4000 Facelift by Rooster

Originally posted by Do Different  we live is a market economy people (adults with resources anyway) will vote with their feet and wallets and do what they want where they want.

Thing is, in this case I really think that you can have it all. 

Yellowwelley. Sometimes you are a little too polarised for me. But I'm liking a lot in your 09.52 post. 

I really enjoy the voluntary and friendly Sailing Club setup, perhaps though it doesn't have to be a Racing Club, well not every week anyway. Putting on racing every week takes a lot of resource for a small Club relative to benefits if turnouts are low, maybe better to simply have supported free sailing / training / practising / and be in a circuit of half a dozen Clubs that host Regattas in turn. That way Clubs save money and labour most weeks and when they do have an event on it's a good one with enough to be truly viable. 

Originally posted by yellowwelly ..... I beginning to wonder if the de-competitising PY racing is the way forward.... there are plenty of over-subscribed group activities that have a competitive element, but do this on an informal basis.  Take cycling clubs, exercise groups like zumba, non-racing swimming clubs, walking groups, military fitness clubs etc they are all booming.  They have a low cost of entry for beginners.  They are generally much more female-friendly and cover a broader age spectrum.   .....

I thnk that's where a lot of small coastal clubs are in reality.
A lot of people don't worry about the results.
We don't think the PY result tells us much.
It's just a good way of getting us all on the water.
The real racing is boat on boat, 3 or 4 400's or a bunch of Solos or Lasers racing in the framework of PY races.
We take some notice of similar boats sailed by similar people, but anything more disparate than L4000 vs RS400 is seen to be a matter of luck/vagary of PY/wind.
We don't worry about getting thrashed by people who have been national champions. We try to learn a bit from them.
We don't get excited about beating beginners by big margins. We're pleased to see them out there improving.

 
A lot of people have done enough racing to know they're not great at it, they just enjoy getting out and sailing their boat around the course. Others are just using the race to learn a new boat, it's practice time on the water while the safety boat is out. If you think you are improving your boat handling and enjoying a blast, you don't actually need to worry about finishing, let alone position.