...Do you have any tips for hooking new sailors to the class and keeping them engaged? I've heard comments that "the F18 class is too competitive", which refers a bit to the East Coast fleet, but I think is a bit of a misnomer as even the very best sailors in the class are extremely helpful and friendly!
Well, I don't know of any magic formulas, but at CRAM we are trying to build an awareness that the B-Fleet is the future of the A-Fleet. B-fleet should be the foundation, not the other way around.
Our individual fleets aren't big enough to justify A and B, so all the miscellaneous fleets (including Portsmouth, H16, etc.) serve the feeder role. We do our best to cater to them, make them feel completely welcome, and most importantly, be sure they have a blast. Once they've been there a year or two, we ask them to get involved and take some ownership of their future. Small stuff at first of course...
At CSYC, a few years ago one of the forward thinking members purchased an inexpensive Tiger and donated it to the club to be sailed as a club boat. That boat helped bring me from a reckless TheMightyHobie18 hack to a marginally competent F18 sailor (a leap that's bigger than it sounds). I've since purchased my C2 and am continuing my journey in the F18 fleet. Now a few others including our youth sailors are enjoying the Tiger. Unfortunately there's still a big jump from the 420's and Wave to the Tiger they sail normally, so that's another challenge to solve in the future.
Also, as mentioned before, we try to schedule outings where the newer guys/gals get to spend time skippering for the more experienced guys and get them up the learning curve more quickly. Building confidence seems to be really beneficial.
Finally, we've been lucky to have a few really enthusiastic cheerleader types that seem to keep the ball rolling no matter what. They probably have as much to do with the fun and growth as anything.
