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Another club closure

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CT249 View Drop Down
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    Posted: 27 May 22 at 2:43pm
Originally posted by maxibuddah

Years gone by people were enthused by the Swallows and Amazons, those days are gone into the distant memories of the eldery that inhabit clubs these days. 

I get your point, but we got an extremely keen family of five into our club a year or two back because the eldest kid (about 10) read S & A.  He got the family into a Heron and they turned up every week, with some of them in Toppers.

They moved interstate because of job opportunities, and then swiftly sent me an email asking what club they should join there. I think they joined the local Heron association, with a better boat.

A couple of months ago we bought a Huon Pine 7'6" lug rig dinghy for fun and to sail on our front-yard puddle, often with the grandsprogs. We took it to the club one day and not just the sailors loved it - the fisho's kids came over and raved about it as well.  It just seems to show that the "old fashioned" stuff still seems to work very well.

Stuff like foiling Moths have been around for over 20 years, so for young kids they are "prehistoric" just like S & A. The "latest" concept in sailing dinghies is as old as clinker National 12s were when the sport was booming.




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Post Options Post Options   Quote turnturtle Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 May 22 at 2:56pm
Originally posted by CT249

Originally posted by turnturtle


I do wonder if sailing in general has a bit of parsimony issue 

Have you checked the Sports England and comparable studies to see what most people spend on sport? It wouldn't buy much in terms of sails or sailing kit.

That's a good point - probably worth widening the scope of the comparable to what people spend of leisure activities in general, given I think the general consensus is we are including recreational sailing alongside racing in terms of active participation to help prevent club closures.


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Post Options Post Options   Quote sargesail Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 May 22 at 3:20pm
Originally posted by maxibuddah


Originally posted by sargesail

Originally posted by maxibuddah

Football for the most part is engrained into your soul at a young age. You grow up with it and junior wants a new shirt each season at a rediculous cost. But they do and that will be the reason they get a season tcket if they can ever afford one, and they travel. Football, like a lot of sports is a religion, you have faith. There is no rational about it, which is why they lavish vast amounts of money on it.
Sailing on the whole is not a sport you can watch, lets face it on the whole its boring to watch, unless of course you are really into it. There are no teams to get behind to generate that 'faith following'. So unless you were brought up on it you are going to struggle to get people to commit in the same manner.


For me: delete football. Insert sailing. Delete new shirt insert new sail.

If I can’t be sailing I like nothing better than to watch it.

I’m a believer! Too many negative vibes here! Where are these clubs that are closing (outside landlord pressures). How will we know that Duncan’s club actually did survive beyond his generation?

yes, thats you though isn't it? I not meaning to sound bad here but you are a convert, a believer. You don't need convincing. However many do.
Clubs are closing, or at threat (and not including landlord enforced closures here) because simply they do not have enough people joining to replace the leavers. That is what needs addressing. You need a combination of
1. retain existing members
2. Bring new blood into the club.
Number 2 is the most difficult when people don't see sailing as something they want to do. Years gone by people were enthused by the Swallows and Amazons, those days are gone into the distant memories of the eldery that inhabit clubs these days. People seem to only be enthused by Amazon.co.uk these days. You are going to struggle to fight that.


Well yes it is. I’m glad you raise Swallows and Amazons - it became part of my belief system well before I started sailing.

The point is that to get longevity of engagement you need to make the sport part of people’s belief system….

Now let me ask again: (lots of talk of doom and gloom and one minute to midnight early in this thread). Can anyone name a club which has closed other than through landlord pressures in the last 10 years?

I seem to remember that in an earlier, similar thread it was recognised that at the point of seconds to midnight there is a tendency for ‘younger’ folk to finally take on the organisational roles they have so far resisted.
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Post Options Post Options   Quote 423zero Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 May 22 at 4:12pm
Brookvale sailing club, Birmingham, closed due loss of membership.
Got to have young people in the club to take over, it's not doom and gloom, it's stating a fact, small clubs are in dire states,glossing it over and talking positive won't change it.
Robert
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Post Options Post Options   Quote rodney Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 May 22 at 4:19pm

[/QUOTE]

 Can anyone name a club which has closed other than through landlord pressures in the last 10 years?[/QUOTE]
How about Queensmead SC? I do my best to stay away from this forum but was unable to resist this challenge  Cry

HOAC and QSC were forced to close by HS2 on 1st October 2020. All activities on the site including Sailing have ceased.

Planning is underway with London Borough of Hillingdon, HOAC and HS2 to develop the new site and move the operations and boats hopefully in Spring 2022. HOAC are busy packing and preparing for the move.

QSC plan to follow HOAC in its move to the new site and will remain a Virtual Club during the Transition.
Rodney Cobb
Suntouched Sailboats Limited
http://www.suntouched.co.uk
[EMAIL=rodney@suntouched.co.uk">rodney@suntouched.co.uk
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Post Options Post Options   Quote turnturtle Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 May 22 at 4:36pm
melton Mowbray?
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Post Options Post Options   Quote fab100 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 May 22 at 5:36pm
Originally posted by turnturtle

melton Mowbray?


Porky pies?
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Post Options Post Options   Quote turnturtle Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 May 22 at 5:50pm
Lol - I think the lake was was called Frisby Lake iirc!

Ragley was the other little one locally to me in the U.K. that went - I suspect Duncan would know more about that though.
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Post Options Post Options   Quote Grumpycat Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 May 22 at 7:46pm
Tbh i have no real idea , I had assumed it had closed in the mid to late 90s at the same sort of time as Warwick and Evesham. But a quick Google search shows the web site is no longer active but they were still running opens in 2002 and I found some drone footage of boats sailing as late as 2011.

But this has going on since the sailing boom of the 1950/60s . My own club gained members when AP sailing club closed in the 1970s and when Warwick sailing club closed in the 90s.
And I am sure if and when we close other local clubs will gain regular sailors from us. 



Edited by Grumpycat - 27 May 22 at 8:29pm
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Post Options Post Options   Quote turnturtle Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 May 22 at 8:18pm
They were definitely still sailing in 2014ish - I was there having a picnic with a group of friends and their kids and the boats were out; it was the last time one of the Dads was with us sadly - which I guess puts some perspective on it all
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