Interesting perspective Alex
you write
The great progress, if you want to claim it, was that we as a smaller group of elite racers alienated another very large group of sailors who just wanted a reasonably priced platform with which to become a better sailor and have fun. It no longer was fun to try and keep up with the expense of buying into the group of very talented sailors we raced against who had moved up to the next state of the art class. It wasn't fun to feel the disdain the ultra boaters occasionally exhibited towared the 14s and 16s as they slowly made it to the finish line, holding up the next start. Of course some dropped out because of other reasons like starting families but too many left for reasons I have stated.”
“The fact is, the quest for the ultimate in cat performance has driven hundreds of sailors away from the sport who only wanted to enjoy high level competition on simple boats.”
I don’t buy this argument. The notion that the elite racers disdain of the mere mortals sailing Hobie 16’s contributed in ANY way to the decline of the sport is an enormous stretch.
Sailing is a sport with a big technology factor and a hard and fast relationship to physics the bigger you are… the harder you are to move on the water. So just like a great slow pitch softball player in a competitive league might want to step up and test his skills in fast pitch and later on in hard ball. A sailor might want to choose a more challenging boat or a more challenging class or one suited to his size. Over time these diverse opportunities allow lots of people to stay interested in competitive sailing for a lifetime. In some classes the gear heads get to experiment with design and build new stuff, All are legit aspects of the sport that make sailboat racing a lifetime sport.
Your mistake is the notion that the growth of one area kills the other one off. There is no zero sum game going on between those technology gear heads and the guys who want to enjoy high level competition on simple boats! Wouter’s point that times are changing and they are taking away unused soccer fields points to trends beyond the sports influence. Take a look at your closet… how many recreational toys did you have over the years that you don’t play with now eg Roller blades, tennis racket etc. People’s interest changes and you are mistaken to argue that your optimization of your sailing experience killed off your former class.
What you are talking about is the failure of leadership and the resulting disruption of the community.
You say
“It no longer was fun to try and keep up with the expense of buying into the group of very talented sailors we raced against who had moved up to the next state of the art class..”
Of course! when the old leadership steps away and you do not replace it with effective new leadership, the organization will fail. Why do you blame the old leadership for moving on or retiring and not the class members who chose to stay in the class but not step up and lead.
Take a look at the Hobie 16 class. Almost every top US Sailor started out in the Hobie 16 class, great sailors and leaders led the class to absolute dominance in the market. Some of these guys moved on to new challenges, just like yourself… BUT the 16 class was able to generate new leaders and remains the strongest OD cat class.
Take a look at the 4 most recent catamaran classes (F18HT, F18, F16 and Nacra F17) and evaluate their leadership and compare it to how successful they are. The 18HT class cratered when their single leader stepped back and the next group could not maintain the class. Leadership is the common element that when missing leads to atrophy and decline of the class. Renewing the leadership is every volunteer organizations challenge.
However, when you don’t renew the leadership, the rank and file sailor experiences is a loss of community and enjoyment in participating. Not wanting to step forward… they step way from the sport.
