I'm also not sure that foilers are all that spectacular to non-sailors; there's no flying spray and the tiny hulls and clear sails are not all that distinctive against a broken background. 

It's interesting to see the minutes of the International class AGM. The fleet numbers overall really aren't increasing much outside the UK; the last AGM said that there were just 122 new "official" boats last year, relatively flat membership growth and pretty small membership numbers in many countries (5 in Austria, 20 in France, 30 in the USA, only 10-15 boats expected or hoped to attend the 6 German regattas or Swiss racing, good growth in Italy, and no class in NZ any more).

The boats are amazing, the PR is fantastic, the sponsorship and hype is enormous, the sailors are great, millions have been lost in promoting the class - and yet the growth is far smaller than in other classes. That seems to say a lot about where growth in sailing can come from - surely it's not to be found in the extreme classes. 

People like the head of Eurosaf call such classes the future of the sport but if that's the case, the sport is dead. Thank god grass roots classes are thriving.

Do you think that one day sailors, might, just might, accept that genpop think sailing is pretty dull and lame?  Sure, you can change their minds if they get to experience sailing first hand, but I doubt youtube and sky rights are going to help much.  

I don't know, doubly, which is a confusing way of saying that I don't know whether the genpop do in fact think that sailing is dull and lame, and I also don't know whether sailing will accept that that (whether or not it's true).

The two biggest surveys of non-sailors I know of said that they DON'T think that sailing is dull and lame - they think it's hard, costly, and inaccessible. Personally I haven't met people who think that sailing is dull and lame - when I mention to people "want to come out on the yacht" they jump at it, even when we caution that she's a scruffy little old thing.

But yep, I do think that there's way too much emphasis on exciting vids, which IMHO largely cement the unfavourable image of sailing as costly and difficult. The problem (IMHO) is that sailing is now so fixated on the idea that extreme high-performance sailing is the way forward that it can't even see the simple fact that it's not really growing. The "watch it and they will come" concept simply doesn't work when the sport is too hard to get into.

The SUP v windsurfing contest seems to be a classic case of a simple sport growing while an extreme one dwindles. Even people like the head of the biggest windsurfing company is now saying that the extreme route was the wrong one to take.

 

I was surprised by how many non sailing people I know 'loved' watching the last Americas Cup. The situation with the comeback made it interesting, and the incredible speeds right on the edge of perceived disaster had people on the edge of their seats but in fact the racing over the entire series was a bit boring, essentially get to the first mark on the inside and you win (except for 1 maybe 2 races where the USA caught up on the beat).

I know allot of people on here think team racing is way too complicated for the gen pop, however I think if covered right it could be pretty exciting, other sports can be quite complex and are covered well on TV. Big fleet races a mile or two out to sea doesn't really lend itself that well to TV. As I typed that I was also thinking of Formula One, which can be very tedious about 90% of the time.

I think you're right about team racing- although 2 boat would be better as essentially 'last boat loses' is easier to follow- even for sailors!  There's a theory that team racing doesn't work in fast boats.  I've certainly believed that in the past, but I wonder what would happen if we put that to the test.... foiling moths, two boat team racing?  Hell, I'd watch it for comedy value, especially if crashes were part and parcel of it.

You are right about complex sports still attracting viewers - the indoor snow domes were rammed this winter (too busy for us 'regulars' ) All thanks to the boardercross, slope style and freestyle skiing.... judging from the commentary they messed up a bit until Aimee Fuller got in there to clear a few technical terms up.  It mattered not one jot, there were plenty of kids inspired to learn and take up the sport who wouldn't have known a cab from a fakie... but then that's got a bit of different image to billionaires and 72 foot carbon catamarans.  

more action, more dynamic maybe?  It forces the intensity away from being first across the line, to not being last.... I dunno, like you, the AC changed my perspective about fast boats being bad viewing.  I wonder if that perception shift can be extended???

(I'm feeling open minded this morning, I'm sure it will change tomorrow)

I think speed is a little irrelevant for team racing, as long as the boats a nimble and agile enough to be thrown around. It would be more entertaining watching crews fight each other rather than the boat they are sailing. Guessing that why Fireflies have been popular.But would have something that can carry weight better, even make it weight adjusted, so helm and crews + ballast if needed would have to be at least a certain weight (iGRF would like this).

American collages do team racing in modified 420/470 without kite and trap

Could you simplify rules??

Icon could do worse than promote it self as a team racing boat

It seems to vary enormously depending on where you live. I spent most of my life on Sydney Harbour, and both locals and tourists love the idea of getting out on it on a yacht. I'm always surprised how much non-sailors love getting out on the harbour and how little notice they take of the 18 Foot Skiffs and foiler Moths. Picnic sailing is what initally attracts most people, IMHO, and when dinghy sailing promoted that it did well. 

Is it irony? Maybe the key is that cycling is a lot more accessible than sailing - any one of us here could chuck a leg over the leading bikes in the Tour (or buy a bike just like it) and go for a ride around our home town. We can't do that with a kite AC72, foiling Moth or Volvo 65.

I'm much more of a sailor than a cyclist, but I can relate to the top cycling event more closely than I can relate to the AC these days. That seems to be ironic.

Nice post.

I saw that Starboard's new catalogue is once again promoting WindSUPs as the saviour of windsurfing. Funny that windsurfing, arguably the first part of sailing to go the high speed/pro route, has realised the error of its ways but many of those in the dinghy scene refuse to learn from it.

I wouldn't judge the entirety of windsurfing by the starboard catalogue- for every one of their unofficial fan boys out there telling the world how wonderful and versatile SUPs are, there's a growing breed of wave heads who are more than happy for their sport to marginalised and the equipment to become more or less custom- or at least made to order.

What I find amusing is that as relatively convert to windsurfing, the sport seems utterly dogged by light wind issues- especially in the UK, yet a board I imported (very reluctantly on a bit of a punt) from Sweden has taken 95% of that away.  I would still probably find something else to do with my time in sub 8 knots, but that would apply to dinghies too these days.    

If ever there was a sport which chucked the baby out with the bathwater it was windsurfing.... and it doesn't seem to learn, even the RRD distributor couldn't sort out a demo on their 'longrider board', instead pushing me to a 90cm wide lump of 'free-formula' sh*te......  as for the WindSUP, it's utterly inefficient for flat water sailing, and I would imagine would soon become a tiresome and irksome sailing experience....  even I would reach for a Laser in preference.

I've contacted a custom board builder in the UK about building a freeridey longboard, no response, not even an acknowledgement.  I've even sent a mail to Mistral to see if they had any IMCOs lying around.... no response again, nothing, nada....  there are a few folks who are realising that daggerboard ''fun board' class type boards are still very usable, however the natural market for them is brainwashed and continues to be so as the main brands promote their free-wide offerings as some new early planing holy grail.

one would have thought that the RYA of all people would have access to average wind speed stats.... which is well below the 15 knots most need to get planing consistently on single fin freeride kit with manageable sails.  

It seems to me like the racing sailors need to accept things are shrinking, and consolidate the number of clubs to get back to some semblance of critical mass.  It's one of the reason why I rarely feel much sympathy for clubs which shutdown.... in truth, for racing sailing in the local area, it's probably quite a good thing.  

Less would definitely be more.

Not so, Howard's Way was incredibly popular... back when sailing was considered something aspirational and interesting.

If you wants boats and adventure, then you only have to look at the Pirates of the Caribbean or the Jake and the Never Land Pirates franchises.  On domestic TV the Hornblower series was popular and remains so on iTunes download.

Sailing can capture the imagination of the young and the old when the spirit of adventure is upon them.  Box courses with a biblical rule book and some odd scoring system on some former gravel pit on a plastic dinghy, erm, less so.... 

I said it before, but I do wonder if, despite being utterly counter intuitive, improving the statistical accuracy of the PY system has actually undermined the human experience somewhat?  That's what happens when you let statisticians take over the asylum....

Group exercise programmes are growing, running groups are seemingly on the increase around where I live and I think it's recorded officially that cycling groups are generally over-subscribed - and by a cross section of society, no just MAMILs.  

The 'old' PY race... the one where no really knew, nor cared who 'won' as not even the times were being taken, never mind the results broadcast across the internet for all and sundry to see, certainly had more people happily sailing around with their mates than the results posted today on the internet.  The competitive element coming from the interactions with those around you, not the re-sort of a spreadsheet and html file.  It's all gone rather dry and stale...   

Maybe the answer to PY and increasing 'organised sailing participation' would be to run the racing scratch, just like a sunday cycle club... there's always class racing and circuit sailing for those with ultra-competitive aspirations.  When I look at the results at my old club, it seems pretty pointless to keep flogging a dead horse.   My last 'competitive sail' was on Sunday, against a mutual friend of Graeme and mine... he whooped me, but it didn't stop me trying and learning from his 30+ years experience.  

Oddly enough it was 'one design racing', not that we knew it or it mattered, neither was there a course or a rule book or a handicap, personal or otherwise.... Witchcraft Chakras, with 6.2 and 6.4 sails.  Great sailing and a bit of a natural competitive edge to it too.  

In the boom years (60's,70's,80's) there seemed to be less diluted classes and most of the boats that weren't that quick by today's comparison. There also seemed to be allot of double handed boats. You only have to look at the sailnumbers of the 'classic' dinghies like the GP14 (14,000), Enterprise (25,000), Mirror (71,000) all two handed, compared to the single handers (Laser excluded). Compared to the single handers of the time Solo (5,000 though currently taking off) Streaker (3,000?)

My point is, there seems to have been a big shift (at my club if not else where) to single handers that possibly wasn't there before.

Imagine an adult turning up at your club,never sailed wants to get into the sport saw the boats out on your lake/river/bay

If most of the club are in single handers he is going to be going away with a leaflet, which advertises the RYA Dinghy 1 & Dinghy 2 courses that he can do in two months time if they are not booked up. If his interest stays for two months and he does those courses, he either rents a club single hander or buys a boat (solo, laser etc etc depending what is sailed at the local club) spends more time fighting with the boat at the back of the fleet rather than the boat on boat action he was looking for, loses interest moves on.

In the boom period, adult turns up at club. Jumps straight into an Enterprise as a crew (where you don't really need to do that much) with an experienced helm, is up with the fleet amongst other boats at the windward mark and actually properly learns to sail/race (wind awareness, looking for gusts, getting a feel for how the boat reacts, rules, situational awareness etc etc). After a bit of time, either buys a boat and passes the experience on or moves to another class with a Spinny, and so on, and so on. 

I was at West Kirby Marine Lake a few weeks ago on a Friday night (the in laws were house hunting and had managed to escape) when they had their Juniors out. There must have been atleast a dozen Cadets (the boat) out with older Junior helms and younger Junior crews. 

The racing was reasonably close, they were working with spinnakers (symetric so lots of tactics going on)

It was fantastic to see, better than seeing kids out in Oppies/Toppers by them selves looking bored.

Ask yourself why it matters that a convicted criminal http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/07/04/rolf-harris-sentencing-boat-home_n_5557204.html" rel="nofollow - arrives for sentencing by boat?

It shouldn't matter, but in our society, that tidbit of information seems to resonate something.

Completely agree Chris and i guess it depends on demographic too.  30 something men, would prefer blasting down a hill on a Mtb then freezing their bollox off on a boat here.  18ft skiffs, Moths....whatever, stick it on TV, youtube, wherever.  if I showed most of my mates, they would just not get it.

cant believe i am agreeing with you twice Chris...But, absolutely agree.  Look at me, I have recently purchased a new bike which is the same spec as used in the TDF, i can and have swung my leg over it.  i can race friends on Strava (like handicap racing on a spreadsheet)  I have done TT's, sportive everything.  I don't have to worry about sailing some stupid plastic learner dinghy and pulling on wet sailing school wetsuits and ill fitting buoyancy aids, i don't have to worry about taking RYA lvls 1-whatever at great cost to me, my cycling club membership is £15 a year, in which i can volunteer to marshal races or sportives if i want not waste 3 weekends a year freezing my box off watching 5 boats drift around a lake, i can roll my bike out in 2 minutes for a blast in the evening...Finally when i ride 100 miles friends are impressed, when i sail at 20 knots know one knows what the f**k that means!

Don't worry, I hear you can get a script for it these days.  :-)

PS - 15 squid for membership and no marshalling duties? You lucky lucky b*stards; down here it's $250 and a couple of days marshalling.