Promoting Sailing Clubs

I have posted before, I will again, IMO there are too many clubs and it's diluting the racing available.  We have sailors continuing at clubs with crappy little sailing waters, trees, poor access, mixed up fleets (no fleets at all), bad landlords etc... when there are perfectly good clubs within 20-30 minutes drive offering far better sailing, facilities and potential for growth. I applaud anyone getting stuck in and volunteering to help, just wish there was some slightly more long-termed view and/or some route/guidance coming from above that would help the bigger clubs flourish, the medium clubs expand and the small clubs, die off - but crucially, die off gracefully so no one is lost who wants to participate.

Many small club members would be lost the sport, I think. Some of us decide on the club because of atmosphere, or the kind of sailing/training on offer.

Anyone have any idea how many Evesham members settled elsewhere? Or Wraysbury Lake? I don't suppose there is any way of knowing.

Should all the clubs put in basketball courts to encourage benefits class kids to come along, then? Seems to be the new "sport for the masses". I do agree that throwing money at sailing might not be the most sensible thing to do with it, even though we have boats where part of the cost has come from grants, and families have joined because of what we have to offer.

I quite like it that the kids at our club are generally doing well in school, are polite and well mannered (by teenage standards, anyway) and have parents I enjoy talking to. Certainly a better influence on my kids than the yoofs hanging around the local skate park.

Wish we had an environment where money was chucked at us, we are self funded, teach kids to Olympic level are starved of facilities and resources, when we do apply for planning consent to extend to merge the bar and galley and provide a training room a bit soundproofed from the rest of the club all we get is an objection from Hythe Town Council and the planning held up nearly a year to have a balcony 'removed' from the drawings. If and when we get it, we will then have to try and raise funds to build it.

Meanwhile the other council Shepway, chucks tens of thousands of pounds at consultants, or sets up clubs for sports nobody really does much these days (cricket, hockey athletics) or that are already catered for in abundance.

We offer the only access to the sea for twenty miles, yet fight for and have to build our own ramp from decking material, we have no chance of disabled access, if any of us became disabled that would be it, game over, it is just screwed up the way local government works within itself and no consultation with the actual people they are supposed to represent.

Originally posted by iGRF Wish we had an environment where money was chucked at us, we are self funded, teach kids to Olympic level are starved of facilities and resources, when we do apply for planning consent to extend to merge the bar and galley and provide a training room a bit soundproofed from the rest of the club all we get is an objection from Hythe Town Council and the planning held up nearly a year to have a balcony 'removed' from the drawings. If and when we get it, we will then have to try and raise funds to build it. Meanwhile the other council Shepway, chucks tens of thousands of pounds at consultants, or sets up clubs for sports nobody really does much these days (cricket, hockey athletics) or that are already catered for in abundance. We offer the only access to the sea for twenty miles, yet fight for and have to build our own ramp from decking material, we have no chance of disabled access, if any of us became disabled that would be it, game over, it is just screwed up the way local government works within itself and no consultation with the actual people they are supposed to represent.