| Vol 1 - Issue 5 | January 1997 |
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In The Hotseat Making Sense of the Whole Sailing Thing: Charting a course for the future of sailing By Jeff Browning |
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"I took off for weekend last month to try and recall the whole year, All of the faces and all of the places, wonderin' where they all disappeared."
-Jimmy Buffett
Following Mr. Buffet's lead, I spent some time over
the holidays reasoning with everything that's happened over the
past year and charting out a course for the coming 12 months.
I spent alot of time thinking about sailing. I thought
of how I haven't sailed enough, how I had wanted to sail more,
and how I am making it a resolution to spend more time sailing
during the New Year. (if I could have a dime for every similar
resolution, I could probably quit working for a living and sail
full-time!)
I also contemplated the state of sailing as a whole.
It is an exciting time to watch this sport evolve. Trends are
rapidly altering the direction of the sport and some interesting
points came to mind:
It all adds up to new opportunities for any current
sailor to make sailing dreams come true. But slice this a different
way and all sailors should be concerned.
It seems that in this rush of 'boat and sport improvement',
the non-sailor that wants to learn more about the sport has been
left out in the cold. To make matters worse, when new ideas, such
as the Hobie Wave and
the Sunfish-Laser Escape show
up at the annual boat shows,
purists hold their nose high and dismiss them as trendy and worth
little merit to the sailing community. They complain about "plastic
hulls", "bass-boat graphics", or that they can't
get a plain white-hulled boat….
And they seem to miss the whole point. Are some of
these sailors so arrogant as to think these builders plan every
boat specifically for their needs? These day-sailers are not designed
for a sailor who can port-tack the fleet! These builders should
be commended for their efforts to entice non-sailors to join the
sailing community. And current sailors, young and old, should
promote these and other entry level boats to anyone interested
in a new and exciting hobby or sport.
Following the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, there
was plenty of banter surrounding the justification of our sport
through televising races and increasing media exposure. Purists
complained that the Olympics were another example of how sailing
really doesn't get a 'fair' nod when it comes to media mindshare.
But to many non-sailors, the whole concept of sailing is too complex,
looks slow, and has a reputation for costing way too much.
As sailors, we know these perceptions are more myth
than truth. And, these exciting new entry-level boats are proof
of fact.
I've done a fair amount of ridiculing of the personal watercraft here
but maybe sailors could actually learn something from the explosive
growth of JetSkis's and the like. These craft are fast, easy to
operate, and offer great excitement. And, people are spending
thousands of dollars on these instead of lesser priced alternatives
with sails.
It concerns me that some sailors are at odds with
the efforts of mainstream builders to develop excitement, reduce
complexity, and hopefully address cost issues by increasing production
numbers and reducing per unit cost.
Boats like the Wave
and Escape
stand the best chance of growing this sport - accept and promote
them for what they are: a chance to build greater interest in
sailing and help others experience the enjoyment we all receive
from a great day on the water.
If we do not work harder at making sailing available
and appealing to the masses, weekend fleets will continue to shrink,
boat prices will continue to spiral, and a first place in an A
fleet of "one" will not mean what it once did.
Cheers,
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