Doug and everyone else

Saving the sport through junior sailing... is fine... but it is NOT the issue or what this particular program is about. Community sailing programs with cats, sea scouts, junior summer camps, etc etc address this goal. Hell ...DEALERS need to address this to have a market to sell to... God love you for working at this. BUT !!!

We need to focus our resources and energy!... we can't afford to build this huge program that serves any kid and hope that elite sailors emerge. (We have not done this already.... why should things change now)

Hell will freeze over before we have numbers which match the number of kids sailing 420's or lasers... Moreover, We don't have the option of drawing on a large pyramid base of junior sailors right now either. We need a new approach. We are out of time... We must focus!

We should be about a FOCUSED EFFORT TO BUILD A TRAINING PIPELINE for serious junor sailors... Its not little league!... its for 21 and unders who are committed to racing excellence... (think of AAU basketball) (The program may be their first exposure to a catamaran after years of racing lasers or 420's)

Your own kid may not want to race this seriously.... BUT other kids do want this for themsleves. ... We know that we have huge programs of junior boys and girls who are really working at their laser and 420 racing.... some places even have 29ner programs. We must have a catamaran option for these sailors! TRUST THE DARK SIDE TO WIN HERE!

We have virtually nothing programatic going on at this level ... The hobie class 16 junior program is terrific for what it is. ... BUT IT DOESN"T CUT IT!
(See Matt Bounds answer to my early post as to what the program entails)

Who said it does not cut it? ... the US Olympic Sailing coaches.

My attempt to lend some Hobie 16's to junior sailors in CBYRA... DOES NOT CUT IT either!

We have been found out!... Bodie and Brenner are right that we have no program... (Theyu are completely wrong that we have no sailors in spite of our non program)

The only ones who can fix the problem are ourselves and so now we are faced with... what the hell are we going to do?

What is our program?.., Two national events??? Without a national program, what parent would support their kid in racing a catamaran...its just screwing around in a toy boat if we keep to our existing program.

So we need to BUILD A PIPE (regional training camps like CISA ) .... Assemble the peices... (Junior National Regattas)... Together these elements = a PIPELINE... Fill the pipeline with Racers ... Its a CATAMARAN DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.

If we do this right... perhaps they have the training coupled with their ability to compete on the world stage.

This is fish or cut bait time folks. If you have a different vision... Now is the time to put it out there! ...we can debate it.. modify it... adapt it.... build on the Hobie model... build on the Sl16 model... merge... layer... Lots of possibiltiies.