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your responsibilities as a sailor
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pondmonkey View Drop Down
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    Posted: 14 May 13 at 2:59pm
A topic that came up in discussion a week or so ago... 

What are our responsibilities as sailors towards the sport? 

How much time and effort should we be putting in just to facilitate the sport both internally within say a club or class association, or through promotion to the general public?  

I appreciate from the outset this is going to be one of those 'no right answer' questions, but it would be interesting to hear people's opinions on it.  

I'll give you the background to our own conversation, hopefully to provide some insight... I had read online someone accusing 'circuit only RYA' sailors as being parasites for not being involved, or supporting a local sailing club.  A view I personally thought sounded a tad distasteful, I know if I had plenty of free time to travel around the country, heck- the world, I couldn't think of any better way to do it than through sailing events and windsurfing adventures.  Of course the trade off would be no personal requirement for a local sailing club.   

Secondly -sort of connected- we had our own club open the other day.  I felt a sense of obligation to attend, even though the forecast looked like it was going to be a hammering.  Frankly with a good breeze and a free day, I had a better day out windsurfing.  I don't regret the decision at all, but I do still feel a mild sense of 'letting the side down' for not showing up, paying my entry free and probably joining the bottom half of the fleet who dutifully retired when they got blown out in a race of attrition.   A bit of ingrained 'group think' going on for sure, something my windsurfing buddies were all taking the piss out of me for.

Finally, I've noted that amongst dinghy sailors we all seem very keen to promote the sport to outsiders- bringing in fresh blood, boost membership numbers.  However we stick our heads in the sand when comes to the participation figures showing sharp declines, buoyed up maybe with our own class or club minor victories shielding us from the big picture.  

Contrast this with the windsurfing community- everyone seems to accept that the hey-day is over, and most are quite content with it being a minority sport with little interest in promoting it to the general public.  I was chatting to a windsurfer about this difference, and he simply asked a question... why do you give a sh*t about getting more people sailing?  The only answer I could give him was 'more people to race against'.  It didn't sound very philosophical and I'm sure there must be another reason somewhere?

Sorry for the muddled opening post- hopefully you'll get the gist of the questions being asked... if not please ignore this thread and we can get back to discussing trademarks and contracts for Torch dinghies.
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RS400atC View Drop Down
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Posts: 3011 		Post Options Post Options   Quote RS400atC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 13 at 3:19pm
I don't regard those who sail the circuits and don't join a club as parasites, but it's a view I've heard.
In my view, if you want to sail at the highest level you can, you have to be very singleminded. Maybe when you've peaked, you will then have more to put back into the sport later on.
 
I don't feel we need to evangelise the sport, but anyone who does want to have a go should have the same opportunities (or better!) that I did. That means amateur clubs that are cheap to join as a junior.
 
It seems to me we have a fair supply of club members, but struggle to get decent turnouts.
Also we struggle to get people to look beyond their local clubs. The RS400 has 1000 boats scattered around, but open meeting attendances are not good. Not unique as a class I'm sure.
 
On the whole at club level, people have to break even, somebody has to put in whatever is taken out, but some clubs seem to have more people wanting to run things than want to take part.
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Rupert View Drop Down
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Posts: 8956 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Rupert Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 13 at 3:23pm
I guess if you enjoy being a member of a club, it makes sense to try and attract new members, not so much to race against, but to share the enjoyment of the club and ensure it is going to carry on existing. Same goes for a dinghy class too, really.

Also, when I started sailing, people helped me. Would be wrong not to pass that on.

As for attending meetings to show support - I agree that there is a feeling of guilt about not doing so, but if you are going to hate it, and enjoy smething else, surely it is a no-brainer. You are far more likely to go back to the dinghy feeling good about the sport if you didn't get blown away on a freezing cold day when your heart wasn't in it anyway.
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2547 View Drop Down
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Posts: 1151 		Post Options Post Options   Quote 2547 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 13 at 3:43pm
Originally posted by RS400atC

I don't regard those who sail the circuits and don't join a club as parasites, but it's a view I've heard.

How many people actually do that? I suspect there are only a handful of people so hardly worth getting upset about ...
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Posts: 247 		Post Options Post Options   Quote hum3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 13 at 4:21pm
I've been one of those so-called 'parasites'.
 
It basically boils down to time and not having a local club which I felt I belonged to. I'd rather spend my time doing things I enjoy, vs supporting a club I don't feel loyalty to.
 
I've been fleet captain at a previous club, given weekends helping out with winter coaching and my partner has been a class rep, so we don't feel too much guilt.
 
We're looking to move house soon, and there certainly is a local club that we'll be joining, and we'll certainly be giving up our time.
 
It certainly raises a question about the club structure generally. Perhaps there are too many clubs, and some consolidation wouldn't be a bad thing? A focus on fewer, larger clubs should improve class club racing, and also get an economy of scale that would allow paid support in running the club activities. It's certainly consistent with the money rich, time poor era in which we live...
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pondmonkey View Drop Down
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Posts: 2202 		Post Options Post Options   Quote pondmonkey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 13 at 4:35pm
Originally posted by hum3

It certainly raises a question about the club structure generally. Perhaps there are too many clubs, and some consolidation wouldn't be a bad thing? A focus on fewer, larger clubs should improve class club racing, and also get an economy of scale that would allow paid support in running the club activities. It's certainly consistent with the money rich, time poor era in which we live...

that's kind of where our offline chats went to, but I didn't post that in the OP deliberately.  I think you're probably quite right.  Although there will probably always be a place for a club run on a shoe-string by voluntary contributions.
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Jack Sparrow View Drop Down
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Posts: 2965 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Jack Sparrow Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 13 at 4:46pm

here's an interesting set of stats: http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/rauch/worktime/

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Noah View Drop Down
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Posts: 611 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Noah Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 13 at 5:00pm
"... why do you give a sh*t about getting more people sailing... "

Because if new blood isn't coming in to replace the retiring old then the sport is declining. A declining market means there's less attraction (read ROI) for the equipment designers / manufacturers / suppliers to invest in stuff we want / need to buy.

The 'can you buy out of duties?' question raises its head on a regular basis. On the plus side it increases the chance of bringing in the more expert sailors who shine their light on their chosen fleet and make the 'scene' more attractive to others to join, too. The downside is the fragmentation effect and additional load on the core members who end up sailing less (even though, in my model, they would be the financial beneficiaries of the buy-out fees).
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pondmonkey View Drop Down
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Posts: 2202 		Post Options Post Options   Quote pondmonkey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 13 at 5:06pm
Originally posted by Noah

"... why do you give a sh*t about getting more people sailing... "

Because if new blood isn't coming in to replace the retiring old then the sport is declining. A declining market means there's less attraction (read ROI) for the equipment designers / manufacturers / suppliers to invest in stuff we want / need to buy.

I totally agree- although I think we'd made the assumption that kids coming in through parents was already accounted for.... it was more about the 'push' to get adults into taking up the sport.

The windsurfing conversation began about talking about picking up the sport as an adult (which is frankly v. v. hard compared to dinghy sailing imho)  And how really, I wasn't surprised lots of people who might try it, give it up so quickly.  


Edited by pondmonkey - 14 May 13 at 5:07pm
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Contender443 View Drop Down
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Posts: 1211 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Contender443 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 13 at 6:07pm
I cant see consolidation of clubs happening as each one has it's own individual character and set of boats sailed. Plus they all have assets which are owned by the members so not clear how to dispose of them fairly.

The only thing that may happen is the sort of thing that happened to Melton Mowbray SC. I wonder what happened to all of their assets in the end. I guess the members all found new clubs or gave up.

I personally do not want a large club where you turn up, sail and then leave. I enjoy doing my duties and helping round the club. It gives a more family feel. Plus it is cheaper than the clubs who employ staff.
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