Quote from SA 'gasoline':

"Hello, this is my first post here.
I wanted to sign up here to post this a while back, but I just got my validation e-mail, so I posted it elsewhere. I will modify and re-post it below.
I am new to sailing and have only been out three times, and have no skills to speak of. I am will be taking sailing lessons in a few months' time; and I hope one day soon to be able to cross the Atlantic.
Here is my view on the topic of getting new people sailing, from someone in that position:

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1. I have noticed in my years of lurking that a lot of the chatter here at Sailing Anarchy (SA) goes on at length (rather unconsciously I think) about "my yacht club...".

I wonder if people don't realize how "normal" (so to speak) people view these sorts of statements?
While it may be the norm for many of the people on the website, it sounds incredibly inaccessible to most other people. It is almost directly akin to "my country club...".

"Clubs" of any sort like this immediately imply exclusivity. A majority of people do not belong to any sort of exclusive organization whatsoever (for which one has to be nominated), neither do they concern themselves with matters of social climbing.
Joining a yacht club simply has no appeal to them, because they feel (maybe rightly) that that is something with which only people of substantial means and the accompanying social standing concern themselves. After all don't you have to dress up in order to enter such clubhouses? Aren't these clubs merely toned-down versions of the gentleman's clubs of the turn of the century?

This is the image I think such terms convey to the majority of people who are not sailors.

From time to time, many of the posters there talk about this. They sort of get the general idea, but not quite. Many think that the popular image of yacht clubs is one where there are "lots of old guys in blue blazers".
But my point is that people are smarter than that. It's not the image of blue blazers as much as it is the perception that wealth (particularly "old money") is a prerequisite for a "yachting lifestyle".

When you couple this with the idea that the most accessible "boating model" in most people's eyes is to purchase a $3000 used "bass boat" which is much easier to handle, transport and otherwise take care of, then I think you can get an idea of why people think of sailing as something for a particularly wealthy class (who all live on Nantucket or Georgica Pond or any other swank seaside location).

2. I think there is an obsessive over-emphasis on racing.

This would be number one if I remembered it earlier.

This one could not be any plainer. Where to begin:

i) Not everybody is that competitive.
The emphasis on racing is particularly off putting in my opinion to people who would be new to sailing.
Not everybody lives for thrills, and not everybody has an uncontrollable urge to beat other people at some contest or the other. This simply cannot be the first thing to greet people who come into contact with sailing. It is bound to fail on all save children (who are more "go! go! go!" than adults).

ii) This one is more obvious:
Do people not understand that people who have only ever drawn a sailboat in elementary school would be much better off walking before they can run?
It is exactly like pulling people off the streets and trying to get them interested in F1 or NASCAR--or maybe weekend amateur car racing.

People who have not even learned to appreciate the motion of a boat on the water (and just how soothing it can be) are not prime candidates for dipping the rails (every Wednesday!).

And then there are the rules!

I have started off very slowly, and after maybe three trips I helped out on a Rhodes 19 (I think) in a beer-can race (that's a "fun race" right?).
I enjoyed myself, but I must tell you that at no point in time did I know where we were going, neither have I retained any memory of rounding any mark whatsoever. I can't even remember what any of them looked like.

I do remember that we snagged a lobster pot. (Twice I think...)

3. People do not know where to start. If they have even given sailing any thought since elementary school.

How does somebody who doesn't know anything about sailing, and who never even gives it any thought in their daily lives, become interested in it?

I have found that many people who sail (all in fact that I have met including online), will bend over backwards twice over to help you if you are interested in any aspect of sailing; and they are always patient and willing to explain. Always.
But I was already somewhat interested. What about people who might enjoy sailing, but will just never in their lives realize this simply because they will never be offered an opportunity to sail or even think about sailing?
My friends and family think my interest in sailing is quite odd (at best) and are slightly amused (at worst). None of them have any urge to follow me.

This is a big, big thing.

It appears to me that the vast majority of people as far as I can gather, who are into the sport of sailing, have inherited this interest from their parents (who got it from their parents and so forth back several generations).

I am not sure that many people like this understand how someone with no history of sailing in their lives sees this complex world of sailing (if they even think about it at all having had no introduction in their lives).
How much does a boat cost? Where can I learn to sail? Which comes first? The boat? The sailing lessons? When will I have time to learn this? What if I sink? Where do I keep the boat? And on and on.

I will try to type what I think are some of the solutions next.
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This is simply my perspective as someone trying to learn to sail as an adult. I think others may feel this way as well, and I hope it is useful to someone out there..
I will try to break up this post with pictures to make it easier to read."

More from Mr 'gasoline'

"Here are the solutions I outlined. Again, I hope this is coherent and helps in some way:

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Solutions:

1. Community Sailing Centers and "Sailing Clubs".

The idea is simple. People need to be introduced to sailing in a controlled environment.

--The cost factor needs to be dialed into their first sailing experience. This is covered well in such organizations since maintenance, boat ownership, insurance and other costs are all bound up in the flat fees people pay to sail/learn to sail with these clubs.

I think that if things worked in the right way, that sailing would be a lot more popular, and that this would be the primary way that people experience the sport.

There is no dress code, no bouncers at the door (as I have incredulously heard people at Sailing Anarchy hint at) and no social obligations.

--Through this (with proper education), people will be able to learn more about how to actually go about owning a boat, where to store it, what to expect etc.
This will take an effort on the clubs' part to educate people about how possible it is to own a boat on an "ordinary" income etc. and how a re-arrangement of priorities can substitute for vast wealth.

2. Outreach is needed.

Not only should such clubs/organizations try to recruit people (off the street, in libraries, on college campuses, in coffee shops) but so should people with boats!

A particularly fertile group of people to approach would be people who are used to camping, RV-ing, biking, hiking and hunting.
These are the kinds of people who would not mind spending an occasional weekend in cramped quarters slinking from cove to quiet cove up the coast in a coastal cruiser of some sort (and bringing their families along).

It has all the elements of hunting (navigation, orientation), hiking and biking (physical exertion), camping (lack of luxury, bugs, winging it).

(Why am I typing all this? Maybe it's a good thing they did not send the registration e-mail!)

3. Emphasize cruising, daysailing and dinghy jaunts.

This will simply always be more popular than racing. But I think that the more comfortable people get with sailing in general, the more amenable they will be to Wednesday-night racing. Think about how much greater participation in racing would be if all of these new sailors attended at least one race a month.

I know more than a few people who own canoes and kayaks. To me there is no reason they couldn't also have a Laser or Sunfish hanging on the wall in the garage(except that those things are so darned heavy) or a Beetle Cat (which they could tow with the Camry/Accord/Malibu to the local pond/reservoir) covered down in the backyard.

4. People who sell, maintain and store boats need to get their act together.

--Advertise to more people.

--Try to get a dollar cost in people's heads.

--There is room for money to be made in maintenance. Boatyards can step up here and try to set up a system whereby people who buy boats for the first time can wrap their heads around the cost of ownership and maintenance (and maybe teach people how to be self-sufficient too).

The point is, that there is a lot one needs to know when thinking about keeping a boat. All this information needs to be consolidated in one place (as organized as the car industry).

I also think that the moment more people begin to think about sailboat ownership, the more likely it is that boating magazines will flourish, and that they will be more honest in their reviewing of boats (a common complaint).

I think that is all I will say for now. I hope you have not fallen asleep.
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Important edit:

I forgot one crucial, crucial thing:

Adult sailing programs!

When you go on the internet and try to look for them, all you see is instruction geared at children!
Nothing is wrong with that, but I think the adult angle is severely neglected.
This is a very big point, and I should have put it first on the list. I was my number one frustration."

Hi Tami,

I think I might have a different take on Mr Gasoline ‘s POV then you would.

I think that what Mr Gasoline is not willing to acknowledge is that a yacht club can not be all things to all people. He has expectations for Yacht Clubs and also for a group of sailors who race and that these two groups are simply not going about meeting his expectations and he calls it a problem.

Sailing is a pastime and so it is just an individual endeavor that frequently brings along family and friends. The overwhelming majority of sailors fit this description. They have absolutely no need for any organization (eg a club) and they fill most of the marina’s in america. At most they need a representative that lobby’s on their behalf on general boating issues.

Gasoline’s problem is that as a non sailor, he seemed to expect that a run of the mill Yacht Club would deliver adult sailing lesson and give him access to the pastime of sailing The reality is that teaching sailing is better left to a commercial business. You want training… they provide training for $$$.… This is exactly what I did for my one attempt at skiing.. I hired a ski instructor and decided that I would best spend my money in the winter going south where it’s warm and I can sail. US Sailing steps in and set’s standards for the quality of the training because they see it as good for sailing in general.
This is a problem for some USSA members.

Once you have acquired the skills to sail and want a more social level. He will find a lot of social clubs that sail together. Our local sailing monthly magazine has club notes from over 50 social sailing clubs… Everything from the Jewish Navy, to the Catalina Fleet to Singles on Sailboats.. They have the goal of sailing with a group of boats … essentially the same orientation to sailing as individuals but now with a social group. The level of organization for the group is pretty minimal and the club gets organized around sailing and something (eg. singles). It’s a social group. Gasoline just needs to find the best match with a sailing group in his area.

Gasoline expected that a Yacht Club would be the entry point into the past time of sailing. When he figures out that promoting sailing can mean a lot of different things he blast the yacht clubs and then labels the Yacht clubs as exclusive domains of the rich and doesn’t like the general vibe and although he admits it’s a stereotype, he still blasts the YC’s for being out of touch and inaccessible.. He does not factor in that usually, these clubs grew out of their communities and the club is centered around Sailing and the local town. I suggest that YC’ that are visible are just not his kind of social scene…. Nothing more and nothing less. I would not expect the Jewish Navy yacht club to be a good fit for my interests.

Now the one thing about sailing that is social and requires a great deal of organization is a boat race. After you agree on the rules, the venue, the classes, the time, the prizes, the nature of the competition (Corinthian) etc etc. You absolutely require a great deal of organization if you want to take the pastime of sailing up a notch to the sport of sailing. A subset of the YC’s had members who took on this organizational job and so we have the infrastructure that you see. Nationally, back in the day it was the USYRU. It so happens that more people are passionate about making sailboat racing happen then are passionate about running a booze cruise to the tiki bar two rivers down. Gasoline misinterprets the sailboat racer’s passion for the sport of sailing with the very different focus of someone who is engaged in the pastime of sailing. He notes that racers are extraordinarily helpful but not giving him what he wants or needs as a new sailor interested in the past time of sailing.

To me, this is like telling or asking the zebra to change his stripes…. It’s not going to happen and you are crazy for asking. . For instance, Prindle Fleet 25 was the organization that predated CRAC…. It was similar to a Hobie fleet of the time with 50% of the members in the group there for a Sailing pastime…. (Just like the current Catalina club). When I joined, the vast majority of members left were the racers and the cruisers non existent. The club was reformed as CRAC with a deliberate focus on the R for Racing. The individuals passionate enough to organize … were simply NOT going to organize a social group. Yep it’s narrow and focused and the organization wants to go out of business after everyone joins a yacht club in the area.

IMO the current upset with USSA is couched in the queery
“60 bucks…. What do they do for me” Racer’s are only interested in racing and growing the pastime of sailing is somebody else’s problem. All of the programs that USSA has taken on to grow the pastime is a waste of money as far as the racer is concerned.

Why don’t racers want to pay for or support services for sailors who are engaged in the pastime of sailing? In their experience, the yield of racing sailors harvested from friends and family that they have taken racing is pretty small.. The odd cruiser who gives racing a try is really rare.

Right now, Gasoline was not interested in the sport of sailing. He has tried it and it did not take. Could we have done a better job with introducing him to racing… certainly but that is a different debate. For me Gasoline’s essential gripe is that his expectations of what a yacht club should be doing were way out of line with what YC’s in fact are doing.

For me, I also don’t like taxing racing sailors for the purpose of growing the pastime of sailing. I would prefer USSA focus on race training programs. However, I recognize that you probably have to balance the “grow the pastime of sailing” with the “focus on the racer mindset given one national organization. The Multihull council is focused on racing.

I think that you could have a serious debate over splitting up USSA into Olympics, Racing, Cruising and Training. The racing mission would take on the Rules, Judging training, Race officer training and administering the infrastructure of the sport of Corinthian sailboat racing. Each Yacht Club should be where the tradeoffs between racers and social pastime sailors make the deals on budget’s and programs. At the national level… this debate becomes banal and you loose focus and so nobody is happy.

Something to back up Gasoline's view of the public's perception of yacht/sailing clubs...

My SAILING club held an open house last weekend (there is a YACHT club, for power boaters, around the corner). We had an illuminated arrow sign on the street announcing the open house with "free sailboat rides" and there was a flyer circulated around which said "Come dressed for sailing". People showed up dressed to the nines! They really expected the ascot and blue blazer crowd, and they lined up to go out on the big keelboats.

It was a beautiful warm day, with plenty of wind. I was there with my Wave, in a t-shirt, swim trunks, and life vest, asking "who wants to go on a wet-boat ride?" and most visitors moved quickly away from me. I did get a few takers: teen-agers, young couples and one gal who I had to insist she leave her leather dress shoes on the beach and roll up her designer jeans.

All in all, the turn out was good, but I don't know how many new members we'll pick up. I know the people who went with me had a great time, if not what they expected.

I will add that our club DOES emphasize adult training programs as well as kids' classes, and the course is free to all new members.

Do YOU see a regular influx of new sailors in YOUR club/group/whatever? Not regionally nor nationally, but in YOUR club.

No, we are getting sailors from other classes.

My experience with the "introduce the public to sailing" is pretty much like IndyWave's.

I did an event with the Washington Ski club. After 5 hours of giving sailboat rides and hearing... "thanks... I always wanted to experience a catamaran ride" I was done!

Studies have shown that a person needs to go sailing about three times before they can get hooked on it. IMO, the beach resorts and the learn to sail buisness are the best way to do this. They make the public make a commitment of some time and money to give it a go.

Community sailing programs are another good solution. To me, the key is that you sign up and pay for a 6 or 8 week course. Many YC in my area have programs like IndyWave's. I hope they work out.

Tami - your avatar is freakin' hilarious!