While there are pockets of growth within various clubs and classes, anyone who thinks that yacht racing in the United States is growing generally would be mistaken. No matter where I look or who I talk to, almost everyone is saying the same thing – the sport is smaller than it was even 10 years ago.
The causes of this are many, some societal, like dual income families, and the growth of many new sports and sports programs that are just plain more fun for kids, when all is said and done. We can’t change societal factors, but we can acknowledge them and tailor sailing events to fit within that matrix.
But alot of the decline is of our own making. The biggest problem is not money – the boats are still floating around somewhere. We just haven’t struck upon a chord to get them to untie from the dock or get off their trailer and go back on the race course. Perhaps the reason for this is the shift away from true casual recreational racing to a strict diet of winner take all windward-leeward racing.
Time, or rather the abuse of precious weekend time by unthinking and self-serving race organizers is perhaps the biggest culprit. When it’s more effort to get up and rush out of the house to go sailing on a weekend day than it is to go to work duing the week, the decision to race or not is simple. Why bother?
What we need to do is go back to the future. Look at PHRF type racing. 30 years ago, most of that type of racing was point to point, with really casual low key racing. The focus was really on getting to the party in an organized fashion. Now, what is largely sold is only windward-leeward racing. Not only does this require a specialist crew, it is for the most part really boring to be mostly nothing more than rail meat. Who wants to spend a weekend day like this? Getting your once a week diet of this for a few hours on Wednesday is all of this type of racing most people want.
One-design – I don’t get the decline here at all. Except that maybe again it is the notion that everyone is just so hard core – at least as viewed by most people. Personally, I’ve got no problem with the hardest of hard core racing, but that clearly isn’t want people want. Maybe it’s the shift to bigger boats and the exit out of small one designs that has caused fleets to get smaller, and less enthusiastic about sailing on weekends. There are pockets of success in some classes with strong club racing programs, but over and over, from the Great Lakes to the Chesapeake to southern California the trend is overwhelmingly evident in the shift away from good, solid club racing.
Maybe what we need is for Sailing World, and perhaps Sail and a few other ink and paper publications, to focus on what makes good club racing, and really promote those successes on a monthly basis. I could care less if i ever read another article about how cool racing in Key West is - I don’t get the attraction of going to Key West in January and having to bundle up like you are going skiing. It happens every year, there is always a day or two of weather cold enough that you see crews in ski hats, if not ski-type warm clothes.
Maybe what is needed is for the industry types like Peter Harken and the North guys to sit down with the editors of the sailing publications and say “look, we need you to help the sport by focusing on the middle of the game, not just the little kids and glamour classes.” It would be the smart play because there’s alot more money in the middle of the market than at either end.
So – what’s your idea on how to get more people racing more often?
August 23, 2006 at 9:13 pm
We have largely dropped out of the weekly grind and tailored our racing to the interests of the crew …. namely point to point racing. Destination or event races fill the boat with crew who can commit to a weekend but not a series.
We raced the 2006 Bayview-Mackinac which despite the 280 mile delivery will become a part of our program. The race was terrific and the party outstanding.
Could this be a case when less is more?
August 23, 2006 at 9:44 pm
I don’t agree. Your particular conception of “yacht racing” may be declining. But the sport of sailing – at least the kind of sailing I do – is thriving. The Laser (including Laser Radial) class goes from strength to strength. We regularly see turnouts of over 100 boats at regattas like Newport and Buzzards Bay. The Laser Masters regattas are well attended. Laser frostbite fleets like Cedar Point get bigger every year. There are youngsters, old guys and more and more women in the class.
Ah you will say – I don’t want to race a Laser. I want to sail in a handicap fleet with my buddies on a floating leadmine in a “really casual, low key” manner on the way to the party in an “organized fashion”. Well maybe that style of “yachting” has gone the way of the dodo. Today’s busy sailors want to participate in a sport that is challenging, athletic, economical, convenient, friendly, fair, accessible, sociable – and they are finding it in their droves in Laser racing. And on windward leeward courses too.
We don’t need Sailing World or Sail or North or Peter Harken to solve a problem for us. The glass isn’t half empty. It’s overflowing. Come join us. The more the merrier.
August 23, 2006 at 10:19 pm
Tillerman,
I’ve raced Lasers and probably will again someday – I love ‘em.
And I appreciate your fleet building zeal for the class – I do that now for my current double handed dinghy – even a member of the Board of Directors.
But what Mr. Huston is questioning is a higher-order issue. You know very well that there are endless reasons for an athletic, wet, single-handed boat (racer) to be inadequate for other sailors. It’s just not for everybody. For example – I race my double-handed dinghy with my 11 and 7 yr old daughters – it’s a family activity – Laser just doesn’t fulfill that for me right now. I could go on with other examples.
What you wrote is correct – I agree with you regarding the popularity of the Laser. Now, go back and reconsider Mr. Huston’s question – how do we turn this decline around – for all sailboat racing? We’re not talking about competing among classes / fleets to win away a greater share of a shrinking pie. We need to grow the pie!
Now that I’ve taken you to task, what are my great ideas??? I wish I had some! I do think there is a role for the leaders in the sailing / sailboat racing industry to push more focus onto the “average Joe” and less on the Grand Prix level. But I also think that has to be matched by “local-marketing”. Increasing the number of events like the SF Bay’s Small Boat Racing Assoc.’s “Sail a Small Boat Day” at Richmond YC. Publicized in local papers, schools, sailing rags, fliers, etc. Putting butts in boats – holding the tiller, not sitting on the rail – is the best way to hook someone. Yes there is a role for bringing people into the sport as crew on a bigger boat. But to kick-start sailboat racing again, I say get them thinking that sailing / racing is owning / driving.
What is it about dinghy racing in England??? I regularly pick up Yachts and Yachting – a British racing mag that puts most of its focus on 25ft and below racing. When you see the numbers of regattas, the numbers of classes, and the number of participants in dinghys and small keelboats, it’s mind-boggling. I wish I knew what was different over there.
Looking forward to seeing others thoughts….
August 23, 2006 at 10:42 pm
Nice response, Lido.
What’s different over there, and I know this may sound trite and utterly obvious, is that they are living on an island. No matter where you go on that island, you’re never more than a few hours from the ocean. Living breathing and inherently understanding the sea is in their blood after this many generations. It’s my opinion that the folks from the UK are more than just passionate about sailing and boating in general. They truly love it.
I believe that the New Zealanders share that same inherent, islander love of the sea and that the Australians brought it with them from England.
August 23, 2006 at 11:18 pm
I now race a Herreshoff 12 — actually a Doughdish, a fiberglass version of this wonderful classic gaff-rigged little boat. I began in this class as a boy, and then went on to race 110s, Tempest, 470s, Lasers, Ynglings, and Shields. I could be racing a Bullseye now, but I won’t.
The Herreshoff class at the Beverly Yacht Club in Marion (MA) is the largest fleet in the club, with over 40 boats listed, many of them built of wood back in the teens, 20s, and 30s. Some of those are still sailed, but few are raced. Our Thursday Ladies races typically draw 4-6 H-12s every week, and perhaps 8-10 Bullseyes. The Bullseye fleet seems to be shrinking while the Herreshoff fleet is growing after declining for many years. On Sundays, the Herreshoffs draw another 4-6 boats. That series had stopped up until last year. There just wasn’t the enthusiasm.
Why the new interest? Lots of theories. An artist friend thinks it’s because the boat is so beautiful. I think it’s because the Herreshoff is so easy — just get in it, raise sails, and go. It’s a simple boat, a low-tech boat, that is very forgiving. There aren’t a lot of gadgets on it — they’re not allowed.
But it’s more than that. We’ve developed a motto for the class at Beverly: “Race a Herreshoff. Feel the Speed!” The irony drips off the sails like fog on a windless day. And yet, perhaps that is the appeal of a Herreshoff: She isn’t a fast boat. In a Herreshoff we have time to talk, to think, to pray, to sing our way to the windward mark. We can relax and have a sandwich on the downwind leg. We can enjoy the heel of the boat, the feeling of power as she surges across and down a Buzzards Bay wave on the way to the reaching mark. (Remember reaching marks, and gybing around them?)
My artist friend put her finger on it, though. After we’d recently finished a weekend of sailing and racing, we realized we’d had the time of our lives. We hadn’t won, but we’d had a lot of FUN! It was a joy. Partly because of the beautiful little boat we were sailing, and partly because before we began, we decided it would be fun, that having fun was more important than winning. I mean, if it’s only winning you’re after, you can do that in any sport. NASCAR wants you badly.
That’s why I think the sport of yacht racing in general is declining: It’s all about winning, and it’s no longer fun.
Unless, of course, you’re racing a Herreshoff.
August 23, 2006 at 11:24 pm
I was born in Britain and I don’t think that I have the sea in my blood. Indeed I did almost all of my racing in England on inland lakes. But I do think geography has something to do with the popularity of dinghy racing in England. There are hundreds of clubs in a relatively small area. Most people live near several sailing clubs. You don’t have to travel far to go to regattas. But you are right – a lot of us do love sailing.
My rant above was not meant to be just a PR plug for the Laser. My point really was two-fold…
Firstly if you want to grow the sport then be postive, talk about its successes, talk about how it is thriving, tell your friends how much fun it is, invite them to go sailing, lend them your boat, teach them to sail. All this gloom and despondency from folks like PH about how the sport is dying could become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Who wants to take up sailing when they read such negative stuff about it from a supposed leader in the sport?
Secondly recognize that, in the modern world with so much pressure on people’s time, one design dinghy racing is probably the best option for most people. They want a boat that’s not too expensive, easy to transport, easy to maintain, durable, fun, and with plenty of other boats of the same class locally so they can race each other without all the complications of handicaps and can learn from each other. The Laser is a great example. There are others. Good luck to you if you have family that will crew for you. If my wife had been interested in sailing I would probably have taken up Enterprise sailing in England and then moved to something like a Vanguard 15 when we moved to America.
August 23, 2006 at 11:31 pm
And if I lived on Buzzards Bay I might even sail a Herreshoff 12 at Beverly YC. PMc put his finger on it – easy, simple, low-tech, fun, and plenty of other folk locally with the same boat. And there’s even some enthusiast from Marion posting positive comments on blogs telling everyone how his fleet is thriving and how much fun it is. Well done Peter M. That’s they way to grow sailing as a sport.
August 24, 2006 at 9:01 am
Dear Peter,
Enjoyed your article but it does not pertain to our H12 Fleet at Beverly Yacht Club in Marion, MA. We race every Thursday (Ladies) and Sunday (everyone). We just hosted our “Nationals” and had 26 boats racing their brains out. And we keep getting calls from new owners who are eager to join the fun. Our publicity for the Nationals even resulted in the discovery of a “phantom fleet” that we didn’t know existed.
All it takes, I think, is great enthusiasm and love for these beautiful small boats. Most are reproductions; a few are originals. We vary our courses – two races each day. Our finest sailor, who has won just about everything, is nearly 80 years old and is usually unbeatable. And now our Juniors are getting involved and can’t wait to compete in the Nationals next year. The younger adults are helping us to upgrade our offerings at the Nationals and to bring in their friends and family.
August 24, 2006 at 10:21 am
Peter, you make some good points but I sailed triangles (15 races!) team racing Sonars last weekend and it was horrible. No chance to pass, just sit and hope the other guy screws up (they didn’t).
August 24, 2006 at 12:22 pm
(I have previously posted much of this to another forum in response to a similar topic.)
As someone who has just recently started racing, but had been daysailing and wanting to race for the last five years or so, let me share some of my observations. Primarily, I’m going to focus only on people who are younger (20-30s) and who didn’t grow up sailing or in families that did, as that describes myself.
I think there are a lot of people out there who know how to sail, and would like to get involved with racing, but aren’t sure how to do so. Similarly, there are a lot of people out there who would like to get involved with sailing, but aren’t sure how to do so.
As participation in sailing is like a pyramid (the higher levels have less people), it is important to build the base levels if you want the higher ones to grow. Therefore, I think local yacht and sailing clubs should offer adult sailing lessons (especially, to non members). Members of the club should be encouraged to invite their non-member friend to take these lessons (offering a trophy to whomever recruits the most?) . There should be a “chalk talk” afterwards at the bar so that friendships are made, etc. Most importantly, these lessons should be well advertised, and advertised as open and friendly. No one will participate if they don’t find out about it, and very few non-members are going to be reading the club newsletter.
Similarly, clubs should offer an introduction to racing/crewing class, at the beginning (and maybe also at the middle) of their season. Besides an intro to the rules, etc, this should include some actual racing time, perhaps a mini-series where boat owners are allowed only one regular crew and the rest must be students. If there aren’t enough students to make such a series interesting, perhaps requiring each boat to race with one new student crew each week (with the students rotating between boats). Such a thing would teach people about racing and get them to meet the fleet and make friends. Someone with no racing experience will be very uncomfortable with asking to crew. By offering such a class they not only gain some experience, but they also get to meet the skippers.
I think adult (simple) dinghy racing should be encouraged in addition to the keel boats, as it is a great way for introductory racers to learn, and it will be affordable for the 20-30 somethings that I think are essential for the sport’s growth. For example, I think lasers or V15s would be good here. If you already have a highly competitive fleet, make sure you offer rookie and novice divisions, make sure there is a learning component involved, and make sure
people have fun.
I lived in an area where they only way to get involved in racing was through a very expensive, very middle aged yacht club, and so I never did and was content to daysail. If you want more racers, make sure your club is set up to allow new people to get involved cheaply and easily. Especially w.r.t. the dinghies, offer ‘dinghy membership’, where someone could keep their boat at the club, and participate in racing, without needing to shell out thousands for membership and initiation. Younger adults are not looking for a club that offers tennis lessons for their spouses, or a skeet range, and will be turned off by a club that requires a lengthy membership process with multiple letters of recommendation and interview. They want to sail, and hang out afterwards and talk about sailing. Make sure that this dinghy membership is well publicised, so that prospective sailors see that it is available.
I now live in a big metropolitan area that offers commercial sailing clubs. These clubs offer classes that teach novices how to race, and allow them to get involved with racing without needed to ‘magically’ connect with a boat owner. Best of all, such clubs are affordable, and have very simple membership criteria (signing a check). Not every area can support such for profit clubs, but I think it is quite possible for some of the private clubs to fulfil much of the same role.
I think it is important for that want to grow the sport to put themselves in the shoes of a ‘racing virgin’: someone who doesn’t know a racer, who isn’t a member of a club, and who has never been racing. Racers need to “reach out” to these people, by holding beginner events, and advertising them – which could be as simple as putting up flyers at the local marina and boat supply store. Remember that those who are virgins most likely won’t feel comforable “reacing in”, even if they knew who to approach.
August 24, 2006 at 12:26 pm
I absolutely agree with the two key points made in the article. I think there is a huge over emphasis on professional high-end racing in the sailing media. This racing is largely irrelevant to most of us who sail. At the local level, I think there is generally a misguided emphsis on “serious” racing at the expense of fun. I cannot oppose emphsising junior sailing, but most of those juniors will grow up to be amateur sailors and, if amateur sailing is not as much fun as other leisure time activities, these juniors will drift away from the sport.
I’m not sure that sailing is decreasing in my area (SF Bay). There are a lot more venues competing for sailors that there was 30 years ago. However, those events where competitors have to get a large crew, sail out to the race course, bash around for a couple of hours (its windy here) and then sail home, without ever meeting their competitors, are in serious decline. The events that feature a fun race, with a strong social element continue to flourish. One of our most popular events on the bay each year isn’t even a bonified sailboat race. Its a 20 mile, reverse handicap, shorthanded race where competitors can go around three marks in any sequence. It regularly attracts over 100 boats, with a skipper’s meeting (party) well attended a few days before and a trophy presentation (party) well attended after.
I think the message is clear. Boats that need smaller crews. Fun events, with strong social programs. That’s what the amateurs really want.
August 24, 2006 at 12:46 pm
We have a Sonar fleet here at Wayzata that has grown from a mimimal size of 5 or 6 boats 3 or 4 years ago to now 18 boats this year….and growing.
One of the esteemed members of the fleet and also US Sailing judge, Bert Foster has his finger on the reasons. His mantra is that there are three ways to grow a fleet, social, social and social.
We have a competitive weekly racing but it is followed up by copius amounts of social events (parties) all during the year, special weekend seminars (Sonar world champions Steve and Melissa Shepstone were here over Memorial Day weekend). We are also regularly have more experienced crew members jump on the newer boats to bring them into the game.
On top of that, the fleet pitches in to buy Sonars which are then ‘adopted’ by a new owner to put into the fleet.
To me, its no mystery why this fleet has grown.
A fleet that has this type of infrastructure to it will be fun to be in as well as competitive. Another fleet where everybody goes home and only the top 2 or 3 owners really compete will not last.
August 24, 2006 at 2:05 pm
Been holding forth on this very topic-although emphasis on keel boats-for my past 3 years as Chair of the Toronto area Lake Ontario Racing Council. If you’re really short of something to read you can go to http://www.lorc.org and read the 2004/5/6 Newsletters or just the last one might be enough with a bit to spare.Check also the Forum for comments from the Loyal Opposition.
I’ve been racing in these parts for 40+ years (Founder ,Chair and one of only 3 members of The Old Farts Association Of Lake Ontario for those of you who may question my credentials) and I do remember when our weekly regatta was once around a 3 mile leg triangle and then back to the Host Club for the piss up. What we may have lacked in elegance was made up for in numbers-we got 400+ boats out each weekend and they all went into the Host Club afterwards.
Fully three quarters of those boat owners knew they weren’t going to win anything that weekend or any other weekend and they were there because it was fun and no great hassle to be there.
Racing nowadays is indeed more sophisticated than then but we’ve lost that bottom 75% of our fleet both from the race course and the club afterwards in large part because of that.
There are things you can do something about and there are things you can’t. In the latter category comes the fact that there are more activities of other kinds on offer ,that life is more serious,the population is ageing (more candidates for the OFALO)but as you can’t change any of this, forget about it and get to work on what you can change.
Locally we are afflicted by lethargy at the club executive level. The numbers used to look after themselves and now they don’t so we hear about all these things about which nothing can be done as reasons for doing nothing.
What we could do something about is that our fleets have split up with the One Design guys wanting nothing to do with the IRC and PHRF gang and setting up their own events with clubs which find themselves hosting a number of small “so what”events when they could be putting on a combined regatta of all classes with enough courses that all are in compatible company. The sort of thing that would serve notice that this is STILL a Yacht Club and would attract current non-participants to yacht racing.
We need to get back to the fun days when a regatta was something you could enjoy and take pride in being a part of even if you were at the back end of the fleet. It takes numbers-lots of boats together in the same place at the same time and the owners and crews thereof socializing afterwards.
We’ve got two events that do precisely this on this Lake. Youngstown Yacht Club-not huge but energetic-has been putting on the best attended regatta on Western LO for the past 33 years and then there’s the Toronto NOOD. These show what could be done when compared to our standard local regatta that may attract 60 boats at best.
Neither one just happens-work is involved-but each shows that if the will to work is there then so is the result that so many idle @#%**s say isn’t possible today.
Just my opinion, mind you,but solidly backed by fact.
August 24, 2006 at 5:23 pm
Great input by all…
One quick note – a couple of folks have indicated that Mr. Huston has been a doom and gloomer with this post. I do want to point you to some of his other recent posts at the top right of your computer screen. He’s got some fantastic articles on how to grow, reinvigorate, and keep your fleet together – some really good stuff. Thanks Peter.
Jim
August 24, 2006 at 5:37 pm
Background: Raced as crew or skippered on Catlina 27, Tartan10, J/24 (owner also), cats, Carter 42, etc. etc. Currently able to afford J/24 storage, but lifts are tightly controlled by ONE yacht club in Jax, FL (FYC). I currently work in Charleston SC and would join Charleston YC who has one lift (Carolina YC has two lifts, but only one or two J/24s on site, and supposedly hideous membership fees), but would have to wait for someone to DIE to get space in dry storage. Cities spend $$$$$$ on launch ramp construction/parking/etc. They’d do well to not ignore the rag bag crowd; how do we get our share of access?
Frank R. Morris
Orange Park, FL/Charleston SC
August 25, 2006 at 3:18 am
I race with Peter on a Farr 40 and while we were discussing the changes in the class spinnaker, I said “Yeah, the more sail area is going to be really cool, but what about our rating.” With out missing a beat, Peter turned at said some thing along the lines of ,were out having fun, so does it matter. I instantly realized that it doesnt matter how we do, as long as we hav fun. The really interesting thing is that I actually made it my goal to have as much fun as possible sailing and not let racing get in the way of my time on the water, It was possibly one of the best days I have spent sailing in a long while. In general, sailors need to spent more time sailing and not let racing get in the way of a beautiful day on the water.
November 16, 2006 at 7:03 pm
Very interested to read all your comments chaps. I have been reading up on the Herreschoff story. Question- can I get info. to build a Herreschoff 12 ? Mirror owner UK
March 28, 2007 at 3:50 pm
This is a discussion my dad who is 82 and half, and I have often. He is a past commodore, and past president of The Great South Bay Yacht Racing Association on Long Island. I grew up racing Blue Jays, Sunfish, and yes…a Doughdish.
Dad once showed me a copy of the old USYRU rule book. It was about a half inch thick. Today, under the auspices of US Sail, the rule book looks like the Manhattan telephone directory.
When I was a kid in the 60’s, eash GSBYRA club would host an invitational regatta. This two day race would consist of one race on Saturday, and another on Sunday around a large “double triangle” or “W” shaped course. In between would be points of land, channels, docks, coves and other sources of navigational consternation to be challenged. When the race was over, we’d sail back to the sponsoring clubhouse for beer, stories, and food. The Sunday race was usually a little earlier so that crews could sail back up or down the bay to get back home, but not so early that families had to blow off church.
Outside of invitational “season” clubs might sponsor a night race down the bay, or a Fall or Spring series on Saturday afternoons, but again these were one good long race with commaraderie to follow.
Today we must endure, (and I use that term very purposely) as many as four or five “olympic” style races in a day. I don’t know about you, but that many starts is tiring to the skipper, crew, and yes…Racing Committee. Especially if there’s handicapping involved!
In addition, no matter where the course is set, no matter where the town or prevailing wind conditions, the race will be windward, reach, jibe, reach, windward, leward, finish.
BOOORRRRIIINNGGG!
A real skipper, crew, and his yacht tests his mettle on a long course fighting not just the traffic jam at the favored end of the line, but the elements of current, wind eddies around points, sand bars and rocks!
And a real skipper and crew want it to be over at the finish, because Martinis or perhaps a Manhattan might be waiting at the clubhouse!
One other thought: the boat. Much has been said here about the H 12 or Doughdish. All of it true. But I’ll just add this: it is a boat that will get you home again regardless of the turn in the weather. How we can turn the future of this nation over to the next generation, and then send them to their doom in Opti’s is beyond me. No child entering the world of yachting should be taught that it’s okay to sail in a boat so fragile that he must wear a whistle around his neck to summon help. And no child should be taught that once in that situation help will arrive in time.
Jon
March 29, 2007 at 9:20 pm
John,
Nice name. We must be long lost cousins! Herreshoff 12’s complete drawings are on file at the Hart Nautical Library at MIT. Cape Cod Shipbuilding won exlcusive rights to build the 12’s at the end of World War II, but switched to another similar design, the Cape Cod Bullseye in 1950. Here in the states, glass boats are being built by Eddy & Duff using molds taken from a plug created from an original wooden 12, while Cape Cod Shipbuilding is building 12’s using a modified Bullseye mold.
The Eddy & Duff boat is the same weight and shape as a “wet” original, while the CCSB boat has a curved transom and weights significantly less.
Jon
December 6, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Nice and usefull post, thanks, this is one for my bookmarks!