2020 Dinghy Show

AllyPally: 9126msq
Farnborough: ~16,000msq

The " trapeze tacking competition " was part of my suggestion to include within the new appealing 2021 show.

Lets hope the RYA take the opportunity in the new halls to try and get some of the people who used to go, back as visitors

Originally posted by polc1410 If it's £££ - then there is a question about financial viability of a class...

A pukka Class with an RYA registered Class Association gets a heavy discount on the cost of a stand, anything else pays full price.

It actually doesn't take that much money to run a Class Association (after all you don't employ anyone unless you're a Laser class or something), and as JS says the cost of the show looms large. Large as in by far the largest single item in the budget. Second to that used to be printing and postage for newsletters, but that's largely on line now. The smaller and more interesting classes at the show might have 50 paid up members paying say 30 quid a year, and that's their entire income. In my CA committee days our entire publicity budget consisted of the show and ads in Y&Y for the show issue and the Racing Classes review. There was no money for anything else. The only other expenditure I recall was newsletters and the like, plus prizes for Nationals and Travellers, and events weren't subsidised by the class, they had to break even.

I suspect to an extent Social media is an issue for the show. It used to be that it was a once a year meet up to see your friends who were now in other classes, compare notes, gossip and the like, but I expect that mostly happens electronically now.

Edited by JimC - 04 Mar 20 at 9:12pm

Originally posted by ian.r.mcdonald I am hoping that the RYA throw away the " How we run the show" file and start with a clean screen/ piece of paper in the new venue. Looking forward to seeing an all new format, based on the fact that 75% of the visitors are repeat customers and need some all new stuff to encourage them to visit. With Winter becoming a rarity, and a free car park perhaps the drive south is viable.

75% repeat visits. Maybe they actually want fresh blood?!

What *should* the show do - forget what. It does that doesn't enthuse you - that is irrelevant it may enthuse others. What is it that you feel is missing...

Originally posted by Jack Sparrow I've been involved in many Stands (building, manning, setting up, negotiating with brands etc..) over the years, and the cost for classes is debilitating (it's the biggest yearly cost to some classes). Add to this the way the RYA finacially penalises 'new' classes, due to none membership of the RYA (who's rules dictate that you must have a minimum number of members to be a member). And well, I hope they do pass on any savings, rather than pocket them - and look at their rulings for small / new classes. (The Farr 3.7 case is a bit odd, as we operate as an Area Group under the NZ Class which is affiliated to the YNZ)

There is an oddity. A class can't sell a boat on their stand. (You'd think they would be getting cheaper than builders)

Niche builders - can't justify a stand.

Yet - software providers managed to provide a stand for software that I doubt will sell enough copies to cover the cost a CA would have paid for a year.

You have groups like the NSSA who won't exactly be rich - do they pay top dollar too?

Yet I don't recall seeing say a RS Tera stand - I assume they were part of the builder stand? But a parent trying to help child pick a boat actually should be talking to the CA about coaching support etc not a builder? Do Oppie and Cadet caught my attention of the youth classes...