Scooby, I also think having the top sailors help the new ones is very important. Getting new people into any sport is always difficult but if there are free events to train new people, that will certainly help. The top sailors then will have a stronger resale market for their boats when they want to buy a new one. The new sailor gets a good boat set up right, at a discount.

With sailing the cutting edge technology will always bring in the top sailors (America's Cup, C cats, A cats) but a cheaper and more available entry will bring in more sailors, which is why the Laser and Hobie 16 still have the biggest numbers even though they are about the oldest designs out there still being raced in large numbers. They fill the role of "entry level racing boat" but the new ones are still raced by some of the best, so that covers a wide spectrum of sailors. You can get an old one cheap to learn on then trade your way up as you get better. One of the first things non-sailing people ask me (especially the Dads) is, "How much does one of those things cost?" I always tell them I bought my first one for $500. I never say, "Well a new one is $15,000, plus a trailer, plus wheels, plus..." because that will put anyone new to the sport off immediately.

But most of all I think there has to be other people to race against who are willing to share their knowledge with the new sailors. And every class needs a "Guru" available to the rest of the fleet. Look at what Wouter has done with the F16's. Look at what Dermot has done in Dublin with the Spitfire fleet, Andi Lutz with the F18HT's in Switzerland and what Matt is doing over here with the Blade. These guys have worked their butts off. Using their own money and time they have built strong local fleets by brining in new sailors, using their boats as demo rides and sharing their knowledge. Like all good things in life, it takes Time, Money and Hard Work. OH, and it has to be fun! If there's going to be a lot of yelling and screaming, well I can get that at home for free. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />