Hi all,
Back in November, I made some comments here suggesting that a revitalization of NAMSA could play a role in helping to strengthen multihull sailing in North America - the importance of which I think became pretty clear to us following the recent Olympics debacle.
Following that I had some dialog with Rick about what might be a good way to move forward and what emerged from our discussion was a suggestion to establish a group under the auspices of NAMSA specifically to focus on increasing participation in multihull sailing. The NAMSA constitution provides for committees with specific purposes to be established from time to time at the descretion of the president and in line with this Rick has agreed to support the formation of the "Development Committee".
What does this mean? Well currently there are several things in my mind. In very broad terms I think as a sport and as an organization we need to find ways to :
- raise the profile of multihull sailing
- make it easier for prospective new multihull sailors to get access to information about the multihull sailing options that are relevant to them.
- make it easier for new sailors to connect with the right people in their area who can help get them started in racing and the associated social activities.
I think we also need to get a clearer picture of the real state of the sport across NA, and make it possible for information to be easily shared about strategies people are finding to be successful in attracting and retaining new sailors. There is great work going on in individual regions and classes and of course there can be no substitute for that. My hope is that we can complement and expand on those efforts by encouraging greater collaboration and information sharing across the continent.
There are several specific things that I personally want to focus some effort on in the near to medium term -
- an online repository of introductory information for prospective new sailors. I have started development of a new NAMSA website for this purpose.
- start gathering information from clubs and classes that will give us a clearer view of the overall state of the sport and allow us to track its development over time, and also seek information about methods people are using to try and grow participation locally.
Beyond this, I'd like to try to draw together some other folks who have an interest in the development of the sport and who want to devote some creative energy towards that objective. If you have some ideas you want to share, want to offer some support or would like to gain some broader support for things you are already doing or would like to do, please contact me - PM or email to mark dot thomson at ieee dot org. At the moment, the committee is me, so I'm very eager to get other people involved. There are things I can do on my own and will do regardless of interest from others, but clearly the greatest impact will result from having a number of people working together with a common purpose.
I don't claim any special talent for this task but I do have a willingness to try some things and to try and help and encourage others pursuing the same objective. I am quite new to the sport myself. However I'm having a ball and I'm grateful for the great encouragement I've had from the good folks at CRAW. I recognize the importance of growing the sport in order to maximize the value we all get from it - more competition, increased viability of local fleets, lower costs, better economic incentives for our builders, a stronger supply of used boats etc... And who knows, maybe a better chance for our elite sailors in the Olympics. I can't promise success, but I'm committed to doing what I can in an effort to meet this objective.
This announcement comes a little later than I had intended - I had hoped to post a note to coincide with the NAMSA meeting at Tradewinds. However a few weeks ago I was hit by some unexpected restructuring at work - right before I left for a month's vacation in NZ. Unfortunately only part of the restructuring was announced before I left, leaving the impact on my position unclear but with a possibility that I could lose my job (my boss was actually let go while I was overseas). So I've been a little distracted for the last few weeks by the possibility of an impending career discontinuity, which would also impact my ability to live in the US. However I arrived back in the US on Thursday and following a discussion with my (new) VP yesterday it seems that my position is secure for the immediate future at least. So I'm finally looking forward again to getting the Committee rolling. I'd be delighted to hear from anyone who wants to get involved. Also happy to take questions.
Mark.
