Sailing isn't dying

[Norm L.]

For those that think sailing is being left behind by the current generation, poke around this site.

https://scores.collegesailing.org/

I found this site accidentally and was amazed at the number of colleges that have sailing teams.

[noelH]

Bit of a cynical or negative perspective.
Blaming my attitude on days on end of damp and dreary weather. Usually October into November are sunny and breezy. Not this year.

Not dying, but not very popular. Relevant to the number of colleges, the "major" sports.  Sailing is a minor, minor league sport at the college level.  Golf, tennis, XC... are all relatively minor league intercollegiate sports with probably significantly higher number of programs with larger number of participants.  Sailing is probably similar to Alpine or Nordic Ski racing programs.

Maybe why the USA has not recently had much success at the international level? Our small pool of athletes and level of domestic competition? SailGP might be the exception depending on the season.

But then for season 4, "This change, chief umpire Craig Mitchell said, was made after some teams deemed 'developed sailing nations', such as Switzerland and the United States, were still struggling to find enough crew to meet nationality requirements. The rules have now been changed, with the 'developed and non developed' stipulation removed. Instead, the number of national crew members depends on the amount of time teams have been racing in SailGP."

 

[rfrance0718]

College, High School, and Jr Sailing have remained relatively strong while racing, in general, has been declining for decades. Lots of reasons, but it has been a struggle to turn college sailors adult competitors. We see many give it a go and then disappear when marriage and families take over. We also see really good college sailors who struggle with putting there own campaigns together. The boats are all even in college and crew is generally ample. When you get into a class it takes a lot more money to put a competitive boat on the water, and to develop steady crew. I've seen many promising twenty somethings just disappear.

Like many in the 60s and 70s, I came into sailing as a novice. I bought an old junky boat and was happy just to be out there giving it a try. As my skills improved, so did my financial situation. The Thistle Class was dominated by people who had sailed as juniors and in college, but I was able to creep up on many of them. There were others like me, and we helped to make the sport popular.

We don't see many people who are willing to come in and start at the bottom like that any more. Most who do don't progress to being stalwarts. I'll call myself a stalwart. I never rose to champion, but I knew my way around the sport, won some trophies, and have contributed in a few different ways.

The Thistle Class has declined. Our National regattas are still well attended. We had 100 at our Nationals in Montana last summer. But our local fleets and regional regattas are down. There are events that used to draw 40 boats that are down to 20 now. And of those 20, most are old farts and most are really good. Newbies are rare, and they don't stick around for long. I used to trophy at these types of events. I'm a better sailor now, but finishes are usually bottom third. The competition is more sparse, and tougher.

All that being said, we do seem to be leveling out. Our club is holding steady, our Laser fleet has grown significantly, and we do have some new blood. Our juniors are fantastic. They race in their programs, and race with us, and against at club races. 

The big question, however, remains. Will we see them in the future?

 

[rfrance0718]

And Norm, I'm hoping that you can come by Southern Yacht Club and see HS Sailing in action, weekend after next! Don and I are coming in Thursday evening and will be around all day Friday. Racing is Saturday and Sunday. At this regatta, all coaching is done from shore, so I'll be around. My email is rfrance0718@gmail.com.

Bob F

[Brian N.]

I've read articles both ways "Sailings dying" - "Sailing is growing". Like many sports, from what I have read, the sport is growing among certain demographics (women especially) while static in others or even decreasing. Also, I think it is important to separate the competitive aspect from recreational. There are many thousands of small sailboats sailed by families and individuals, just for fun. Cruising is another category too. I cannot say what the trend is in any, but more often than not, the sailing magazines carry articles about the popularity of community sailing centers and young sailors. The magazines normally feature summaries of the bigger races but that is a small segment of sailing. Races on the local level are very well attended here. In any case, sailing is a "niche" sport, much like target archery, skiing or karate. Will Americans ever embrace sailing as passionately as the French or other nations, remains questionable. 

[rfrance0718]

Yes, there is definitely growth in sailing, at least in some ways. High school sailing didn't exist in Ohio and now we have 150 kids from dozens of schools. Our club used to have 40 Thistles, 30 Interlakes, 20 Comets, 20 Lidos, and 15 Lightnings, and a few Lasers. Now it's 15 Thistles, 15 Interlakes, 10 Lightnings, 5 Lidos, 3 Comets, but 50 Lasers. Membership used to be 165 and a waiting list. Now it's 115, but has held steady, although 25 of them are kayaks and rowers.So sailing members more like 90. We have 5 sailing clubs, or clubs with sailing in Central Ohio. All are down from the heydays, but are finding ways to do pretty well.

My son belongs to Edgewater Yc, a big club in Cleveland. He is sailing VX1s, which have grown from 0 to 15 boats in a matter of years and are now the most active fleet there. The fleet has grown nationally as well. I do see some limitations there, however. It's a really expensive boat to get into. There are few used boats and they are close to the price of new ones. With carbon fiber spars and fancy components, they aren't cheap new.There do seem to be more people with that kind of money these days, but I could have never joined the fraternity when I was 30. The class is also heavy with pros. At their recent 47 boat North Americans something like 12 of the top 15 boats had a pro on board. (My kid was 5th with no pro)The average Joe might be put off by that dynamic.

I would also say that trailer sailing isn't what it once was. At least they aren't being built like they once were. That being said, we have one club in the area that is essentially all trailer sailirs, and there marina had a waiting list.

My marina on Lake Erie used to have a waiting list. It always has docks available now, but not too many.

And what about the age issue? Our club has a strong junior movement and a whole bunch of old folks, but not enough in between. I'm seeing that all over sailing. It's very true at my marina, at clubs I visit, in fleets, and even, I dare say, on this forum. (I'll be missing the outcome of this issue.)

[Norm L.]

So much to answer.
Noel, I almost put this in my first posting. Sailing doesn't make a college any money. And it is seen as a sport for Barbie and Ken.
There is little to attract people to it at that level and that's why I was surprised at the number of colleges with teams and even scholarships.

As with AC the old class boats aren't sexy. Kids don't want to be in the proverbial father's Buick. That might be the reason that old classes fade and new techy boats become popular. To me it's all sailing but maybe not if I was  14.  At 14 the Comet was the coolest thing on the water until a guy bought a Flying Dutchman.

I've mentioned my friend that started in foil sailed catamarans, the single and dual crew forerunners of F50's and ended up in Australia with the Stars and stripes syndicate.

[Brian N.]

The sexy, cool appeal factor does have some role in some sports. For example, skiing has Lindsey Vonn, cool teens on snowboards and televised coverage. When was the last time network coverage was given to sailing? And watching a clip of AC boats is not very appealing to American youth who generally have little opportunity to explore the sport. I grew up in an urban area (Rockaway Beach, Queens NY) but despite being urban the beach and boating was all around. My now adult children were exposed to sailing early on. So recreational boating and sailing are familiar to us.

 I Learned to sail at a sailing center here on Long Island, mainly because I had access and interest from seeing some beautiful boats early in my life. To me, the best way to foster interest is to take your kids sailing, along with their friends. BTW, I was a Sailing Counselor for the Boy Scouts (now just Scouts) and sailing small boats around the lake at summer camp was a highlight and eye opener for many.

[rfrance0718]

The sailing centers are great. I've spent a lot of time around St. Pete's canter and I've been to Boston's. Clubs that are leaning that way are benefitting. I was at Chicago YC a couple of weeks ago and they have a fleet keel boats that were getting some good use while we were there.

At our club  some have proposed that we should operate more in that way. Some of our members got all hung up about our HS sailors not being members.(why should we pay dues when others sail without paying) Of course, our program participants do pay a fee, but it's less than membership, and they get the use of our boats and coaching. Our message is that we need to be a part of a fraternity that promotes the sport. Dues have always paid for boat storage, club house use, and racing organization (privileges).  Some of us have sold the concept that we all should be happy to have some of our dues going to our programs that educate and promote. These days, with a revitalized jr racing team, High School sailing, Tuesday night Laser racing, learn to sail, and adult instruction there seems to always be something going on at the club. The programs have added vitality and inertia, and the members are starting to see it as part of the privilege. It's been a long road getting here. I'm hoping that the next 2 steps are to build an Opti program (one kid so far) and to add a fleet of adult sized boats for program use. Probably a membership option that allows access to the fleet. Even though we are a centerboard club, our water is deep, and I'm thinking of a small keel boat, maybe something like Ideal 18s. Onward and upward. And yes, sailing isn't dying, it's evolving.

[Norm L.]

I thought most reasonable sized clubs have Optis as starter boats. I frequently see the Southern Yacht club Optis out. Although Southern has got a lot of funding.
And a great restaurant!

You cannot view this attachment.

Here is where your kids will be sailing

[rfrance0718]

We have a dozen club Optis for instruction. We just haven't been able to get kids to take the next step, which is to go to a jr regatta and sail in the Opti Green Fleet. It's really a matter of having instructors who raced Optis, and promote it with the newbies. None of our kids started in Optis, so no promoting. We'll get there.

Norm,

I'll be coming into NOLA on Thursday. It's a 28 team regatta with teams from across the country. I'm pumped.My kids have been practicing for the last 3 weeks, after official season has ended. Working hard like they always do.

My email is rfrance0718@gmail.com.

[Norm L.]

Bob, I sent you one email already. I'll resend it. The weather should be nice this weekend with a bit cold in th e mornings. North winds at 10 so there will be a chop.

Here are the results of the fall woman's nationals last weekend

https://nationals.collegesailing.org/

[noelH]

On the positive side.  Local community sailing organization, North Coast Community Sailing (NCCS)a part of Bayfield Rec has been busy.  All the classes were booked full this past season.  One pending issue is again staffing.  USSail instructors certification, lack of and expensive seasonal housing for any staff, probably not the highest paying seasonal job all contribute to the staffing issues.  Scholarship program allows local young people the opportunity.  A necessity based on our relatively low household incomes.  One of the reasons why Mt.Ashwabay Recreational Area has free skiing, snowboarding lift and gear rentals for local kids. Without the scholarship, fee waivers both would be for the "wealthy" only.

Cost and minimal corporation support are issues with developmental sailing programs.  The Red Bulls of the world have no problems spending $$$$$s for events, athletes of "popular" sports.  Money tends follow popularity. 

Side note: When rigging up the windsurfing gear where NCCS has their classes and boats the kids are real interested.  Zipping past them on the water gets their juices flowing. Foiling gets them real excited.  I think straight line speed, jumps, power jibes, even fast tacks are appealing to them more so than traditional sailing.

Whatever your opinion is about foiling.  It's probably the future of racing.  3 seasons ago at the pro windsurfing level there were fin diehards.  Today, foil dominates.  Fin for wave and freestyle at this moment in time. Foil for racing. IQ Foil is the one design Olympic Class in windsurfing. SailGPs success, AC, open ocean foiling trimarans.... All the "big time" events are well sponsored and tend to be foil vs. trad.

[Norm L.]

I tried to volunteer at a local non-profit community sailing group. I told them I would be happy to keep running maintenance inspections and records on their handicap access trailer and keel boat fleet. They only wanted me if I had the sailing instructor certificate.