SNAKES!

I have yet to see a 2nd day beginner who could race, putting them under a lot of pressure throwing them into a race.

RE "Black Run" tell me honestly who hasn't heard of tales from beginners who endured the inevitable 'black run' by error.?

Many a dinner party conversation turns to tales from the slopes like that, but contrast that say with the beginner experience on offer to our would be grown up neophyte into sailing where, lets say hailing from deepest Surrey they decide to approach our friends at Frensham Pond.. (Tongue in cheek here for Clives benefit) Where after a couple of years of the public being advised that the website would harm their computer, the would be sailor is now offered a 5 day, yes 5 days starting at 8.30 in the morning course and at the end a certificate in your new found excitement of being able to master a bloody GP14... FFS, come on now what are we thinking?

And... I bet racing isn't even mentioned.

Or... if you want the gold star you get to use a Laser Bahia.

So what should happen?

There should be a rack of Aeros (Or better still Solutions) and on DAY 2 they should be racing them around the cans..

Edited by iGRF - 23 Jan 18 at 1:59pm

I must say I despair at the foiling mania that seems to have gripped some people within the RYA.  That is definitely not going to attract loads of 'normal' people to sailing, on the contrary, they'll see this and go bungee jumping instead, which looks far less complicated.

Originally posted by iGRF Originally posted by 423zero iGRF, Do you have any evidence at all that established classes such as the three I own Mirror, Enterprise and Minisail, plus other similar classes have contributed to the decline in sailing ? No, nor did I cite them as contributors to sailing decline . My opinion for what it's worth remains exactly where it was when I first surfaced here having failed to learn to dinghy sail in a Musto Skiff and that was that the products that were then being promoted as the pinnacle of the sport were ridiculous in that nobody, not even the good guys could use them for what they were intended for any more than fifty per cent of the time and often less than that. The ludicrous over powered straight rockered drivel from Bethwaite, coupled to the various offerings from RS, the 700, 600, the 300 and now I realise the 200, all disasters marketed 80's style if you weren't able to sail them it's your fault for being somehow not good enough.... What did you think was going to happen to the activity with that attitude?

Too many people banging on about 'the decline' referenced to the boom years of the 60s.
That was a lifetime ago. Irrelevant.
We can't go back to selling 10,000 mirrors a year or whatever it was.
We need to look at what's happened over say the last ten years, build on the positives and maybe undo a few negatives. Get it right for the people who are involved now. Concentrate on being a small sport done well.