Promoting Sailing Clubs

Originally posted by iiiitick What has not improved the situation is that the RYA has granted each club something in the region of £50,000 to improve facilities and they are even buying us another rib that we do not really need. This is to encourage participation in sport, make the nation slimmer and fitter. But does it?

Useless quango

Boats gone gangsta? Image make over time, get Lethal Bizzle to do the next sound track to the Byte Class promo vid....

Sport England money comes partly from the government and partly from the lottery.  I sort of think that if clubs need better facilities then they should be making some effort to get that themselves, and that the bigger commercially run clubs should not get much at all.  But these grants are not easy to get; Sport England doesn't have much money at the moment, and what money it does have tends to go to those sports that can prove they are increasing participation.

I think the idea of joining a small club, as a newcomer the sport, is really off putting. The idea of trying to break into a clique that have known each other for 20 years, and the prospect of having to do 5 Sunday's of duties is utterly depressing. The reward, the chance to sail a rotting Enterprise on a windless gravel pit? And then you have to rush round like a blue arsed fly to mow the lawn and cook supper.
A cheap matinee film and slap up at the local world buffet is surely more appealing for most families! I simply can't see how many of the smaller, remote, clubs can appeal to fresh blood.    Why don't RS run a professional club, where there is a spa, pool, badminton courts and all boats are club/RS owned?