What classes will survive ?

Might I suggest that the best way to kill off sailing as a mass appeal sport is to concentrate all development on fragile, expensive boats that can only be sailed by lightweight acrobats on sheltered waters accompanied by a fleet of noisy, high powered gas guzzling RIBS. Modern skiff classes have a small part to play as a toy for an elite, and a source of revenue for a small number of salesmen masquerading as bouatbuilders. Their place will in the spectrum will, in time, be as important (?) as fleet board sailing.

Meanwhile the vast majority of sailors will continue to sail on more seamanlike craft... like i14's, Canoes, N12's, Merlins, 505's (all over 50 yaers old so they are hardly "post millentium".

Sailing has to face up to 2 major developments :

- the younger generations are getting bigger (leaving obseity problmes aside) whilst the boats on offer are increasingly for lightweight sailors;

- petrol is still cheap (believe it or not). Travelling will be increasingly limited, and clubs will not be able to run a huge flet of RIBS. People will have to sail where they live, and learn to enjoy more seamanlike boats that can sail with less patrol boat cover.

Gordon

Tack'ho,

1. I was specifically trying to eliminate the problem of the affluent mal-nourished. However, from one generation to another people are becoming taller and bigger. This will also happen in emerging economies as diets cease to limit skeletal development.

2. Boats have become increasing less dependant on crew weight as rigs develop. There are  fewer sailing oportunities for the larger fit sailor than 30 years ago. It used to be that many rugby players in England would sail in the summer. Now even the average scrum half would have to lose weight to be competitive in a Laser!

3. I presume you include the whole of Europe in your "anglo-saxons", and thus North America and the european colonies... in other words those countries where sailng is a major sport!

4. The development of sailing in emerging economies is a complex problem. One thing is certain - such development will not be through the mass expansion of skiffs. Cheap, locally built boats will be the way to go.

Gordon

I agree with what you are saying reference the skiffs Gordon, however you say "There are  fewer sailing oportunities for the larger fit sailor than 30 years ago". May I ask you to define Larger?

I actually feel most of boats seem to fit into the modal weight range,  the only way I'd ever get to the ideal laser weight (and this goes for an awful lot of the new singlehanders) is to get fat or spend all my time bulking up through protien shakes and gym work