Okay, I posted my last post and stood up from the computer. I went downstairs to fix the things that the cat had done to the dining room table’s centerpiece in the previous hour, to pour myself a drink, and to let the dog out.
I was done with this conversation, but I stood on the front porch and watched the dog sniff around and thought about it… and no.
Jack, read this or not. Ignore list (whatev, sensitive snowflake much?) or not. Here’s the best answer to your post I can come up with. This is as on-topic as it gets.
News flash: cool fast boats sell.
Along with a line of pure race boats and 4 other ‘cruisers’ between 30 and 50 feet, little Structures Pogo in France cranks out a new Pogo 36 every 3 three weeks. The backlog for the €250k boat is over 3 years. J/boats is also doing well enough. Why can’t other American builders figure out this code? The world has enough tubby cruisers that can’t get out of their own way. Performance sells.
That’s where we started.
While the original post does contain a single interrogatory, it is not a question. It’s not the start of a rational discussion. It’s a proclamation handed down to us little people from upon high.
The message, if there is one, isn’t really about boats at all. The underlying message is, “I, Jackdaw, am smarter than you and also the entire US boatbuilding industry other than J/boats.”
There is also a second message there, which is “I don’t like old ‘tubby cruisers,’ so they suck and you (readers) suck for liking them.”
The third message is slightly more subtle, and implicit, due to the statement being posted as a discussion topic on a public forum and that is: “Agree with me and validate me, or I dare you to refute me.”
It’s that third message that has drawn this into a 12-page thread. And what a thread it has been! We’ve been up and down economics and politics and the differences between the US and the EU and Motel 6 interior design and Island Packet’s website being down (it’s up again, btw) and economics again and kayaks and the minimum wage (econ again) and that’s only the first 5 pages and I have to rest my typing fingers for a bit.
But we’ve never really addressed the original message, which is how much smarter Jackdaw is than the rest of us, and how much more knowledgeable about boats he is.
Jack, I submit that you are possibly smarter than me and almost certainly more knowledgeable about sailing than I am.
I think the Dude said it best: “You’re not wrong, Walter.” There’s a second half to that quote, but I won’t repeat it here.
Your post does not ask a question beyond “Why can’t other American builders figure out this code?” which is a rhetorical question; it does not seek an answer because the answer is implied: “Because the industry is not as smart as me (Jackdaw).”
However, many participants in this thread have attempted to answer a question not actually posed by your declaration: “What can fix the American sailboat building industry?” Some, including myself prior to fully analyzing the original post--have also attempted to answer the broader question of “How can we make sailing more interesting and accessible to the average American?”
I choose to offer a suggestion in answer to that last, unposed but several times previously answered question: We need to be welcoming of new people to the sport.
I’m going to repeat that and even bold it:
We need to be welcoming of new people to the sport.
We need to welcome them regardless of the kind of boat they own.
We need to welcome them regardless of their level of experience.
We need to welcome them regardless of their financial means.
Jackdaw, you are not welcoming. In another thread you called me and the OP of that thread newbies, belittled us, and ran that OP out of the forum.
In this thread you posted a challenge (the original post) and then followed up by threatening (I do not know if you followed through or not and I don’t really care) to ignore list someone (me) who was ready to call you on it, even in a humorous, gentle way.
Jackdaw, the sort of snooty attitude you have displayed here and in that other thread, is the reason people would rather kayak than learn to sail: Who wants a snooty know-it-all over their shoulder telling them what they are doing wrong all the time?
I sure don’t.
However, Jackdaw, I will not allow you and others like you to chase me away from this sport. I am going to continue to sail my old bathtub. I am going to continue to fix what I can of it, here and there, as time and money permits. I’m going to sail around and enjoy the summer afternoons.
I hope my blown out sail and wearing paint piss you off anytime you have to deign to share a harbor with them.
I was done with this conversation, but I stood on the front porch and watched the dog sniff around and thought about it… and no.
Jack, read this or not. Ignore list (whatev, sensitive snowflake much?) or not. Here’s the best answer to your post I can come up with. This is as on-topic as it gets.
News flash: cool fast boats sell.
Along with a line of pure race boats and 4 other ‘cruisers’ between 30 and 50 feet, little Structures Pogo in France cranks out a new Pogo 36 every 3 three weeks. The backlog for the €250k boat is over 3 years. J/boats is also doing well enough. Why can’t other American builders figure out this code? The world has enough tubby cruisers that can’t get out of their own way. Performance sells.
That’s where we started.
While the original post does contain a single interrogatory, it is not a question. It’s not the start of a rational discussion. It’s a proclamation handed down to us little people from upon high.
The message, if there is one, isn’t really about boats at all. The underlying message is, “I, Jackdaw, am smarter than you and also the entire US boatbuilding industry other than J/boats.”
There is also a second message there, which is “I don’t like old ‘tubby cruisers,’ so they suck and you (readers) suck for liking them.”
The third message is slightly more subtle, and implicit, due to the statement being posted as a discussion topic on a public forum and that is: “Agree with me and validate me, or I dare you to refute me.”
It’s that third message that has drawn this into a 12-page thread. And what a thread it has been! We’ve been up and down economics and politics and the differences between the US and the EU and Motel 6 interior design and Island Packet’s website being down (it’s up again, btw) and economics again and kayaks and the minimum wage (econ again) and that’s only the first 5 pages and I have to rest my typing fingers for a bit.
But we’ve never really addressed the original message, which is how much smarter Jackdaw is than the rest of us, and how much more knowledgeable about boats he is.
Jack, I submit that you are possibly smarter than me and almost certainly more knowledgeable about sailing than I am.
I think the Dude said it best: “You’re not wrong, Walter.” There’s a second half to that quote, but I won’t repeat it here.
Your post does not ask a question beyond “Why can’t other American builders figure out this code?” which is a rhetorical question; it does not seek an answer because the answer is implied: “Because the industry is not as smart as me (Jackdaw).”
However, many participants in this thread have attempted to answer a question not actually posed by your declaration: “What can fix the American sailboat building industry?” Some, including myself prior to fully analyzing the original post--have also attempted to answer the broader question of “How can we make sailing more interesting and accessible to the average American?”
I choose to offer a suggestion in answer to that last, unposed but several times previously answered question: We need to be welcoming of new people to the sport.
I’m going to repeat that and even bold it:
We need to be welcoming of new people to the sport.
We need to welcome them regardless of the kind of boat they own.
We need to welcome them regardless of their level of experience.
We need to welcome them regardless of their financial means.
Jackdaw, you are not welcoming. In another thread you called me and the OP of that thread newbies, belittled us, and ran that OP out of the forum.
In this thread you posted a challenge (the original post) and then followed up by threatening (I do not know if you followed through or not and I don’t really care) to ignore list someone (me) who was ready to call you on it, even in a humorous, gentle way.
Jackdaw, the sort of snooty attitude you have displayed here and in that other thread, is the reason people would rather kayak than learn to sail: Who wants a snooty know-it-all over their shoulder telling them what they are doing wrong all the time?
I sure don’t.
However, Jackdaw, I will not allow you and others like you to chase me away from this sport. I am going to continue to sail my old bathtub. I am going to continue to fix what I can of it, here and there, as time and money permits. I’m going to sail around and enjoy the summer afternoons.
I hope my blown out sail and wearing paint piss you off anytime you have to deign to share a harbor with them.