The way I got interested in racing was because of the great support from the class assn. (I was on monohulls at the time).
They (class assn) held a couple of informal cruising events, offered up free technical advice and let me and my partner crew in a race as a "learning opportunity". I liked that and then they offered us a free "sailing -training class" led by the class champion himself, among other class top ten sailors! Then they encouraged me to attend the open German championships (we are neighbors after all)... And then I was totally hooked. I'll never be a real racer, time and money just don't allow that, but I believe this is the only way to get people interested in Racing.
Get the class org. to provide true Added Value for cruisers and other boat bums like me. They will gladly take the bait and devour it hook line and sinker. (lose the inward focus, look at the potential that is out there!)
Oh yeah, I could not afford a decent boat at the time, but I had my old 1977 model tweaked so nicely the class champion was envious of the "feel" the second he came aboard. I sold the boat afterward and it went on to become the German champion a couple of times in a row.