Another club closure

Originally posted by eric_c Whole mix of issues there. Forums are last century. This is a dinghy racing forum. People who enjoy a bimble on the water will likely be elsewhere, like our sailing club's facebook page. I don't know how many clubs enjoy a good stream of RYA 1&2 adult new members. It's not something that has been big in any of my clubs in the last 30 years. Lots of people try a few sports and drift out of them after a few years. In sailing it's rarely too late for them to return. Quite a few yacht owners I know are people who didn't really take to dinghy racing. As are one or two kitesurfers. Some of them may return with kids in toppers.

Forums are so last century? Some are but not all.

This is a racing forums?  10 years ago or more it wasn't exclusively a racing forum. Just as most clubs aren't exclusively about racing. Clubs are about many things: something to do, power boating (Ribs), socialising, course laying, boat bimbling, casual racing.........Granted, it has now become a monohull, elitist dinghy  racing forum. It has become exclusive rather than inclusive.

Quite a few clubs (judging by posts on here) enjoy a good throughput of 1&2 adults.  If a club can teach a hundred adults over a ten year period, not unreasonable, then potentially thats those folk plus kids, friends and spouses as members.....in reality it doesn't happen why? How many stay beyond 3 or 4 years? some do but not many.

How about we paint the walls a different shade of magnolia? No? ah well the status quo will do.

I think the Commercial clubs will win eventually it just a question of how long......shame shame shame

Clubs, classes and Internet forums are probably birds of a feather. They all act as engines for group polarisation, often leading activity/discussion in ever more specialised directions.

All activities (especially complex equipment based sports) probably have a finite life cycle - the keenest people end up running things and can't conceive that other people aren't as obsessed or struggle to catch up to the present state of the art. Easier to damn outsiders as lazy than consider trying to limit development or backtrack.

So either the sport disappears or some disruptive development moves things back to the centre ground. Of course anything that democratise and popularise a sport will be sniffed at by many who are at the elite end... I wonder if many clinker boat owners of the 1950-60s were disparaging about the boxy plywood boats of the dinghy boom?

There were a lot more women and young people at the start, they probably weren't driven away, they have probably migrated to social media.
I know a few people who just read this forum and the news section, just because there is only about fifty regular posters doesn't make it irrelevant, people are influenced, look at the skill set we have.

Originally posted by 423zero There were a lot more women and young people at the start, they probably weren't driven away, they have probably migrated to social media.

A bit of both I reckon. I can certainly remember some "banter" that proved to be the final straw for some.