SinC Mailbag
February 1, 2023
Greetings from Malta
Our loyal reader, Ross Ayrhart from Port Stanley ON, visited Malta over the holidays and writes “All the sailboats going past the hotel was the Christmas Day sail past from one of the yacht clubs with many of the crew wearing Santa hats.” How to spend winter!
Thanks, Keven
Good morning SinC,
Only recently did I catch on to the Sailing In Canada publication, just in time for some excellent off season reading. Just wanted to send my thanks for your wonderful work showcasing so many informative articles on the local sailing scene.
I have particularly enjoyed the ‘Keven Talks Sails’ articles. Keven seems to have a natural knack for explaining and sharing his wealth of knowledge in a very technical but easy to read and follow format.
In our unfortunate culture of negative press, I understand how important positive feedback is therefore just wanted to take this opportunity to tip my hat to everyone at Sailing in Canada and if possible, please pass along my thanks to Keven for his contributions!
Will Mann
S/V Buckaroo Banzai, J35
Bronte, ON
Club Racing – feedback
Below are online comments regarding Roger Renaud’s commentary on club racing in the last issue of SinC. Part B of the article is in today’s issue.
A very well written and critical review of our sport!
Mike Parrow Thanks…these challenges are real. Stay tuned for Part B coming out in the next issue. Sailing in Canada is a free subscription…sent to you on-line every 2 weeks. Sign -up. There is lots of good stuff. That dashboard is filling up to b…
Very well said Roger:)
Great article Rodger. Thanks for promoting the sport the way you do.
Strong Jr. Sailing and introductory programs are key.
Steve Mannshardt Part “B”, which comes out in 2 weeks, addresses the importance of junior sailing, recruiting etc. Subscribe – it’s easy and free.
Steve Mannshardt Jr sailing provides a few potential crew for their families and friends. And it’s a source for new jr members who may someday become acitive. But this is not going to bring in the number of crew to grow a fleet. Respectfully.
Ken Brown My experience is clearly different. Respectfully.
Ken Brown – there were a couple of really good ideas that were put forward to help solve what your fleet is experiencing. Part “B”
Steve Mannshardt Junior Sailing, in my opinion, is one of the most important aspects for a club surviving over the long term. Look at that picture in the article of the kid’s Christmas party…those are your future club members. The issue with big boat fleets, like the J120’s, is staffing. Where does Ken’s fleet find 8 – 10 people for each boat, smart athletic 25 – 30-year-olds, who will commit, etc. His fleets needs 80-100 ‘crew’…. this spring. Got some great ideas.
Ken Brown I’m in San Francisco. We had our awards night and AGM this week and youth programs and related initiatives are absolutely the way of carrying the torch forward. We agree. One aspect that was popular prior to Covid was what I called the weekend Craig’s List crews. At the SF City Marina there were always people showing up in their fowlies waiting to get let in the gate to join their respective boats. There’s interest out there. Yacht Clubs are a dime a dozen yet some go through the effort to have open houses and offer introductory sailing lessons and membership drives. Get them hooked and crewing on Wednesday night Beer Can races. Part of the problem is sailing is done away from when people will congregate. The A Cup tried had to bring anyone and everyone to the city front and present sailing as a spectator sport. It worked for a week. Our YC hosts the RBBS and Sail GP. No one other than us and people walking their dogs see the races. It’s a frustrating problem and all I can suggest is make it as visible and available to all who are interested. You may get 1 in 10, but it spreads.
Only if we welcome non members. There aren’t enough sailors in the club to man a fleet of 40 footers, or even a fleet of 25 footers.
Ken Brown Part “B” of this article will address these issues. It comes out in 2 weeks… I think it was you who said: – “Most of the people who race sailboats are not owners or club members; that’s something to reflect on. We won’t grow the sport by accommodating only the owners and club members.”
Roger Renaud indeed.
Ken Brown This to me is a club culture issue. We need outside people to help us race our boats. This is a fact. If we do not race our boats, our club will become insignificant…we may no longer have a club. In my mind there is nothing wrong with a club confirming its mission and purpose in support of the club programs – club racing being a primary one. This is a very healthy exercise.
Great article!
