Last night I read John Burnham’s column in this month’s Sailing World titled, “One-Design Heresy”. The story struck a cord in me, particularly after reading many threads in this forum regarding the “decline of sailing.”



In the article, John writes:



“What if racing were easy? What if you could push

your dinghy off the beach and go racing with no more

advance thought and planning than to remember,

"Oh yeah, it's Thursday." What if you just had to raise

the sail on your little keelboat and cast off in time to

meet the rest of the gang out by the harbor entrance

at 6 p.m.?”



Those words do a good job at describing our local cat sailing scene (Lake Champlain, Vermont). A string of “dead boats” line the beach at the International Sailing Center on Malletts Bay ($200/year for mast-up storage at the water’s edge). After work on Wednesday nights, sailors begin arriving with sail bags and harnesses in hand. We gather on the water at 6 p.m. The Sailing Center has the buoys set and the committee boat signals the cats to the line ten minutes after the Solings start. We get in 2 to 4 races on a good week, less on light air days.



“. . . the results are less important than being able to

show up in any kind of boat on any given day—with

one crew, four crew, or no crew at all. What counts is

that you have some company out there; that you have

a chance to try and put some other boats behind you,

and that you can focus most of your energy on simply

having a good time.”



Again, a good description of our local scene. A bunch of 5.8’s, a few H16’s and TheMightyHobie18’s, and my N6.0 (average boat value of perhaps 2K). On light air days, one or two sailors are usually single-handing due to crew that couldn’t get to the beach. If the winds are above 10 knots, those lacking crew might leave a boat on the beach and sail together. While I usually sail with my wife, I’ve recently started taking my 8-year old out when winds are light.



At the finish line, no times are recorded. Advice from the experienced sailors flows freely. Everyone, beginner to expert, feels welcome, and everyone goes home smiling, relaxed, and looking forward to meeting again next week.



“The goal is to go have an adventure—maybe a

misadventure—with a friend, a child, a parent,

a spouse. A starting time and a starting line gets

you out of your office and into the boat before it

gets dark. Once you're out there, something's bound

to happen, either on your boat or somebody else's

nearby. You'll come back refreshed—probably more

so than if you'd spent the evening fairing your bottom

to within .01" of the class-legal tolerances.”



Well said.



I’m not saying that there isn’t a place for the highly the competitive racing scene that pushes both sailors and boats. But, when the battle over classes gets heated, when good manners are sometimes forgotten, and arguments go on and on about which high-priced boat is best , budding interests will fail to blossom. New sailors are not going to enter the sport unless sailing is perceived to be within reach and, above all else, fun.



As a relatively new cat sailor, I’ve found this new forum to be welcoming of new sailors, patiently repeating answers to the questions of the newcomer. (The old forum, on the other hand, too often gets bogged down by the faceless egos engaged in endless bickering.) Thanks to those of you who’ve made this new forum an enjoyable break when desk work keeps me indoors.



P.S. – My eight-year old son, David, made a calendar for me for Christmas. On it, he listed his goals for the year. High on the list is, “Sailing the length of Lake Champlain”. We’ve started planning a trip this summer to cover most of the lake’s 120 miles.



The fun is spreading!

Thats what I am saying. Why cant there be an open 20 ft class and an open 18 class (etc) of fun seeking people that can tinker with their boats or not but get to race together. Loose rules and fast sailing for the thrill without ego.

Hi Kevin.



John Burnham's editorial is certainly thought provoking. How relevent is his point of view to cat racers? I don't know of many weeknight cat racing series around the country. I don't think they are very common. For instance I know of WRCRA at Galesville on Tuesday evenings on the Chesapekae Bay. Sailing World has reported that the majority of racers are competing in weeknight series and many sailors are not competing in the weekend racing. Just the opposite of the cat racing scene.

So, Does cat racing need to emphasise the fun/ lowkey aspects at weekend events and not one design competition?



Cat Racers should ask the question. Is an emphasis on one design racing for regional weekend events the solution for the future or an echo of the past?



John Burnham would argue one design is an echo of the past and that fleets and clubs should be careful to not turn off sailors by stressing the highly competitive, one design nature of sailboat racing. These events are better off at national level or major championship level events. On the other hand... the one design highly competitive aspect of the sport is what keeps the core group of sailors participating and running many of the events.



Seems to me that the solution is to emphasize B fleets where competitve one design racing exists on weekend regattas, Race one designs within portsmouth starts to ensure that every one is competing against somebody, and to NOT pressure sailors into getting X boat ... just so we can call it a one design fleet because we have a magic number of boats.



Take Care

Mark

Guys, I've owned a cat since '82 (G-Cat recently sold) and finally bought relatively fast one (older Mystere 6.0), joined a sailing club (Gulfport Yacht Club), primarily for mast-storage and discovered racing. We race twice a month on Saturdays. Very, Very low key. We have some very competitive types with new, hot boats, but most are aging beach cats with everyone having fun on triangle courses on Boca Ciega Bay.

The point is no one really cares who wins (usually the older fella on the Sunfish because of corrected times). My Mystere usually down due to time given. We get to make the boats go as fast as we can and thats it!

You can have the one design and all the headaches and hassles....our goal is fun sailing.

We get it every time!

John

The one class Hobie Regatta system has worked well...to the degree that it has excluded other designs in the past I think the decline of the sport overall has seen to more "open arms" inclusion of ALL cat sailors recently.



Heck it's better to be racing against a pack of boats and different racing backgounds/skills than it is to be out there with fewer boats and the same folk all the time.



"A" fleet racing is the refined level of the sport and a given benchmark is assured through the single class structure. I like that but can see where including other cat classes supports the whole cat scene.



But from "B" fleet down I really don't care who or what kind of boats I'm sailing against just as long as the skipper isn't sandbaggin his or her abilities and the particular boat has a PN which can help factor in boat performance differences.



I've participated in many a "midweek race" in keel boats and they are great "just grab the stuff and go do it" events. But don't kid yourself...there isn't a one of those where the top third of the skippers aren't duly competiing.



I think this guys' article is less about single design racing, less about the midweek time slot, or even the setting....but moreso about the attitudes people take with them onto the race course.



Afterall, it's not the expressway, it's not the office or the corporate ladder, and for cats....until we win over the Olympic Comm..... it's not even the Olympics. As laid back as most of the Hobie crowd is on the whole....I really don't see conflict with what this guy is saying "oaught to be the way it's done".

Hello saltfreesails



The attitudes of the competitors is certainly important. As you noted... the top 1/3 of the Wed night fleet is working just as hard as if it were their weekend event. The issue here is the cost and their commitment to play the game.



Do these programs have new sails for the season? etc etc. I would equate these sailors to Hobie 16 A fleeters in Div 11and predict that they race a good number of weekends. The B fleet guys are sailing and racing with different goals in that Wed night series.



You wrote

A" fleet racing is the refined level of the sport and a given benchmark is assured through the single class structure.



Where in the country do you have A and B fleets ? In what classes do you have A and B fleets. In Div 11... such a split exists only in the Hobie 16 class. I have not seen A and B fleets in the published results in most areas.



I argue that the most important goal should be to develop a vibrant B fleet of sailors.... and this goal should trump the holy grail of "one design competition" In my view, this would allow the attitudes of the sailors to sort out according to their commitment to sail boat racing and greatly enhance the fun factor and the participation for A and B fleets. Obviously, the mechanism for this kind of reorganization is through the portsmouth system.



Preserve competitve one design racing for national and regional championships



Take Care

Mark Schneider

I had read the editorial and I agree with it %100. I'll say it again, in the Chesapeake area, one of the most successful forms of racing seems to be the weeknight PHRF races. But there is also healthy one-design, from dinghies to keelboats.



In our area, the weeknight cat scene would seem to be limited to my Fleet, WRCRA, and the Southern Maryland Sailing Association (SMSA), who races on Thursdays I believe.



I truly believe one-design is a great thing. But the ability to participate in racing in the low-key manner depicted in the editorial is more likely to build the ranks of sailors. I believe we need to start building up local clubs that do these kinds of low-key events to build ranks. From these ranks will come the sailors and support to build back the one-design Fleets.



To build up the sport of catamaran sailing, we need to add new sailors and convert mono sailors, not shift the existing cat sailors around from class to class. Most of the current range of new boats being pushed are wonderful machines better suited to people who know what they are doing and really want to race. They are focused on racing, in one class/formula or the other. I think they can be overwhelming for the newbies from a skill and price perspective. You'll be making a good-sized payment on something that is only going to scare the crap out of the family and possibly be too complex to learn quickly. I also think that the plastic beginner boats from Hobie and others, as good as they are, may come off as resort toys to people wanting to start out in cat sailing with the intent of competing at some point (maybe I'm wrong). Used boats are then a wonderful and cost-effective way to get people in and hooked, as are the boats nobody seems to market/push/advertise much anymore to a lesser degree. As used boats come in a variety, the "run what you brung" mix of the Open/X-Class Fleet offers a great venue without forcing sombody to buy boat Y in order to play.



Our regular Fleet currently has one ARC-22, one SC-20 (and another being prepped...), one H-16, two H-18s, one H-20, one P-19, three N-5.8s, two Tornados, one P-18. We have the prospect of adding an I-20 or two, and maybe another H-20 or two. So we've got higher and lower end. Most of our recent additions have been the used boat and come on out route. We've been adding to our ranks a couple of teams a year over the last couple of years, so while we're not huge, but we're here. And what does this mean for other organizations? From our base of operations sailors are traveling to some degree to events run by other groups, like CRAC. It's possible some of these teams would not be sailing at all under other circumstances. We're not flooding these events, but a more than a soul or two have been added to the fray. So, when one group does well, we all do well.



We're truly low-maintenance as well. When things are good we have somebody to be committee. A lot of the times we run our start from the water (one lucky boat runs the horn), and everybody keeps their own times. We use the permanent marks set out by the Wednesday night keelboat PHRF fleet and nav marks to set the course, so we don't need a boat to set marks. We'd rather have all the boats on the water than sacrifice a team to run committee. Our format is more like a weekly mini-distance race. Our big attraction is probably that we have a storage area, and the boats stay rigged. But, as laid back as all this sounds, we're all out there with the aim to improve, and we're competitive, just not to the point that takes the fun out.



I'm not saying all this in to shamelessly promote my club (well, maybe a little...), but to show some things that can be done to get a low-key but competitve group together without having to put a lot of work into it, and how these kinds of groups can benefit the sport overall. And this plays into what the editorial had to say, IMO. Support the one-designs, but also support the mixed fleets that have a better chance at bringing people together, getting people hooked, and advancing participation.



Also, it's a bit sad to me that the emphasis in cat-sailing seems to be racing, racing, racing. Maybe that's just a perpective gotten from being on this forum a lot. Wouldn't it be great if we could promote the "just get out and sail" aspect of Fleets and boats, with the added "oh yeah, join in the races too" aspect thrown in. I think this may have been little more the way it used to be. A family outing on a boat that's good for that on the weekends would go far to getting the youngsters hooked on sailing, and if you can join in on a weeknight with that same boat and have competition and fun, even better. You don't need an Inter-20 for this - maybe a NACRA 570 with wings, or a H-18, etc. Maybe even hunt out the one-design races when you feel like it.



Keith

I am a heretic.

I am very competitive.

I put everything I have into going faster than other boats.

I am passionate about achieving results in sailing.



And I do not care if I win or lose.

I am not hurt by other sailors being better than me.

A day is not measured by a finish position or a failed attempt to beat a goal

if the wind was blowing and the sun was out spray in my face or a few good tacks or I learned something then I had a great day, a spectacular day compared to a day at the office.



This is heresy for a "competitive" racer and I only write to the others of us that would like to race for the thrill and fun of being on the water with other boats going in the same direction with the added distraction of rules.



Unfortunately this spirit does not generate sponsors and national money or regattas so we will be happy and without a forum



So what is my point - I challenge anyone to create and support more open regattas and classes that include the heretics and the novice and the never raced before as well as the sailed all of their life but sick of the pressure associated with more accepted competition.



For me I am working on generating interest in a gulf coast distance race the rules and classes to be determined by the racers. Many racers expect service for their entry fee I plan on creating a community race that all enjoy and contribute to.



I do not try to manage the advantages of design one boat has over another I sheet in and go faster.



Marc.

Keith,



You make a good point about the emphasis on cats being almost exclusively focused on racing. The nature of the boats (they're so fast) seems to drive that emphasis, but, as you said, there's a lot more.



I think if we all did a little personal reflection, we'd gain some valuable insight about what "works". For me, it was a beater Hobie 16, purchased for $300. The purchase included Phil Berman's 1982 book, "Catamaran Sailing." I didn't have a clue when I first began sorting out the rigging and sheets, but I read the book, sailed a lot, read the book some more, sailed a lot, etc.



Phil's book was well illustrated, included lots of photos of the range of cats available at the time, yet only two of the fifteen chapters were on racing.



For me, just beginning with cats, the racing chapters were left unread. I was just having a blast flying a hull back and forth across the bay, practicing boat handling and getting a feel for the "dance".



Now that I've hooked up with a laid back bunch of dead boat sailors here in the land of Ben & Jerry's, Phish, and "Jeesum Jim" Jeffords, I've been introduced to racing. If it weren't for the welcoming, encouraging nature of the folks I sail with, however, I'd probably still be on the sidelines.



We do a lot more than just the Wednesday nights around the buoys, though. This summer we'll be cruising to the best beaches for picnics. We have a night planned where we'll all take out the boats for some time on the side - capsizing and recovery. We'll run through our favorite drills from Rick's book. There'll be events focused on food and socializing, too.



Now, I'm certain that these are the types of things that are going on in pockets throughout the country, but, as you said, we just don't emphasize them enough.



(Of course, my wife would argue that I never go out on the boat for a relaxing sail. It's always sheeted hard and there's not much for idle conversation. We focus on making the boat go fast, even if we're headed to the beach with the kids and the dog on the tramp. )

Hello Kevin and Keith



I think we are speaking to two different issues.



My focus here is on weekend regattas to which that vast majority of sailors will trailer to, raise the mast and go racing. The boat will most likely stay on the trailer between regattas. I think these sailors are the majority of racers at the weekend events. These are the one design racing events that Burnham is speaking about. Is there a solution for increasing the participation at these weekend regattas?



Clubs with mast up storage rarely see their members drop the stick and go off racing for the weekend. (EG. WRCRA, in MD, Sandy Hook NJ. , Podickery Point. and others). They get their fill of racing with the club series. Money, and location are issues as to why people don't join these organizations. If beach access were cheap and readily available, clubs like yours would flourish and solve the problem. My club is not cheap and racers are for the most part not willing to join.



Back to my original issues... Can we come up with solutions that promote racing using the weekend regatta structure that Hobie one design classes built but are now loosing their appeal.



Take care

Mark

Mark,



I don't think we are talking about totally different issues. In response to your question, "Can we come up with solutions that promote racing using the weekend regatta structure . . .", I would again suggest that the answer lies beyond the strictly racing focus. It's about building the critical mass of sailors, of all interests and abilities. This is a necessary first step before narrowing the focus to weekend regatta structures.



A couple of other sports I have watched over the years have taken seemingly opposite paths. One continues to grow. The other peaked early and has since been in steady decline. The sports I'm referring to are sea kayaking and windsurfing.



When I first tried my hand at windsurfing, it was the rage. Everyone was doing it in my town. It seemed that one in ten cars had a windsurfer rack on top. In those early days, the boards and sails were pretty crude by today's standards, but they were beginner friendly. Eventually, the sport gravitated to the extreme. Gear became more performance oriented and a lot more expensive. Many people dropped out, but more importantly, the sport became one that was difficult for the beginner to get into.



On the other hand, when I started sea kayaking back in the 80's, the majority of the boats on the market were "expedition" boats, designed to carry intrepid explorers around Cape Horn or the North Sea, etc. The sport began on the radical fringe and was definately not perceived as the "anyone can do it" sport that is now promoted.



Over time, sea kayak designs spawned a whole new class of boat, generically termed, "recreational kayaks". These new affordable boats were aimed at the masses ($300-$800 vs. the $4k kayak I have sitting in my basement). They have sold extremely well and have introduced many, many people to the sport that they would have otherwise avoided. From the masses who have taken to the water have come some exceptional paddlers and a continental movement toward establishing water trail systems for recreational use, including the establishment of North American Water Trails, serving as an umbrella organization to the hundreds of trail projects in the US and Canada.



My point here is that if we want racing to flourish, we have to look beyond the problems of low attendance at weekend regattas. We have to create a sport that is not just perceived as the domain of the jocks and the well-to-do (or the well-to-do jocks).



As I recall, cat sailing had its origins in the spirit of creating a boat for the masses, breaking away from the yacht club mucky mucks, partying on the beach, having fun. Out of that, naturally enough, evolved the racing scene. And that's great. If we forget about sailing fun for the masses, however, the whole sport is going to suffer and decline.



Cheers,

Well said Kevin.

Good points Kevin! Mark, as far as the weekend structure goes, these days lots of things compete for a family's time on the weekend. I don't even have kids, and getting to a weekend regatta is a tough sell. As such I try to make the ones that are local, and plot to make some that involve a little travel - sometimes with success, most times not. There's no way I could make all of them. I suspect there are others like me. I can't imagine the pressures added with kids and soccer games, scouting, etc. As for mast-up sailors not going to these events, we do. Our whole Fleet doesn't show up, but we do have members that go. Some of them have to completely disassemble their boats to go. And if we didn't have our Fleet, some of these people might not be racing at all, and wouldn't be attending any weekend races, either. Some of the weekend races are ones that some sailors don't feel capable for - like the Chesapeake 100 or Down The Bay. They're not even sure how to get the experience to feel qualified for these. A lot of new sailors are scared by the whole racing thing to start with - ways to reduce those fears and get them sailing are needed - which brings us back to low-key fun events that may have nothing to do with racing. Intro days for sailors new the scene, and things like that.



Cost is definitely an issue. You mention that our advantage is we're cheap. True. Once again, lots of things compete for a family's resources. Keeping a race boat in an expensive storage facility is going to lose out for most people. Keeping a boat mast up increases its chance of getting sailed, but too much cost will increase its chance of getting sold. If the cost of buying/keeping a race boat on a beach approaches a cruising boat in a slip, it seems to silly to keep a beach cat. Keeping a boat on a trailer and trying to find beach access in our area (Chesapeake Bay) is tough - Sandy Point is about the only viable option - very sad.



But there are lots of communities with water access, it's just not public. So, maybe community-based clubs as a grass-roots effort. People sailing their boats for a variety of reasons, and a new bunch of sailors to populate the weekend races. In my mind I've started to toy with the idea with respect to my community. This won't provide sailors for next week's regatta, but it will a year or two down the road. And there might be a better chance of them sticking with it.



Publicity is another thing that will help the weekend scene. Our local papers and sailing magazines make no mention of our existance, unless we tell them we're there. So we need to tell them. And tell them again. And after that, tell them once more. We need to send write-ups and club listings and schedules. There are a lot of people out there who are interested but don't even know to come this site yet, as absurd as that may seem to us. Local print media is a great way to catch their eye. In our area Spinsheet is a free mag that caters to the Chesapeake area sailing scene. None of the major catamaran races in our area is in their schedule. None. I've never seen a follow up article on Down The Bay or C-100. This is a free magazine that is found in all of the bars, sailing stores, and delivered to people's homes. If we want people to come to our events, and be interested in what we do, we cannot wait for them to find us and then lament that they do not. We need to get out and shout from the mountain tops to everybody - not just to the ones that already know about us. We've put a little effort in to try to do this, and we've actually pulled some interest from it. This year, Spinsheet sent us a note to remind us to update our listing - wow, they're actually starting to look for us now! The Chesapeake area is ripe with sailors. We have to tell them that we're here, and would love for them to try things out.

Keith, Kevin, Mark, Excellent points. I agree that first and foremost, you have to recruit more people into cat sailing if you want to have any kind of racing. It took me many years to feel comfortable enough on my boat to enter a regatta, and even going to a local one-design race was a bit intimidating. But thanks to having people willing to give me some pointers, or take me out as crew in their weekday events, I found that I truly enjoy racing, and try to get away to the occasional weekend event.

I would however give up racing anyday to be able to get out on my boat to just fly hull with some friends. If I restricted myself to associating only with people who can afford the latest $10,000 boat, I think I would find myself having a hard time finding friends.

If I took out anybody I found friendly, on my 1978 Hobie, I bet at least one or two of those people would eventually buy their own $10,000 cat and ask me to sail with them.

I'll choose the second option.