Attracting New Boaters....the Youth

I happened across this just this evening, at first principly because it was written by a very nice guy who was early attracted to sailing via a beach boat rental operation in Magens Bay that I was involved in. He went on to become an international star in sailboat racing.

His observations are very interesting.
Brian

From John Holmberg - St. Thomas, VI:
Thank you for your efforts at timely and fair reporting. Scuttlebutt is a morning ritual for me, watching the concerns for growth in our sport and changes to racing in the Olympics causes me to back up and think of the whole "sport".

I have sailed on my own for 50 of my 54 years here in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands and raced for many of those years too. I may have been slow to realize that our "sport" has morphed in some ways and yet I know the basics remain.

I worry that Yacht Club Sailing programs only ever glorify the 3%- 5% of kids that "pop" out with a trophy and we completely ignore the 95% who could be lifetime boaters- yes I said "boaters". I believe we should expose kids to boating on all sorts of craft- not "wash" them out if they don't compete.
We too often ignore the largest segment of our sport by forgetting to celebrate the ability to anchor, dock, maintain, repair, goof off, tip over, sleep on, party on, gather on... well you get the idea - I hope!

Years ago a great letter I read by Mr. Bob Johnstone suggested a 2 to 1 ratio of social events to racing events kept a club healthy- I think it should move to 3 to 1... and you should give recognition at your club for keeping a boat "harbor smart", for "who took the most kids sailing", which boat sailed the most, "docking under sail contest" and on and on.

In short- build memories and a lifetime love with the majority of people who come close to the water- for whatever their reason- and they will support the racing members of their family and club ... and community. That is how we will build and maintain a viable sport- not just competitors "racing" in one slice of the "boating" realm.

 

"give recognition at your club for keeping a boat "harbor smart", for "who took the most kids sailing", which boat sailed the most, "docking under sail contest" and on and on."

These comments struck a chord. The term 'Recognition' is an interesting one.

It seems so many people are motivated by Recognition. For many boat owners it seems to be the number one reason for owning a boat - number of races won, boat style and design and 'looks', financial status, etc.

Is there enough motivation to 'recognise' non-glory achievements ? Only if there is some money in it. For people like resort owners, boat sellers, boat designers its a good policy.