire - and another five in the club already.  It has to be the way to go.