Are you reading, World Sailing?
Printed From: Yachts and Yachting Online
Category: Dinghy classes
Forum Name: Dinghy development
Forum Discription: The latest moves in the dinghy market
URL: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13336
Printed Date: 30 Jun 25 at 5:26am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.665y - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Are you reading, World Sailing?
Posted By: Guests
Subject: Are you reading, World Sailing?
Date Posted: 24 May 19 at 9:27pm
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Different sport, same doodah? http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/may/24/fear-and-loathing-in-english-crickets-fraying-heartland" rel="nofollow - http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/may/24/fear-and-loathing-in-english-crickets-fraying-heartland At least sailing never had a big TV audience to lose. |
Replies:
Posted By: 423zero
Date Posted: 25 May 19 at 9:21am
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Trying to shoehorn big business into a largely amateur sport always going to cause issues.
Where there is a direct easily discernible participation issue between freeview and pay per view, you would think the answer is obvious. |
Posted By: davidyacht
Date Posted: 25 May 19 at 10:51am
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Rather reassuring to see Alex Goode go on a bender around St Albans still in his kit after three days, following Saracens European Cup win ... With regard to the Guardian article, it is more of a reflection of pressures on leisure time imo, Sunday and weekend working has changed the demographic and maybe a less mysogonistic culture might have proven particularly damaging for grassroots cricket, I appreciate that there are ladies playing cricket in Ambridge, but a commitment to a cricket team sounds more difficult to negotiate with management than two or three hours sailing ... and there is a whole issue about who does the teas! ------------- Happily living in the past |
Posted By: Riv
Date Posted: 25 May 19 at 6:13pm
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The issue is that activities based upon centrally controlled sporting activities are inflexible. There is one model developed at one time and governing bodies find it difficult or impossible to adapt. Dinghy racing was developed in the 50's. It is now outdated.Cricket has the same problem ------------- Mistral Div II prototype board, Original Windsurfer, Hornet built'74. |
Posted By: tink
Date Posted: 25 May 19 at 7:16pm
What is outdated about dinghy racing, it is with out doubt the ultimate sport Kids, adults, Olympians, men, women, less abled, young, old, fit and unfit can an do race in the same events Requires strength, flexibility, technical ability and strategy and other cognitive function Is relatively cheap vs golf, gym membership etc ------------- Tink https://tinkboats.com http://proasail.blogspot.com |
Posted By: Sam.Spoons
Date Posted: 25 May 19 at 8:34pm
------------- Spice 346 "Flat Broke" Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
Posted By: JimC
Date Posted: 25 May 19 at 8:58pm
| I dunno. I think its more that in an era of dilettantes, sports which require sustained training and skill levels are going to struggle, most especially if they require a lot of time as well. |
Posted By: CT249
Date Posted: 25 May 19 at 9:07pm
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/\ in which case the emphasis of the sport should be on promoting the types of craft in which you can be reasonably close to the pack with less sustained training. Sadly much of the sport is promoting going the other way - towards craft that are very difficult to sail and that open up enormous gaps between the less skilful sailors and the champions. I'm not sure that dinghy sailing actually requires more time to do well at than cycling, which is a boom sport. It would be an interesting area to explore. |
Posted By: DiscoBall
Date Posted: 26 May 19 at 7:26am
Because sailing is famous for all the hours sailors go training outside of racing...  I think if you actually explained to people who do endurance sports how 99.9% of club sailors just rock up for racing once a week, year in year out, they'd think it was even more mickey mouse than they probably already do. 
What could be more dilettante than a sport with so many divisions where you can always move to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond, or blame the weather or complex equipment? Maybe its simply that sports become victims of their own success, their demographics and structures get preserved in amber and then society moves on more quickly than they can adapt. The fact that so many fading boomer sports spend all their time externalising the reasons for their decline - 'people are too lazy..yada, yada' probably doesn't help. Sailing is rubbish at articulating what is actually good about it to outsiders. The governing bodies and media have seized on the performance advances but they're of little relevance to those starting out. |
Posted By: CT249
Date Posted: 26 May 19 at 7:35am
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Well said, DB! One of the most striking things I've noticed in my research into dinghy history was that even in the boomtime, an enormous amount depended on the push and enthusiasm of the class and club organisers. I get the feeling today that the sport is rather demoralised and that the concentration on fast boats being the way forward has led us to forget that so much of the sport's success depends on grass roots work.
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Posted By: tink
Date Posted: 26 May 19 at 8:51am
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The issue with time heavy sports is where it divides the family running kid A here kid B there and then finding time for mum and dad to do something. When clubs get it right as I said above it is a whole family activity and conflict doesn’t occur. I have recently moved from the North where this model is the norm. On the south coast there seams to be a focus on kids in Squads and doing completely different sailing to the adults. IMHO the second model doesn’t lead to long term growth of the sport.
With regard what is being promoted. We are in push the boat season and luckily at grass root level people are introduced to the sort of sailing the majority do ------------- Tink https://tinkboats.com http://proasail.blogspot.com |