Not me. Used to say "...great way to ruin a walk." But, now you have to use a cart at most courses or you slow up the game for others by walking.

Haven't touched a club in 30 years and have no plans to do so.

" Golf, A good Walk Spoiled" I agree Rick. Even Tiger might agree after this weekend!

Hey, Chip and Barb Short have a Wave rental down there at Founder's Park, do they still read this board? I would like to hear what they have to say about getting new people to learn to sail.

Cycling is the new golf.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/09/fashion/09Fitness.html

http://www.goclipless.com/2006/11/new_golf.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/04/fashion/sundaystyles/04SILICON.html

Sailing is the new...

We used to have an A.S.A.-certified sailing school when we were at Rick's Place, but almost all of the people who came to it were people who had always had a dream of getting a big boat and going cruising. When they finally had enough money to buy a boat, they decided they had better learn how to sail it first.

If traditional bicycle shops are to SBR, Altheus and JackRabbit as coach is to first class, then Signature Cycles is a Gulfstream jet. “Very, very boutique,” David Jordan, a cycling coach and former professional racer, said of Signature Cycles. He said that Paul Levine, Signature’s owner, will “offer you a glass of Courvoisier while you discuss your cycling habits.”

At Signature Cycles’ Manhattan store (there is also a branch in Central Valley, N.Y.), there is a massage table for range-of-motion analysis. There is an espresso machine. There is, at the bar, Penfolds Shiraz and Maker’s Mark. Courvoisier, too. There is a shower, because the fitting can be strenuous, and, as Grant Salter, an employee, said, “Our clients are Wall Street guys, and they don’t want to go back to the office after a visit here and close a $5 million deal all sweaty and smelly.”

Wow. I guess I should open a Sailing Boutique in Manhattan, sell custom carbon A cats to the Wall street boys for $30K!

You'll have to have a cat in a pool (and big fan for wind) so they can get the experience of flying a hull and trapezing and getting sprayed with saltwater. Actually, it's a great idea!

Sort of like sports stores that have an indoor moving carpeted slope to practice snow-skiing.

Mary, have you seen those big pools they set up at Boat Shows, with a row of fans at one end, and then they race those little one-man boats? I would do something like that but use Hobie Waves.

Rick raced in a pool regatta many years ago in the Tampa Bay area. Guess they didn't catch on, spectatorwise.

Mark,

You really need to stop making blanket statements and proclaiming them as "facts."

There ARE Hobie fleets running learn-to-sail events. Non-Hobie fleets too.

There ARE learn-to-sail opportunities at community sailing centers, and lots of them are not only advertising, they are extremely successful to the point that they have to run lotteries for some of the youth programs.

Is it a perfect world? No, but it's not as bad as you think.

Mike

Heard Fleet 23/Mariner's had forty "sailors" show up for the first session on April 6th of Learn to Sail

I'll agree with Mark in that, it takes a boat builder (or dealer in this case) with an advertising campaign.

Mike

Do you bother to read and comprehend the thread or do you just see that I mention the name Hobie and then take my comments out of context.....
I wrote


Timbo wants Gary Jobson to have USSA build and run sailing centers like the RYA to teach sailing. He is making the case that lots of cheap access to boats and training is important to growing the sport of sailboat racing.

I argued the demand for basic sailing instruction is being met by Yacht clubs, sailing businesses and community sailing programs. etc etc. USSA, the SPORTS organizing authority should not expand on this stuff at all. I don't want my dues to subsidize learn to sail programs.

So... to persuade him... I noted that BACK IN THE DAY.... as in the hey day of beach cat sailing... I never heard of a hobie fleet running "learn to sail programs".... perhaps sail a hobie program... but not the kind of program that teaches sailing basics to complete novices. The Hobie fleet was a racing and social organization... not a sail training organization.

If I missed that history...sorry...I would be interested in why they stopped

You might read further .... I THEN wrote...
In my view... that is me acknowledging that YES Hobie fleets are NOW into teaching sailing on a yearly basis.

In hindsight... it was not particularly useful in persuading Timbo or fair to compare a national racing organization like USSA to clubs which have very different missions. While there is some solid basis to compare... the differences are also large.

Hey... maybe you want to join with Timbo and argue that the NAHCA should take some of their dues and fund adult learn to sail programs around the country, a much better parallel.

Hey... maybe you want to join with Timbo and argue that the NAHCA should take some of their dues and fund adult learn to sail programs around the country.

Hey, now that you mention it, that sounds like a great idea!

GYC is in the process of starting a summer sailing program aimed at younger sailors.

I'll keep you posted.

Pete, great idea, but will people first have to join the club to get into the learn to sail program? I think they need to learn to sail first, then join the club after they are "addicted". It's called Heroin maketing. Give them the first fix or two free, then once they are hooked, you get them to join.

Years ago I bought a JY15 to race with my twin daughters when they were only 6yrs. old because the then owner of JY boats, Dave Eck, had a great program where you could "borrow" a JY15 -FREE- for a few races. He had several older boats available for loaners for new people to sail at regattas and club races. After I raced one of the loaners a few times, I bought a brand new one.

See Mark, it works! If you expect a newbie to shell out the bucks necessary to first join a YC, then again for lessons, then again for a boat, well, how's that plan been working out so far? Nobody is going to spend that kind of money until AFTER they learn how to sail and see something they like in joining the Club, or Hobie Fleet, or what have you.

No details as yet. I'll keep you posted.

Timbo... I agree with you... that you have to get people hooked on sailing first... then racing, etc etc etc.

But
A small buisness, Standard YC with facilities, Community sailing center, paper yacht club are places that do this now.
Make the case that there is more demand then supply for this service and so more needs to be done.

(Then show me how you convert recreational sailors to racing sailors... that is what these programs try to do after they teach sailing)

To the point of the argument... Make the case that the NATIONAL organization (USSA, NAHCA A Class should do this at the local level! (Do they have the skills and the boots on the ground?)

Then make the case that every sailboat racer in the class or members of the National sailing organization should pay for this program and subsidize it.

I can't see how you make the case.

Telling me that you have to be introduced to sailing and be able to get on the water is essential and while very true is simply not the answer to any of those questions.

That's good to hear that Gulfport Yacht Club is starting a Youth Summer Sailing Program.

Earlier in this thread I stated that in the end I believe it will ultimately come down to us, the rank and file sailors that will need to do the hard work to rebuild the interest in sailing and racing sailboats.

And there are many ways to accomplish this mission ....

Last winter I offered to make "Homemade Meatballs and Tomato Gravy" for a Jr Sailing Fundraiser Dinner. The Jr Sailors from the sailing school came and served the meal including bussing the tables. RHYC's club manager and the chef for the club also got involved, both of them volunteering their own personal time to come and help w/ the dinner. The event was a HUGE success with a large turn-out of club members, standing room only in fact. We served 106 plates which is the largest number of dinners served at RHYC (at a non-regatta event) in recent memory. We raised over $800.00 for the Jr Sailing Program .... the kids had a great time and felt that they worked and helped w/ the success .... the clubmembers had a great bonding experience w/ the Jr's and other members. It worked to a level beyond my wildest expectations. ( I thought it would be great to serve 25-30 dinners and raise $100-200.00 ....)

Also last year RHYC had a "Ladies Only: Learn to Sail Day". RHYC-Sailing School has (6) 420's which were rigged up and teams of (3) women were give a boat and raced around a short course w/ the instructors from the sailing school following along in 14' Boston Whalers giving advice. The Ladies are still talking about that day and there is a another "Ladies Day" scheduled this year (there maybe more then one actually).

RHYC also has 3-4 Sunfishes that have been donated to the club .... now the sailing school doesn't use them (they are using Opti's, Laser Radials, and 420's), so we are going to refurbish the Sunfishes and make them availible to any club member to use FREE, so they or their children can learn to sail.

My point here is that it is the rank and file club members that are volunteering their time and sweat ... along w/ some dollars that are making this happen. NOT some national organization .... What helped make "America" great was the fact that everyone would pitch in and help ..... have you pitched in an helped ???? Volunteered a day (or two) to teach someone to sail ... helped you local JR Program by volunteering to be on RC ..... or fix up a donated boat .... etc, etc

Talk is talk ... we must each personaly "ACT". And each small individual action can and will add up ....

Harry

Mark, I believe Sailing is an activity that is, "out of sight, out of mind". But when the passerby sees a sailboat (cats in this case) rigging up on the beach, they stop by and ask all kinds of questions. "Is it hard, How much does it cost, WHERE CAN I LEARN?"

I can always answer the first two questions but rarely the third. And I live in Florida, where the weather allows sailing year round, and the endless beaches and many bays offer plenty of potential sites to set up "Lern to Sail" type locations. But unless I personally take them out, (which most of us have done many times) I really don't know where to send them to learn.

"Go find a yacht club, join it, and get into their learn to sail program..." is kind of an off-putting answer, I think. It would be nice if, like in England and elsewhere, you could point to a group of boats sitting on the beach, "Right Over There" and let them get started right away, now, today, while he is standing there in his swimsuit looking to go sailing. Come back later never works out.

OK, so how does that happen? Well perhaps for starters, we get a National Sailing Organization (Like USSA) to go to Congress and gather support for funding a National Learn to Sail Program. Just say "It's a New Green Industry that will create new Green jobs that cannot be outsouced!" to get the support you need. I would think Hobie would be on board as well.

Then you get US Sailing to provide the curriculum, they already have one, and train the instructors, like they already do, and you get Stimulus Money to pay for it all.

I'd much rather have my tax dollars supporting something like this than Pig Manure Research.

Mark,

You're writing so much and are so all over the place, it's almost impossible to figure out what you're actually trying to say. That gets compounded when your facts are wrong.

Hobie fleets hosting learn-to-sail events is NOT a new concept. In fact, there are fewer of them now than there were 10 years ago.

The fleets in this country that have retained any sort of large numbers are keeping new blood coming in. Sometimes, it's as simple as getting newbies crewing in fun races, other times it's a more formal event with real advertising.

Just because you're not seeing it doesn't mean it isn't happening.

Could more be done? Yes, as I've already said. But, you have to know the backstory first. There are several events that are capped for attendance because we only have so many volunteers available.

I'm not against having my dues used to bring in new blood. I don't want to subsidize someone else's hobby, but it cannot hurt to spend money to get more people's feet wet.

Mike

Yeah just like last year, aimed towards windsurfing. It never took off. Same people always doing everything around the club, unless others stup up, cough cough I dont see it happening.