RYA or new organisation

Well you all know my view of the RYA and I have supported it as many of my peers did for the forty or so years I've experienced it's existence, but it was always as a better the devil you know and as an entity to block Whitehalls potential incursion into taxing and licensing water use and as far as that bit goes they've done the job.
As the b**tard ginger step child nobody wanted, windsurfing has about got what we expected and those expectations were not particularly high in the first place but for a period the RYA afforded an umbrella within which we could organise ourselves unilaterally and we did and for a while things were OK, then came that day in Lyme Regis and the world changed after that. It was only since I turfed up on the dinghy scene which I always thought the RYA catered for that I realised they bugger you lot about more than they did us.

I never really thought anything we could organise would stand in the place of the RYA, but I do think a sort of Super Class/Body/Federation on the face of it governing Open Handicap racing and offering all the things I've been cracking on about, fairer handicaps, boat ratings, box rule event co ordination, adult race training, manufacturer/ trade liason re handicaps and ratings and with sensible folk to talk to rather than the sort of jobsworths you tend to come across at the RYA these days, that was all.

Edited by iGRF - 25 Apr 17 at 3:51pm

Originally posted by Do Different it really is the gift that keeps on giving isn't it?]

Well at least they gave you it, more than they did for us.

What gets me is it could work so much better with just a little effort, everybody accepts it'll never be perfect, but it could be more inclusive, transparent, automated and with less suspicion of 'gerrymandering' to use a clapped out expression.

Originally posted by transient Originally posted by Do Different . Loss of funding to chase medal targets could well be a blessing in disguise. Putting the focus back on simply sailing as fulfilling exercise in it's own right and forcing more local initiatives and self reliance. Yup. There's no Olympic legacy. It doesn't push the technology along. The associated corruption is appalling and while the sailing folk are undoubtedly squeaky clean everyone else seems to have asthma.  Spend the efforts on simply sailing.

How is windsurfing worse? The Techno's race at all the UKWA events, and outnumber the adults.

I can't think of any junior dinghy class that combines its opens with adult racing, apart from maybe the Laser 4.7.

I think the LWA have techno's too.

There's a UKWA event at Rutland this weekend. Why not come and take a look if you're not too far.