T.V.

Originally posted by iGRF Agree totally with the above, the sport suffers exactly the same way a very expensive Agency once declared windsurfings problems, Inaccessible, Elitist, Expensive and too difficult to bother with anyway. The latter shouldn't be the case and I'm pleased to see new boats these days addressing that, but it's still a way to go. Heavy poly boring resort boats are not the answer, they are just too heavy for anyone to lift about. So unless these points are addressed and more people do the sport, nobody will want to watch it on Telly anyway, so nobody to advertise to and at our level do we even care? Well nobody cared in the windsurfing community so what happened? Numbers fell, manufacturing quantities dropped, prices rocketed and an even more viscous circle of inaccessibly resulted. So we should care, we should all do our bit to encourage new comers, there should also be more done centrally to 'market' the sport. I know it's my pet beef, but that damned handicap system needs sorting out so it has more grounding in logic rather than anarchy, it doesn't serve our cause when trying to encourage newcomers into the racing environment. Easy boats like the Icon & Alto should be advantaged, not penalised in petty mindedness, Double handers are the best route to attract newcomers, the moment my Trev experienced his first three sail reach on the plane he was hooked forever. Hook a grown up and you have him and his disposable income for life, press gang a kid and you have him until he gets a driving license and spots an alternative use for his dangly bit. He may return later, but it's not a definite in some instances they (kids) get inoculated against ever sailing again if they experience the full horrors the RYA are capable of chucking at them. It's a beautiful multi faceted fantastic sport, with more folk doing more to discourage participation than I can throw a stick at, I'm surprised it's still with us.

It's mired due to the RYA, who refused to countenance your Kona as a board suitable for entry level given they were fixated with their then new daggerboardless 'fast forward' planing only beginner programme. At the time we were selling 50 a year and were deep in recession.

Getting back to sailing on telly, the only thing the bread knife had even a passing interest in was the match racing which she could follow obviously.

Me I went off to make a cuppa waiting for the next Finn or Laser round.

Edited by iGRF - 09 Jul 14 at 10:30am

I know that you hate the py system grf but for most newcomers that I've met they aren't interested in racing or therefore the py system. They want to get afloat and have a bit of a potter about.

It's the racing types who ruin it for them, suggesting that they get involved and give it a try. I've seen plenty of people give up the sport because of this. Why not leave them alone to enjoy the sailing.

Sailing is one of the few sports that are polar, there's fun sailing and there's competitive sailing. Most sports always get competitive, even if it's a friendly. Why not accept that and just be there when someone wants to try racing rather than pushing them. The 60's boom was about getting afloat wasn't it? Not racing.

There is also always going to be an element of the fad. Used to be sailing, then it was windsurfing, golf, cycling, now sup's to try to get their money. It'll become fashionable for a while until the ring leaders move onto to the next big thing, and then the sheep will follow.

Everywhere around me seems to have canoes on car roofs. Net they never leave them in most cases either. It's all about being seen to be doing the right sport at the right time. It ain't sailings time at the moment.

What has been the most popular sailing programme on TV in recent years? America's Cup? Probably not, I bet it was 3 men in a boat. Admittedly Mr Rhys-Jones and Co contributed to the ratings, but it's basically a show about messing about in boats. And yes they did race in it I know, but dara and the other one were clueless about it

If we're referencing pop culture then Pierce Brosnan trashed a very expensive racing catamaran in The Thomas Crown Affair.... not that anyone would have noticed he did it by grinding on a winch that wasn't even loaded with a rope, most blokes watching would have been more impressed by Rene Russo's norks.

Edited by kneewrecker - 09 Jul 14 at 11:13am