SNAKES!

I think the biggest thing that the article misses is the way not only the high performance, but also the low performance classes have collapsed and there is a much higher percentage of boats in the moderate performance bands.

It's always interesting reading something from an insiders perspective as to 'what went wrong' in this instance I think he jumps about in time a bit, you can't mix the seventies with now, it was such a totally different era, and you can't ignore that in this sports desperate protectionism it brings about it's own demise time and again.

In my mind in recent times two things contributed to decline and they were the breakdown brought about by the Assym period of the nineties and the battle against it and the rush to roto mould of the early noughties.

My view is that with having finally spotted the problem, the combination of boats like the Aero/Zero and the lipstick application to the turkey classes, finally that 'too difficult to bother with anyway' part of the three things that make the sport less accessible has been dealt with and 'they' who would supply us with the garbage we have to sail in, may have finally spotted we're in the twenty-first century and want instant access and excitement in order to selfie our pursuits to our friends and buddies..

Now if only we can get Easy AND Exciting developed and packaged instead of fixation with 'you need to get to know the boat and spend less time trying to undo the damage Messrs Bethwaite inflicted upon us there could still be a future.

Two pence worth.

Interesting that the 3 boats you own could be said to have been major contributors to the boom in sailing. I can't really see that they contributed to the fall, as the class association for each of them actually only played a part in the story of the boats. With Mirrors and Minisails, far more boats were owned by people who never raced, and may have been totally unaware that there even was a CA.

That all 3 classes have faded in comparison to the glory days has far more to do with the way families live than internal pressures and politics, as Do Different says.

I suspect we should learn to live with sailing as a more niche sport, encouraging people to try it, and fit it into their lives in such a way that works for them, whether it be racing on the circuit or at a club, playing on an estuary or pond in the summer, hiring a Pico at a centre or going on a beach sailing holiday every couple of years. There should be fun, accessible boats that people can jump in and get a buzz from with only a modicum of skill - indeed, there are plenty out there already. Currently, making them a bit heavy is the most common way of taking them - or adding a hull, of course. There should also be boats out there for those who want to master something which will give equivalent thrills to sailors wth more experience, boats for those who want close, chess on the water style racing, boats for those who want to camp-cruise, and for every other wish. The diversity is what makes sailing, in all its forms, interesting.

Originally posted by craiggo Following the first article which I found to be overly aggressive, harsh and somewhat one sided, this follow up seemed a lot more balanced and weighed up some of the genuine reasons for decline and also where the support has picked up. What is interesting, and I'm not sure if it will be captured in the next article is how some of these classes that have suffered what looked like non recoverable crashes have seemingly risen from the ashes, while those that this article hails as improving the recent situation are now struggling. I guess these are short term fluctuations and need to be considered carefully against the longer-term view.