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transient View Drop Down
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    Posted: 25 Oct 16 at 9:24am
Originally posted by Chris 249

As an outsider, can I ask why so many dinghy clubs in the UK choose Wednesday night?


It breaks up the working week nicely. Wednesday is a popular evening for many pastimes including popping up the pub for a couple of pints with the lads.
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iGRF View Drop Down
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Posts: 6499 		Post Options Post Options   Quote iGRF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Oct 16 at 9:32am
I've been spoilt locally over the years Tuesday night Longboard racing at Hythe, Wednesday afternoon dinghy racing on the lake at Redoubt although they screwed that about this year trying to move it later, and Thursday night Dinghies at Hythe.

Wednesday always used to be half day closing back in the days prior to 24/7 shopping so business types got the afternoon off.
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boatshed View Drop Down
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Posts: 457 		Post Options Post Options   Quote boatshed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Oct 16 at 12:54pm
Originally posted by Chris 249

As an outsider, can I ask why so many dinghy clubs in the UK choose Wednesday night?

In the dim and distant past, the days of cricket in the village green, warm beer and black & white telly, England used to enjoy half day closing for high street shops, banks etc and this was usually on a Wednesday.  They also closed at lunchtime and 12 noon on a Saturday if they opened at all.   This delivered ample time for leisure pursuits.   I think your answer lies somewhere in this bit of history.
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boatshed View Drop Down
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Posts: 457 		Post Options Post Options   Quote boatshed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Oct 16 at 12:57pm
Originally posted by iGRF


Wednesday always used to be half day closing back in the days prior to 24/7 shopping so business types got the afternoon off.

Ah, beat me to it.  Also, shopping wasn't a leisure activity and for most there was nothing to do on Wed afternoons.
Steve
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Posts: 1760 		Post Options Post Options   Quote maxibuddah Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Oct 16 at 1:38pm
Round our parts early closing was/is on a Thursday afternoon. Hadn't really thought why our club does racing on a Thursday but this could explain matters. Certainly better supported than our Sunday racing
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Posts: 822 		Post Options Post Options   Quote PeterG Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Oct 16 at 2:36pm
Half day closing must have a lot to do with it, but of course the reason half days were normally Weds is the same reason Wed is a common choice for mid week racing anyway - the clue being in the title - "mid".

Weekday evening racing has become more popular than weekend racing at both my old club, in Eastbourne, where Wed evening PRATT racing has become the place to be. Where I am now on the muddy upper reaches of the Exe esturary we can only sail at high tide, and so do between 2-4 race evenings a week on alternate weeks, as the tide suits. In contrast weekend racing is generally less well supported.

In both cases I think a critical factor in success for midweek evening racing is catering - people don't just come to sail, they come for the meal (hopefully a good one), drink and chat afterwards.
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Posts: 2538 		Post Options Post Options   Quote turnturtle Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Oct 16 at 3:47pm
I can't answer the social history, but from the POV of a bloke with a young family, Wednesday evening is 'no biggie' when securing the pass...
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Posts: 6499 		Post Options Post Options   Quote iGRF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Oct 16 at 4:06pm
Originally posted by PeterG

Half day closing must have a lot to do with it, but of course the reason half days were normally Weds is the same reason Wed is a common choice for mid week racing anyway - the clue being in the title - "mid".
Weekday evening racing has become more popular than weekend racing at both my old club, in Eastbourne, where Wed evening PRATT racing has become the place to be. Where I am now on the muddy upper reaches of the Exe esturary we can only sail at high tide, and so do between 2-4 race evenings a week on alternate weeks, as the tide suits. In contrast weekend racing is generally less well supported.
In both cases I think a critical factor in success for midweek evening racing is catering - people don't just come to sail, they come for the meal (hopefully a good one), drink and chat afterwards.


Yes the catering is always a bonus on Thursdays, something to eat and a beer afterwards.

So you were a PRATT then? Jason (Andrews) always spoke highly of PRAT racing. Then what would he know, he was probably responsible for the bar record being constantly broken at Merlin week
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Posts: 437 		Post Options Post Options   Quote zippyRN Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Oct 16 at 6:41pm
Originally posted by transient

Originally posted by Chris 249

As an outsider, can I ask why so many dinghy clubs in the UK choose Wednesday night?


It breaks up the working week nicely. Wednesday is a popular evening for many pastimes including popping up the pub for a couple of pints with the lads.


Wednesday afternoons  are also the traditional  'half day'  in  higher education and the military   where sports /local  Adventure training  /  mid week drinking takes place 
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Chris 249 View Drop Down
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Posts: 2041 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Chris 249 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 25 Oct 16 at 9:59pm
Thanks guys, that makes sense now.  Where I used to live we had racing at a different club every weeknight. Monday evening and Friday evening both worked very well too, because they made the weekend seem longer.

Down here, oddly enough, midweek racing is almost all done in yachts, possibly because mast-up dinghy storage is rare and it's therefore a bit harder to get dinghies rigged and unrigged.
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