Twenty years from now

Originally posted by bustinben Originally posted by fab100 Originally posted by jeffers Originally posted by fab100 Originally posted by Thunder Road How many sailing clubs will be left in 20 years time? There's the absolute nub. I believe that, unless we do something radical and soon, the 'missing generation' means club-sailor numbers will plummet when we 1970s sailing boomers finally hang up our wetsuits, at which point I can imagine at least 50% of dinghy clubs will become uneconomic and disappear. Einstein defined madness is repeatedly doing the same thing but expecting a different outcome.  The point at which the RYA will twig this, and realise they have completely destroyed grass-roots sailing in exchange for a few shiny trinkets (aka olympic medals), is when they find they don't have sufficient kids coming along to be cannon fodder for the next medalist to clamber over on their way to the top. By then it will be too late and the damage may well be irreparable. What a waste. The only hope is we kick some sense into them before it is too late, although sailing falling out of the accursed olympics might help too. I am not optimistic: not many revolutions are led by near-pensioners Some dinghy clubs have very active youth sections (to the point of bursting at the seams).  Hunts went through a worrying patch about 7 or 8 years back now but is in much ruder health membership wise now than it was all thanks to having a great training arm. This is what gets the kids out and many parents have given it a go too. We have a thriving youth section too, and have had forever.  But the missing generation i refer too is the 20-40 year olds - the youth of yesteryear perhaps who for whatever reason have dropped out of sailing in unprecedented numbers and show no signs of returning. Who runs all the youth programmes when we are too old and there is no one following along? I think the reality is that sailing is far too expensive for the non-1980-2005 house buying generation.  I'm one of the few 20-40 year olds who still manages to sail (and by that I don't mean turning up at a pond for a plod around), and I can only do it because I've been very lucky with the opportunities I've had. When you've raced to a good level as a youth, pottering about on a pond on a sunday morning isn't going to cut it.  You want big racecourses on the open sea with competitive fleets.  To do that, you need to travel.  Travelling is very expensive in both time and money, and if you're trying to save up 50 grand for a house deposit it's just not viable.  Might as well do some cycling. I think what the RYA performance machine  has done is show younger generations how good sailing can be, so they're no longer happy with what the bulk of the sport was when numbers in the missing age group were high.

Originally posted by bustinben   When you've raced to a good level as a youth, pottering about on a pond on a sunday morning isn't going to cut it.  You want big racecourses on the open sea with competitive fleets.  To do that, you need to travel.  Travelling is very expensive in both time and money, and if you're trying to save up 50 grand for a house deposit it's just not viable.  Might as well do some cycling. I think what the RYA performance machine  has done is show younger generations how good sailing can be, so they're no longer happy with what the bulk of the sport was when numbers in the missing age group were high.

whilst there are some 20-40 year olds who might relish big courses and travelling to large events and everything at club level is simply too sh*t, I wonder how many of them are 'pre-kids'..... the one thing I missed about my Solo in 2014 was the Wednesday night racing from the previous year.  I never did very well at it being 100kg in a boat optimised for 70-odd; there was never much wind to give this a dog a day and when there was a decent breeze I'd usually take my windsurfing kit.  But that routine of pottering around a pond to clear your head and get some time to yourself.... turns out it's not so bad after all.  Enough to miss it anyway.

Edited by turnturtle - 28 Jan 15 at 12:37pm

Originally posted by jeffers My daughter is showing absolutely no interest in racing at the moment. She just loves to get out in her own boat with some of her sailing friends in their boats (oppie gaggle) and sail around and mess around on the water. Maybe that will change, maybe it will not. One thing for sure is that I do not have the time or resources to get her to the squads so it is unlikely she will take that route unless something changes in the coming years. We have a fair few kids who are like that too. She does race in a Mirror but she does that for fun not for the competition and to learn more about sailing.

My kids are the same and while I like being with them and having fun I'm also a little sad they're not interested in the racing aspect at all. 

But then.... in my opinion, this is all too common across a whole range of sports and hobbies.  School sport since the "New Labour" interventions of the 90's has become PC-obsessed, non-competitive and frankly, boring for most of the kids I know (or whose parents like me despair of it).  Some of those who went through this system are now the PE teachers of today, continuing this non-competitive nonsense to your kids, and mine.  In 20 years, the British press will be looking bad teary-eyed at Sir Ben and the 'Golden Generation'* who won all those medals in 2012 and wondering why we're at the back again... we need to go back in time, to capture the spirit of past triumphs....

1. Winning is good.
2. Losing is bad.
3. We need to celebrate winning.
4. We need to shame losers and throw sticks at them.
5. We need to get in our ships, sail to foreign lands and claim them.
6. We should kill anyone who doesn't agree that King William and Queen Kate are their rightful rulers.

... oh hang on, we tried that.  Perhaps not.  Besides our Navy is a bit naff nowadays.... best stick to Finn sailing


*a term previously used by the Sun to describe a group of serial losers who, as well as being fabulously overpaid, have also proved a very unwelcome diversion to getting out on the water in recent summers by losing, badly, at Football, to practically everyone of any note whatsoever

Originally posted by Jack Sparrow Ummm.... I take your point Ben, but I bought a flat 1989 when interest rates were 15%. Then the housing crash happened. I lived in it for 8 years and sold it at a loss of 1/3rd of the value I bought it for. Then there were subsequent recessions that kicked the crap out of the Advertising / Design world, with the ensuing redundancies etc... During this time we also had a son, with all the costs that that entails. But during all of this ( and I have to add, only ever earning an average salary ) I have had more boats than you can shake a stick at. Including designing and building them. So ultimately it is down to priorities and not down to cost. Sailing needs to be made relevant, with a rule set made MUCH more simple, for it to engage fully with future generations. What will the future be for sailing in 20 years?.... All the kids will be sailing Farr 3.7's instead of boring Toppers of course! See you at the Dinghy Show (Stand C56 - Butler Boats)