Mark,

I would agree with you that at the regional and national level, class associations are primarily geared towards racing. It's what connects us all together.

However, at the local (fleet) level, the emphasis should be on recreation, not racing. In my own Hobie Fleet (276 - Detroit), I saw the fleet fade away as the only time we got together was to race. The beginners got tired of following me and Stan Woodruff around the course and went away.

In our recent reincarnation, we have purposely stayed away from the racing aspect - despite the fact the core group is about 80% hard-core racers. We get together at least every other week (½ price pints at the Moose Preserve!). In the winter, we have something to keep us connected at least once a month (skiing, bowling, party). In the summer, we have fun sails sandwiched in between the Division 10/16/CRAM schedules.

We keep it upbeat, we bring out the kids and hand out all kinds of free advice, spare parts, etc., etc.

Our dealer provides a modicum of support. He's given us a couple of demo boats to play with for a day (Wave, Getaway). But he's a Flying Scot guy. (I think I'm finally going to get him to race with me on the Tiger this summer - boy, is he in for an eye-opener!)

We've managed to attract a bunch of people who want to know how to sail their boats better; who want to know how to get rid of that nasty weather helm on their old 16. We've dragged a couple along to major events as crews and gotten them hooked.

Bottom line - it's up to the local (Fleet) level to feed the racing program through the recreational aspect. It's still part of the class association.