News Dan Hesse wins downstate NY Regional

Number of Participants

I am just amazed that 53 sailors participated in a single Regional where maybe only 1 or 2 people qualify
and only 52 and 55 sailors participate in the last two NAs where 20 or so people qualify.

Just amazing...
 
Any downstate NY regional or south New England regional usually draws a large crowd. Mainly because there are so many fish sailers within commuting distance. Not having a two or three night hotel bill means a lot, not to mention eating at home instead of resturants.
You can't swing a dead cat anywhere near Long Island sound without hitting a Sunfish mast...LOL
 
There's a lot of reasons why there are over 250,000 Sunfish and only a couple thousand class members.
Time off. Not everyone can take off a Friday and/or Monday for a two day regatta and it's a real pain to drive multiple hours after work Friday night and then after closing on Sunday.
"Housing" can be anything from a very nice guest room; to a place to toss a sleeping bag, and no bathroom privileges. Motels at least give you a fairly guaranteed place that will be "livable".
As to the NA's versus regional we're talking a week versus a weekend. Again the time off. Not many families...read spouse..are up to having a week of vacation taken away from them by a spouse with an itch to sail.
We see at least 100 new fish sailors every year get the itch to race, only to find they need several hundred dollars to upgrade their boat to race ready. A lot can't afford that cost much less the cost of a "weekend" sailing.
There's a large number of spouses when asked "can I spend $400 for a sail, $150 for a daggerboard, and apx a $100 for other things?" say "you already have them on the boat, and you want how much more to leave me alone for a weekend/week with the kids?"
 
As it was pointed out, there are definitely costs associated with traveling - monetary and otherwise.

In my opinion one big difference between today and the 80s when people were very actively traveling... almost campaigning to qualify for the World Championship, is that today you don't need to travel to the WQ events to attend the World Championship. In fact, you do not need to sail ANY World Qualifying events to qualify. Sadly, all you to do is be a member of the class.

This has changed the perceived value of the World Qualifying regattas and the World Championship itself. For years, almost anyone that wanted to attend the Worlds could. This makes the region championship less of a necessity. Further, it makes the World Championship less attractive because the fleet quality is not the same as it once was.

With the exception of a few hot spots in the country, we are seeing a decline in Sunfish regatta participation. People often point at gas and the other costs as the major contributing factor. They certainly are part of it. However, this trend was motion long before the price of gas went through the roof.

I think one often forgotten fact is the change in youth sailing. The Sunfish is not part of the youth development path in many clubs. When a child sails in the opti, a parent CANNOT sail at that regatta with the child. However, they often want and need to drive the child to the regatta and support them. So, that eats into the number of potential days they can race a Sunfish on their own.

ClintonEdwards said:
So why don't they travel?

Don't most regattas offer housing?
Depending on the event dinner is included.
Click to expand...
 
I agree with Derek. I absolutely do not attend Regional qualifiers so that I can attend the Worlds. If I want to attend the Worlds, I can just send an email to Terry.

I attend Regionals more often than the Worlds since the Regionals are convenient, and only impact weekends with my family versus full weeks away from my family and work. Better yet, they are easier since I don't have to spend time fully rigging and taking apart a boat. There is also clearly a cost differential.

The competition at the Regionals may not quite match that at the Worlds. That is the one drawback. There is more to learn when the competition is stronger. However, there doesn't have to be the ultimate in strong competition to have a great time with the people who are there!

Andy
 
While it might make people angry, I think we need to make it MUCH more difficult for US Class members to sail in the World Championship. I do not believe that class membership alone should entitle a person to participate.

It should be an honor to qualify for and sail in that regatta. You have the opportunity to represent and sail for your country. How you do reflects upon and influences every person that sails recreationally or competes against you at the local, regional and national level. I want the best sailor(s) representing me at that regatta.
 
I think it was a big mistake to change the NAs to just 3 days. It used to feel like a bigger event when it was a full week. I know it was done in part because of the JR championship, and that's a great desire, however, taking a week off work to sail one more day than you can get at a weekend regional just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. If I’m going to take a full week off work to race, shouldn’t I expect to sail more than three days? Not to mention the participation on the JR NAs has been very limited, despite the schedule accommodations.

The last NAs I went to (Delaware) ended up being a 2-day regatta (weather), yet it meant a week off work, and a big hotel bill. I'd rather go to NY for the weekend for a regional. If the event went back to a five-day event (I think that’s how it used to be), I’d be far more likely to travel, regardless of the costs (although that’s always a factor with me, too).

I agree that the Worlds is too easy to get into (and I have taken full advantage of that ease in recent years). But since it's essentially an open event for US sailors, I have opted to go there over the NAs for several reasons:

* Don't have to take a boat (which means you can carpool)
* It's been closer to my home (Boston) each of the last three years
* You get 4 full days of racing and a 5th for practice

Just my 2 cents.

Eric
 
There were 3 major week-long Sunfish events within a month this summer. There are few people that can take that much time away, and sail all 3. And based on qualification, 2 were completely open events (NAs and Worlds), and the other was somewhat open. Only a small portion of the O'day fleet actually qualified at their Area eliminations.

Therefore, all 3 of the events got diluted in terms of competion, and numers (for the NAs). Even with all 3 of these events being in the Northeast, there are few Northeast sailors that competed (or will compete this week) in all 3, let alone 2 of them.

I think that we need to do a better job of scheduling the big events throughout the year. In New England, we have 2 Regionals...early June and late July. This works out well for most, and allows some to sail many of the weekend regattas in between. But for those of us that have committments that don't allow lots of Sunfish sailing during the summer, our regional schedule works wel.

Then we have Frostbite every Sunday starting at the end of October. Thats when the "real" sailing starts. Seriously, anyone that wants to do some really fun sailing that is sure to help you become a better sailor and person, come over to Barrington, RI and join us any Sunday. We have a very wide fleet in terms of sailing ability, but we all join together to have a great time. Our fleets are in the 15 - 25 boat range each week, and then we get together for chowder, some drinks, and some laughs as we watch the Patriots win.
 
derekcjackson said:
I think one often forgotten fact is the change in youth sailing. The Sunfish is not part of the youth development path in many clubs. When a child sails in the opti, a parent CANNOT sail at that regatta with the child. However, they often want and need to drive the child to the regatta and support them. So, that eats into the number of potential days they can race a Sunfish on their own.
Click to expand...

So, I think that you are saying that the parent/child factor could be a great idea for promotion of our class. What a great idea. We just need to position it well, and make sure it is actually reasonable. I know there are a few parent/child teams out there. Actually, as a kid, my dad did sail Sunfish next to me in our yacht club races. That was great. So, at 14 years old, and 105 lbs, I would race my Sunfish 2 nights a week and attend some weekend regattas. But that was before the race sail and plastic daggerboard. Now, 105 lb weak kids can not effectively race a Sunfish. It seems to me that the move of youth programs away from the Sunfish came right about the same time that the race sail and plastic daggerboard showed up.

We can't change history, but at least we can understand it, and its effect on our class. Since those changes there have been few junior class newcomers. I actually believe there have been few competitive racing newcomers to the class at all (I am hoping that I am wrong, so tell me). There are many that have re-joined the class after many years of adsence (such as me), but newcomers...not so many. Take a look at the Worlds list. Count up the number of people that have joined the class for the first time in the last 10 years! Maybe we should also have a focus on bringing back "old" members. I was actively recruited to re-join the class a few years ago (after doing very little sailing at all for 10 years). John Skrzypiec actually showed up at my house on the day of a local regatta, and drove me to the site. John Fonseca was waiting there, completely rigged a boat for me, and sent me on my way. Less than a month later I had purchased a new boat and was sailing Frostbite every week. Thanks guys!
 
From a Junior sailors perspective.

Their are many problems with the Junior program. Unfortunately the opti was not an option for me to start sailing in and if I could go back and re do it, that would be my number one choice. The results prove it, opti kids go far. With an opti you have to leave the class, unlike a Sunfish. This is around the age of 14. The next boats picked are usually a 420 or laser.... why? These are college boats, olympic boats. If a kid has any desire to sail in college why would they pick a sunfish.

As far as Junior regattas
The Junior NA's NEED to be in a sunfish dominant area.... otherwise you will get 4 boats like this year. Last year on Long Island their were 37 singles!

The new event this year... the international juniors held in IL start in two weeks. This is an Internaional event where entries are decided by resume, limited to 20 boats..... right now their are 12 boats entered to sail, 3 or 4 are from the US, including myself. (the orginizers of the event are being exremely hospitable... I believe they are headed by Rich Chapman, so thanks for everyhting).

Unfortunately I'm aging out of the junior class and will be going to college early next summer (hopefully).
So good luck with the situation

-Bobby Boger (79039)
 
When marketing the parent/child factor, the focus of the campaign definitely needs to be the parents because the immediate benefit is to them. There is obviously a benefit to the kids, but the very large majority will not acknowledge or feel it is a true a benefit until later in life.

My experience is that sailing with parents is not necessarily the coolest and most attractive alternative to kids. So, the kids definitely need to have their own group, and have the opportunity to bond, form friendships and be children outside of the parental influence. This provides a feeling of independence and freedom, which allows them it develop their individual identities. So, in my mind that means still having Junior exclusive like regattas, clinics, weekday sailing programs etc is a necessity.

The Sunfish, with its "normal" rig is a handful for a 105# kid. However, we really need to do a better job of teaching the reef and the Cummings Control (Gust Adjust) Jens. These alternatives are great because they do not require a second mast and sail, are easier and safer to independently rig, and the depowering capability is basically endless.

It is understandable that kids want to race the Laser series of boats. It is where their idols are and provides them with a dream. Definitely parents recognize that the Laser and 420 are used in college programs, which is another positive. However, the organizing officials, manufacturers, parents and clubs in the sport need to recognize that at age 14 not every child is read physically or mentally to sail a Laser brand boat, but would still like a singlehanded boat.

Our sport loses youth every year because they are frustrated sailing Optis, and the Laser brand. Among other things, this frustration can be due to the hyper-competitive nature of the upper level opti events, or the inability to be competitive at in the L brand. Give kids a chance to develop at their own speed. Let them experience the positive benefits of recognition and reinforcement of trophies and awards. The more people that can experience this, the better the sport is.

Every child is different. They have unique personalities and different motives for sailing, and these definitely change over time. It is not in the best interest of the sport to throw all or even most of their singlehanded efforts into the L brand. You need diverse options for a diverse population.
 
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