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Class proliferation... |
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Topic: Class proliferation... Posted: 08 Feb 19 at 10:03pm |
Just cynical sods!
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DiscoBall
Far too distracted from work Joined: 03 Jan 05 Online Status: Offline Posts: 305 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 08 Feb 19 at 10:18pm |
Or could it be the reverse - that in a declining sport the keen people make up a greater percentage of participation and areless willing to sail boats not closely aligned with their body size or crew weight?
Also it may be that, with freedom to choose from many options, a like-minded group can only get to a certain size before people are tempted to be contrarians just to differentiate themselves? |
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JimC
Really should get out more Joined: 17 May 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 6648 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 08 Feb 19 at 11:25pm |
There are, I think, two equally good reasons to race sailboats. One is to have more fun racing, and the other is to have more fun sailing. On the one hand, if you want to participate in highly competitive sport, sailing is a very congenial choice. On the other hand a bit of racing gives your sailing a bit more focus. There's only so much time you can spend exploring the creeks and inlets of the average Thames Water reservoir... Edited by JimC - 08 Feb 19 at 11:26pm |
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iGRF
Really should get out more Joined: 07 Mar 11 Location: Hythe Online Status: Offline Posts: 6496 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 08 Feb 19 at 11:38pm |
FTFY |
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Chris 249
Really should get out more Joined: 10 May 04 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2041 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 09 Feb 19 at 12:25am |
One interesting thing, though, is that it seems to be a UK cultural issue. The other countries that are arguably in the "big three" centreboarder nations, Germany and Australia, seem to be very much into class racing at clubs. In Oz I feel that the places and disciplines that have maintained a class racing culture have done better at retaining numbers than those that haven't maintained that culture, although that may be a result as well as a cause of declining numbers. Arguably the UK preference for yardstick racing is perfectly understandable (although the sport boomed when it was almost all about class racing) but it doesn't seem to be universal or a product of technological or societal changes per se. You are, of course, dead right when you say there were many more classes in earlier eras. I'm looking at a 1962 YA Yearbook that includes classes like the Swan OD, Haven OD, Stormalong, Clipper, Delta, Mayflower OD, Brandy Hole OD, etc. But the other thing that strikes me is that while there were many tiny classes, the major classes seem to have been enormous. On the second weekend of the season, for example, the Ents had three different interclubs. On the next weekend, there were four of them. On the last weekend in May there were Enterprise interclubs at Exmouth, Poole, Gresford, Wraysbury, Loch Earn, Felixstowe Ferry, Colemere, Littlehampton, Hornsea SC, Horning SC, Peterborough, Putney and Avon SC. That same weekend there were no fewer than 11 Firefly interclubs. That was a huge amount of class racing, even without counting the clubs. The Ent was a "regularly raced" class at over 100 clubs - and that's only at clubs that start with a letter from "A" to "L" because I got bored counting. It does seem logical that the accent on class racing would have helped the sailing boom. Certainly that seems to me to be explicit or implicit in the writing of people like Beecher Moore and the creators of classes like the Snipe, Opti, Windsurfer, Hobie etc. One amazing stat is that in 1961, there were 58 new clubs launched and 2,500 new personal YA members - and both those numbers were just par for the course in the post war era.
Edited by Chris 249 - 09 Feb 19 at 5:51am |
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sailcraftblog.wordpress.com
The history and design of the racing dinghy. |
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Old Timer
Far too distracted from work Joined: 05 Jun 13 Online Status: Offline Posts: 370 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 09 Feb 19 at 8:21am |
I don’t agree with your club trumps fleet racing argument because NO clubs seem to havefleets apart from Lasers.
It’s not like I can drive an extra 20 miles from any club and suddenly find fleets of dinghy X. Every club is the same. Bar a few exceptions that someone will quote.
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Chris 249
Really should get out more Joined: 10 May 04 Online Status: Offline Posts: 2041 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 09 Feb 19 at 9:12am |
I didn't say it did. I merely pointed out that in other times and places, clubs have had strong class fleets ergo there appears to be nothing inherent in the sport or humanity that discourages class fleets and encouraged yardstick racing.
Personally, I really dislike yardstick racing because all too often it gets down to the conditions suiting the boat rather than the sailing, but that's just personal.
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sailcraftblog.wordpress.com
The history and design of the racing dinghy. |
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JimC
Really should get out more Joined: 17 May 04 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 6648 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 09 Feb 19 at 10:15am |
One of the things that I think was different in the boom was that clubs could be over subscribed and actually have a waiting list for membership, which in turn meant they could turn away people who didn't want to sail one of the chosen classes. That in turn led to a proliferation of clubs.
Edited by JimC - 09 Feb 19 at 10:15am |
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Sam.Spoons
Really should get out more Joined: 07 Mar 12 Location: Manchester UK Online Status: Offline Posts: 3398 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 09 Feb 19 at 10:36am |
I can, I know of at least 5 clubs within 20 miles or so of my home that have fleets other than Lasers including Solo, Miracle, Topper, GP14, Merlin, Firefly, RS200, Snipe and Supernova.
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Spice 346 "Flat Broke"
Blaze 671 "supersonic soap dish" |
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Paramedic
Really should get out more Joined: 27 Jan 06 Location: United Kingdom Online Status: Offline Posts: 929 |
Post Options Quote Reply Posted: 10 Feb 19 at 8:46am |
Here, here. And it wont be that good for club racing either.
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