Another club closure

Another point about cycling, at present, a big slice of the market is a 'new' sector, gravel bikes, which are selling well because, in my simple view, mountain bikes have got silly, people want something which ticks more boxes. Dinghy sailing doesn't have anything very inspiring right now, nobody is marketing new classes other than the 'eros, which to someone on the fringes are just yet more single sail single hander one-trick ponies. 20/30 years ago, we had people who'd dropped out of dinghies looking at RS400s, L4000s, and 'wanting some of that'.

Originally posted by Sussex Lad Quick question for all: Your adult 1&2 graduates. How long do they typically persist with sailing. How many are still sailing 1,  2, 3 or 10 years later?

I did level one and two more than ten years ago, but already involved with water based sports, sailing as 'crew' and kayaking, just decided to helm, did RYA courses mainly due to hiring off the beach boats on holiday, no one ever asked for proof though.

Originally posted by eric_c Originally posted by ChrisI Originally posted by fab100 ..... Think this is a really important point and totally correct.... sailing takes huge time on the water to get really good and to race well, although not too long to learn basics. Our club has many more signing up for our 'General Sailing' day every weekend (most of whom have done their RYA !&2) rather than for the other day which is 'Racing'. We are trying to intro a fun racing element on this day (short course 'wacky racing') but I think this is the step that has to be solved in order to grow the sport generally (i.e. the problem is not the numbers doing our 1&2 courses which are choc-a-bloc full). To be controversial.....is 'not making people pay' for this bit (unlike the 1&2 courses at our club), and therefore not being able to pay for qualified help to make sure it always gets managed and supervised well, the possible problem with this step? Like most clubs we are always debating what volunteers 'should' do and what we will pay people to do....which is the commercial sailing centre vs voluntary club issue in a nutshell. But in other sports, people don't turn up as beginners and expect to compete with the top people. When I was younger, people bought old boats as beginners and competed among the other beginners (and a few experienced, un competitive people with old boats). Do people buy racing bikes and expect to be at the front of their local club after a month or two? I think you raise a good point about paying to improve, coaching is very valauble at club level, more could be done to provide this, although I think it will be much easier to do on a class basis. There arecoaches, and there are plenty of punters who could benefit, there seems to be a gap in making it happen except in a few classes.

Originally posted by fab100

This is an interesting discussion and I've so far only been lurking, with not much to add until now.
I absolutely agree the great-god television is a bane in so many ways.
But so far, I think we've missed a major barrier to entry; when it comes to club racing, particularly in dinghies, we've all got too good in a hugely skill's-based sport. (even you TT)
Look at the photos from back in the 'heyday' - the clothing was crap, the sails were often awful (much of any Mirror fleet with the lowest-bidder Jeckells sails) and the majority were bumbling around, not flat, not trimmed, rig not tuned and with no idea what a wind shift or bend was.
A beginner therefore had company.
It's not like that anymore. Our club's Cadet and Tera fleets get more formal training in a season than an Olympian used to over a campaign, back when it was every amateur (or even "amateur") for himself.
Sails are better, boats are better, clothing's better and some of us have had decades of practice getting better. Anyone starting from scratch, aged over 25 (say) is really going to struggle.
Jumping on a bike, or a paddleboard does not require dinghy racing's diverse skill and knowledge sets in the same way. Ours being the ultimate sport is truly both a blessing and a curse.
We can be as inclusive as Scandinavian convention on woke-ness, but in being inclusive we should surely recognise that it's a damn steep learning curve for anyone and everyone that starts from scratch.
Annoyingly, I don't have a magic bullet for this (not even my book is the universal panacea, dammit). Even when we baby-boomers shuffle off, too many have passed the knowledge to the offspring. Perhaps the answer is a pitch simply that sailing is the ultimate sport, for life, and you need to get (your kids) in on the secret. And get Jo Rowling to shift her focus Arthur Ransome-wards.



Think this is a really important point and totally correct.... sailing takes huge time on the water to get really good and to race well, although not too long to learn basics.
Our club has many more signing up for our 'General Sailing' day every weekend (most of whom have done their RYA !&2) rather than for the other day which is 'Racing'.
We are trying to intro a fun racing element on this day (short course 'wacky racing') but I think this is the step that has to be solved in order to grow the sport generally (i.e. the problem is not the numbers doing our 1&2 courses which are choc-a-bloc full).
To be controversial.....is 'not making people pay' for this bit (unlike the 1&2 courses at our club), and therefore not being able to pay for qualified help to make sure it always gets managed and supervised well, the possible problem with this step?
Like most clubs we are always debating what volunteers 'should' do and what we will pay people to do....which is the commercial sailing centre vs voluntary club issue in a nutshell.


Edited by ChrisI - 19 May 22 at 1:02pm