Too Many Classes?

Its often said that nowadays there are too many classes... I've been compiling some old Portsmouth Yardstick data, and since 1984 about 150 classes have dropped off the Portsmouth yardstick list. The number of dinghy keelboat and multihull classes on each years list since then has varied between low 90s and 140s, and at the moment its on the low side. That partly reflects policy of course, since the RYA has always received returns for more classes than it has published, because if the data isn't good enough to be useful they won't publish.

Only 32 classes have been in every PY list since 1984...

Incidentally I have just had sight of a 1964 list, and back then there were somthing like 180 classes listed, although admittedly a few of them were US classes and there were also quite a few of local one design keelboats, something you don't see so much of these days.

I was amused to see that the 1964 list includes a "Flying Moth", but with a PY a tad slower than a British Moth it probably didn't much resemble the flying Moths we have nowadays!

Edited by JimC - 22 Feb 14 at 11:18pm

No, that level of detail in the data is long gone I think, even as far as it existed.

But you only have to look at old issues of Yachts and Yachting and the pages and pages of classifieds to see there was more activity back in the 80s than there is now, even with free boat advertising on the web I'm in not the slightest doubt the number of ads for second hand boats is way down.

What is amusing, looking at very old issues of Yachts and Yachting, is that the letters your fathers wrote weren't very different from the posts their sons make on the forums nowadays...

Edited by JimC - 22 Feb 14 at 11:10pm

Originally posted by JimC No, that level of detail in the data is long gone I think, even as far as it existed. But you only have to look at old issues of Yachts and Yachting and the pages and pages of classifieds to see there was more activity back in the 80s than there is now, even with free boat advertising on the web I'm in not the slightest doubt the number of ads for second hand boats is way down. What is amusing, looking at very old issues of Yachts and Yachting, is that the letters your fathers wrote weren't very different from the posts their sons make on the forums nowadays...

Be interesting to compare that with the numbers of races against each class in the new PY when it comes out.
Comparing the three figures readily available to us, races recorded in the PY table, entries in the SJ series and no of championship entries as precentages might be interesting.

Originally posted by yellowwelly Arggh, help, things are really black, the glass is going to be empty any time now.

You really need to back off on the old reckless optimism you know...

Edited by JimC - 23 Feb 14 at 12:46pm