Dinghy popularity

Do you learn to ride a bike on a downhill MTB or on a kids little overweight large plump wheeled heap with stabilisers?

Originally posted by yellowwelly . so what 'beginner' new boat would you have them buy that will see them through the early to intermediate stages?

Right now? Not much choice, as I said before... Big blokes - Phantom, Small blokes Blaze, Big Crew Alto Small crew V3000, at least with the exception of perhaps the Blaze and the Alto they could lift them up a beach.

As it is they get told Laser, 2000, Vago, all manner of dross.

Originally posted by Rupert Is it winter? I'm sure that is when we normally get this thread.

Originally posted by winging it THEY DON'T WANT THAT SORT OF THING!!!  Please, speak to some genuine newcomers, they do not want the thrill factor, they want a boat they can sail and enjoy while they improve.  They do not want to run before they can walk because they know they will fall flat on their faces if they do.  You are out of touch with the grass roots, thinking everyone wants to go fast and race.  There an awful lot of sailors who don't want to do that, and who are quite happy cruising sedately round a pond.

Well said.

Well either way, the wonderful thing about sailing is the choice and variety it offers and one of the very reasons it was enduring to me, that there was no serious cheque book element given the similarity of the class one raced, plus however good you got or think you were, every now and then 'God' would send a shift to the other side of the course bringing his vengeance and every back marker down upon you...

But and this is the point that choice is eroded if the craft get to the point that even those who would promote them cannot handle them, it is the same kind of elitism that money brings into sport wether by being cash poor or as is the case time poor (in the need for many hours of practise to master whatever the desirable end of the sport is), one section of the sport divides itself from the other, then ultimately the whole sport suffers.

All manner of folk are attracted, I fully understand and agree, potentially the cruisers way out number the racers, but cruising types don't always need clubs and classes and as I see it, it is the clubs and classes that need boosting. The lack of growing classes, falling attendance figures, iniquities in the handicap system, handling and can racing suitability problems of the nineties generation, have all conspired to bring about the circustances we now find ourselves in, not to mention the worse recession in modern times.

I've used the expression before, innovate or die, but it remains relevant to dinghy racing, either classes need to naval gaze a bit more, or the likes of RS need to drop the bar in terms of the skill level required to pilot their new creations, less attention needs to be paid to the elitist jockeys and their requirements and more thought into how modern materials and out of the box design thinking can be channeled into getting lighter easier race devices in the hands of folk with the time and money to use them if we ever expect to see a reversal of the trend away from sailing club based racing, it's not gone critical yet, but if we don't keep an eye on the future there won't be one, is all I'm saying.