Is Sailing In The USA Dead..?

[kloudie1]

I am with Tim, I would love to sail on one of these flyers! My first experience with sailboat racing was on Cougar Class catamarans. http://www.mre-books.com/catamaran/ . Got me hooked early on, 1968, in Memphis Tn. I still get thrills on my buddy's Stiletto catamaran. My 34 is a lot slower, but sure is a lot more comfortable !

 

[Tim R.]

...These other-worldly catamarans that fly on thin blades seemingly in defiance of all natural laws do not resonate with me. I don't see a translation of technology to my world from this event.

Here is a laser with a foil as a direct result of AC technology.

 

[Tim R.]

For the record, Nat Herreshoff first built a 33ft. cat in 1876. It had articulating hulls. He sailed it 200 mi. alone from Bristol to NY in 14 hours. He entered the Centennial regatta and beat everyone. The utter shock from the good ol' boys prompted a ban from racing that lasted more than 50 years.

 

[Tom G P-21]

This is a great moment for the America's Cup but a sad day for our sport.

My questions are:

*How can we fix this, or slow the bleed?

*What are YOU doing to try and pick our sport up by the boot straps and get new sailors on the water?


We fix the slow bleed by demistifying sailing to friends. Most people who you mention sailing to think its complicated with all those ropes and rules thingys etc... People today have gotten used to things being dumbed downed and simplified. They don't want to think. Why do you think motor boats and PWC are so popular just turn the key and go. Invite your non sailing friends out to show them how enjoyable it is. Make sure they get a turn at the tiller.

What am I doing? Both of my kids have taken sailing classes, as a matter of fact, not that far from Mainesail in Harpswell. I've had my teenage son invite some of his friends out. It keeps my son entertained and introduces others to sailing. My wife is from a large extended family, so when we get a chance we try to bring some young cousins ( 8-12 years old) along. It easier to get them interested in it when they are young. They might not take to it right away but maybe when they are older and get a chance they might get invovled with sailing.

 

[MrBill_FLL]

I'm involved with our local sailing club.
Dues are 100/yr, and boat rentals are 5 bucks for members, so money is not the issue.

in the adult program, its pretty stable, but the youth program is problematic.

What we find is kids come in for the classes, or summer camp, and stay for a year or 2, but leave for other 'team' sports. (baseball/soccer, etc).


and that's exactally how I came up... classes at age 10 for 1 summer, then sailed in college (laser/hobie), and crewed on R/C's after that.


I'm looking for any ideas on how to keep the kids interested?

we offer opti's sunfish, and 420's.

 

[rufus1138]

idk how it would work out bill but if there is a yacht club with any keelboat presence you could put up the idea to seed people as crew on larger keelboats, most yacht clubs take part in regular regattas around the bouys in the bay and theres always a boat looking for crew and if things work out nicely then you could possibly get it set up as a charter program or even a special series where keelboat skippers bring in dinghy crew members and help them get into the game. i know in my area that once you make a name for yourself as a crew member for keelboats then theres almost always a ride to be had, foredeck especially.

 

[Jackdaw]

Are you kidding? I would give my left n*t to race on an AC72. Sign me up!

Really? And do WHAT??? ;^)

First you need to be an Olympic caliber athlete just to get on board.

Most of the crew are grinders, who bust their guts while never looking up for the entire race. Not fun.

The boat only goes upwind. The trimmers press buttons based on instrument readings. Not a telltail anywhere to be found. Interesting, but not sailing fun in my book.

Steering might be fun. But you would have to arm wrestle Jimmy Spithall for the wheel. NOT fun! ;^)

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

Really? And do WHAT??? ;^)

First you need to be an Olympic caliber athlete just to get on board.

Most of the crew are grinders, who bust their guts while never looking up for the entire race. Not fun.

The boat only goes upwind. The trimmers press buttons based on instrument readings. Not a telltail anywhere to be found. Interesting, but not sailing fun in my book.

Steering might be fun. But you would have to arm wrestle Jimmy Spithall for the wheel. NOT fun! ;^)

Think you might be alone on this one. In Newport, RI there are at least 4 former AC boats doing daily charter sails during the tourist season. My buddy did one in HI. I don't think these are cheap either. You don't get to steer, if you are lucky and in shape you get to grind. Most just get to sit there.

A quick google search found that they are doing it in NZL too at $160 for a 2 hour sail. (http://www.explorenz.co.nz/SailNZ/SailNZ-americas-cup-sailing-experience.html)

And none of these boats are the foiling ones. Those would be the biggest premium if you could find a way to get insurance to let people sail on those.

 

[stevec22206]

Land locked in the Midwest. Our club maintains an average membership of about 80 members in a marina that can easily handle almost 4 times that. Each year we lose some gain some. The majority age is 50 plus. Youth is tough to come by but we have a few. I don't consider it a rich man's hobby by any stretch. Plenty of inexpensive boats to cut one's teeth on. I do however, see the younger adults and teens drawn to the "Go Fast Boats". More and more each year, so I don't believe it's a question of money. The fuel cost alone for a weekend day makes BP grin ear to ear. The challenge is awareness. Introducing it to people who have never been exposed to it. For the never been there, just looking at a sailboat is enough intimidation to make them run the other way. Look at all the lines, rope, wires and sails. It appears complicated until you get them in the boat. You won't win them all but, maybe one or two see the beauty in it and decide they want to know more. Just my two cents.

Steve

 

[rufus1138]

its most definitely not a rich mans game, i am living proof, i may be the minority but i am 25 and have lived on my 27 hunter tall rig 1980 for 2 years, bought it for 4500 bucks and am in the process of upgrading to a 1978 hunter 33, its a lifestyle choice and if you ask me or my wife its a better choice than having a house.

 

[Tymadman]

Think you might be alone on this one. In Newport, RI there are at least 4 former AC boats doing daily charter sails during the tourist season. My buddy did one in HI. I don't think these are cheap either. You don't get to steer, if you are lucky and in shape you get to grind. Most just get to sit there. A quick google search found that they are doing it in NZL too at $160 for a 2 hour sail. (http://www.explorenz.co.nz/SailNZ/SailNZ-americas-cup-sailing-experience.html) And none of these boats are the foiling ones. Those would be the biggest premium if you could find a way to get insurance to let people sail on those.

The last time I was Auckland I took the family up the Sky Tower and discovered that those two America's Cup boats were out on the water. The Sky Tower was a great place to watch them from and it was great to see just how quick those boats are. We happened to be down at the dock when the boats came in and just as impressive is the skill of the crew who reverse the boats in at about 200 knots (seems like it!) and stop within inches of hitting the dock. Free entertainment in Auckland

 

[Rick D]

Interesting Morning

I had to do some running around today in the 100 mile trip from the boat to home. I was amazed at how many people stopped to ask me or comment on the AC. Total strangers and not sailors. It took a while for me to realize I had my AC hat on, so I was wearing a billboard. But it was a shock to find how many people had paid attention to it. Of course, the drama certainly help.

 

[Doc_holiday]

I believe the cub scouts actually have a sailing badge. My grandsons are cubbies and I have taken then sailing and hopefully they applied that toward a badge. You could always contact the local scouts and find out if you could take a few area time to earn their badges. Who knows, they may be hooked the 1st time just like we were, regardless of age. If they loves it, introduce them to a local sailing club that has kids events.

You could even go a step further, find out what the requirements are and purchase a bagful and present them or their scout leader with the badge when they complete the task. This has a huge impact when it's not just a den mother passing out badges.

 

[DAVA390]

Bad Obsession, I agree that a trip into Annapolis or Solomons can color your view of sailing to dollar green. But, all one has to do is pick up a copy of Spinsheet to see pages and pages of stories and news about kids racing and blue collar sailors and their boat or yacht clubs. Most of these "Yachts" would be 25, 30 yr. old boats. Probably not as many millionaires there as she would suspect.

 

[shemandr]

Yeah, and while the owners of boats tend to be successful financially, crews of racing boats are from all walks of life and they are often the knowledgeable sailors on board.
I am sorry to see the influence of money on the club racing level which can chase out the lower budget programs. Time and time again I see some guy, who isn't that good, go out and buy a faster boat, new sails, and he suddenly has crew and pretty soon he's in the money. Sometimes he becomes a better sailor but mostly not - because he doesn't have to.
In summary my point is that there are great sailors who can't compete in the money game. Eventually they go away and do something else. It's our loss as sailors and we should always try to level the playing field with regard to the pocket book.
There's been one design - which becomes an arms race with sails, There's been NOOD or levels type racing which was very successful for a while but seemed to pretty much go away with the great recession. That was a step to two above club level.
I know it's controversial - but Off Soundings Club has a penalty system so that boats that win carry a penalty for the next race series. I notice that the fleet features newer boats with modern sails and old boats with dacron sails. Maybe the penalty system works to deep the lower budget programs able to compete. We did Golf handicaps locally which were very unpopular with the fleet leaders. But we have a reasonable turnout because a deeper field of boats feel they can place. In the end, the best sailors end up on top in seasonal results, mostly, but the lower programs still feel it's worth a shot to compete.
I also know a number of racers who would like to be awarded the trophy without actually having to sail the race. It is all too common. Some owners manipulate the scoring, class division or whatever else to put themselves in the money. Others vote with their feet. It doesn't help participation.

 

[jrowan]

The difficult part for me is that I don't actually like racing. I just like sailing and cruising. But I do recognize that racing is the best way to get young people into sailing.

I think some of the boat manufactures are recognizing some of these issues to and trying to do things to help. The new J/70s (http://jboats.com/j70-one-design-sailboat) for instance could do a lot to help the situation. Instead of kicking around in a 70s J24 that is limited on hull speed, you could be in a boat that can plane and hit speeds close to 20 kts. More boats like this can attract more sailors, IMO.

What we really need is a good movie aimed at teens. I was talking to a guy at the gun shop the other day and he told me he can't keep youth compound bows on the shelves. Since the Hunger Games came out there have been a lot of kids getting into archery. If there is a good movie that promotes sailing in this way it could be huge for the sport.

There was a very good movie released a couple of years ago called "Morning Light" where teenage kids helm, crew a racing sailboat in the Trans Pac. from Cali. to Hawaii. It was funded by Roy Disney, also an avid sailor, RIP. Good film, & had a very inspiring message for young sailors & the competitive sailing spirit. I am also not a racer, but rather a cruiser. We have had a lot of friends out on our sailboats over the years with their kids. I have raised my own 2 children to sail since they were toddlers on boats. That's they way my father, RIP, raised me on the water, & I'm keeping the tradition alive. It can be classifed as a rich man's sport, or for the frugal sailor, a middle class family sport, for those who are willing to pay with sweat equity. I do my best for my kids to have a pleasant experience sailing & cruising with well planned sailing trips & adventures, so that the kids don't get bored out of their minds or sun burned. I don't try to be Capt. Ahab, & with lots of good memories afloat, I know my children will wind up loving sailing as much as I do. Its the connection to the water via wind, that keeps my Dad's memory alive in me.
Cheers.

 

[Kermit]

I believe the cub scouts actually have a sailing badge.

A Boy Scout troop camped out next door this past weekend. They all worked on their sailing merit badge. I asked some of them if they were interested in continuing with sailing. One said maybe and the rest seemed totally disinterested. The did say they were having fun, though. I was hoping for a more enthusiastic response.

 

[Joe]

I can't really make a connection between interest in this America's cup and general interest in sailing. The boats are just too radical. (You realize, of course, that NO ONE can relate to two 100 million dollar multihull spaceships, crewed by multi national professionals, competing for a rich guy trophy that gives the mega bucks owner some kind of nebulous bragging rights.)

If the media were really interested in promoting sailing..... they would have spent more time on the backgrounds of these sailors... instead of just saying that Oracle changed a crew member and they started winning........ they should have made a point that Ben Ainslie won four Olympic gold medals in the Laser class.... a boat very accessible to anyone...

The would have shown excerpts from other exciting sailboat racing circuits such as the Aussie 18 foot Skiffs.....

But...... it will never replace golf or tennis because people think it's too expensive to get involved in.... and it will never be popular on mainstream TV because it's not popular to wager on outside the yacht club bar.

 

[Tymadman]

I can't really make a connection between interest in this America's cup and general interest in sailing.

I've found that non-sailors here in Brisbane have liked the racing and are interested to learn that the conversations that they could hear from the crew are very similar to conversations onboard any yacht involved in a race. The rules seem a bit obscure to them but that is to expected I suppose.

 

[All U Get]

Soccer moms?

All U Get