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Hello. I wish I was available to comment on your article. As the past local J22 Fleet #19 Captain and current International Technical Committee Chairman for the International J22 class, your article strikes a particular chord with me. I agree with your article, however, there is more of an explanation as to why “our” numbers are down. Joel Labuzetta’s comment holds its weight in water. A majority of our fleet consists of folks in the 30-mid 40 range, all of which are active with their children and their hobbies (i.e., soccer, baseball, sailing, basketball, etc…you get the jist). As parents, we are tasked with choosing our battles and juggling priorities with what would be the right decision and for whom. On top of that, when an event does come to fruition, then comes the daunting task of nailing down shore-side logistics (babysitter) and incurring doubled fees for the weekend. I think what really frosts me and probably others is the “late fee” clubs impose which I’m to believe what causes parents to shift priorities for the weekend. Why is it that clubs can’t “budget” what could be expected? Because Family A couldn’t get a sitter nailed down for the weekend until after the late entry fee deadline, they shouldn’t be penalized for it. A story I constantly repeat is one that I find should be a principle foundation for how local clubs/regattas should be handled if they want numbers up. At the Buffalo Canoe Club on Lake Erie they have hosted a handful of international and national events to have a process patented on how to attract participants. It was a couple of years ago, BCC was hosting a major Laser event. I think it may have been the Canadian Open or something. Kids from all over Canada and US were showing up with their Lasers strapped to the roofs of their parents hand-me-down sedans chomping at the bit to go racing. They’d park their cars, ask for assistance pulling their boats off and walk into the club to register. They were cheerfully greeted by three little old ladies volunteering their time to get them registered. The entire process took all of maybe 10 minutes. When the race participant was registered, the last words from one of the registration volunteers was, “would you like chips with your sandwich?” Yes, on the water lunch was provided for ALL participants sailing. Like football, it’s one day a week for 16 weeks. Much like the success of Wednesday night racing, and in our case in Annapolis our Thursday night series, it’s one night a week to let it all hang out. We have at times had our children out racing J22’s with us on Thursday nights. Our six year old daughter wants to drive every time, all the time. It’s great. Our nine year old son finds enjoyment in raising and lowering sails. Aside from our children growing up learning how to sail Opti’s, our son has a keen interest in sailing the Open Bic. I’m guessing his sister is not far behind as she is a natural in the Opti. I am hoping there will be a resurgence in sailing in our local area as our children get older. Skip Yales instance on exposure to different boats is also the key to the success of sailing. As active sailing/racing parents, we’re working on that, it just takes time, meticulous planning and the right attitude as to not let them get burned out on one thing. I commend your article posted in Scuttlebutt. Hopefully, those that read it will also take the time to express their concerns too. All the best. Cheers! Regards, Todd M. Hiller, P.E. Naval Architect United States Coast Guard Surface Forces Logistics Center ESD-NAME-SFLC-Naval Architecture Section Phone: 410-762-6772 Fax: 410-762-6226 Email: todd.m.hiller@uscg.mil

Money is the dominant factor which dictates participation. For those married or coupled with a significant other, demands on domestic responsibilities and participation have become paramount, and competes with participation. On Lake Champlain with racing venues from the Laser to state of the art IRC yachts race, there has been an interesting trend, namely, decreasing number of big boats and weekend racing. Big boat racing is expensive and limited to the lucky few with assets, and the need for crew, who are drawn to family, friends and individual activities require less time. Besides who needs to spend most of the race on the rail hurting your back waiting to hoist the kite or adjust the ever important cunningham, outhaul and vang optimizing from up to down wind. It’s fascinating to see high school kids racing Lasers, college kids beating most, which after all they during the UVM collegiate seasons perform atleast a half a dozen starts, up and down wind legs and debrief after learning offensive and defensive strategies.

Then there are post college sailors, who rather race a Laser than a two person V15 or in a highly competitive local Lightning fleet. The entry point a competitive Lightning is $8K. Some top five finish Laser sailors are sailing in $2K boats. Thanks to Kyle Goss, founder of APS, there’s a practice Laser sail with exactly the same cross cut seam profiles as the class legal sails for $179 with numbers, battens, and clew strap. If you are young, want the best competitive local racing and paying off college loans, It’s not difficult to save up for a new practice sail a year and participate in the mid week series. Typically in the Burlington Vt area with a population of 250K there are twenty boats on the line. To raise the cash for a new sail you might even ask family members to contribute as a Christmas present. Just think if you contributed $90 and family another $90 every body would feel as if this would be the gift that would make you happy and competitive. The MBBC, local super boat club, then charges $200 or so to keep your boat on their site and access 24/7 and great racing ever Tuesday night.

In addition, from the 80s to now there are one fourth the boats on the line on the weekends. Where have all of the owners gone. The answer, one design, and more specifically, the Laser fleet. The vast majority of local laser sailors are Masters, yes Masters, who owned huge boats racing in PHRF. Now most can afford big boats and elect to own shinny high number Lasers. Those less inclined to wet suits and wading in the cold waters of spring and early summer, elect for the internationally popular Etchell’s and J/24’s. The younger owners partner in ownership to share costs of campaigns, equipment, fees, and sail inventories. Just think, two can split the cost of a state of the art J/24 for around $9K each and participate in the New England down east regatta with 40 some boats on the line. Alternatively an Etchell’s, albeit, a more expensive proposition and sail in Marblehead with some of the best sailors in the world.

The winning formula includes low cost, few crew, great race committees, and racing during week day evenings. At the next level, regattas where travel time is less than a day, the cost in the venue reasonable, i.e. no $200 motel rooms or $100 per day dock fees or high registration fees, and the promise of getting the crew home so that they don’t loose Monday, a work day. People average have 10 none holidays off and much of that needs to go to family and not sailing. Well planned regattas get boats off of the water so that people can be home by midnight. On the subject of money, limitations in sail inventories is a must. Even the Grand Prix elegant Melges 32 owner driver class limits to one set of sails per year. The Melges 24 class is a free for all, and many say attractive because one sails against the best, and those who can put a new set of sails on the boat before every major regatta. Realistically, few can do such. Plus participation is down because owner cannot find four friends to take the time off and pay for air fares to regattas. Successful Corinthian teams are fortunate to be so lucky as to have experience and sail enough together to be able to change gears, execute perfect tacks and gybes, and orchestrate top ten starts, and call the shots correctly. Most Melges 24 owners find attracting crews to regional events easier, as hopping in the car after work on Friday is easier than taking the precious Friday off. Getting on a plane Wed after work is not so easy. The number of practiced and talented crew to fill the crew list falls of exponentially. Time and money are the major factors competing with turn out in national events. Some Three people boats have become popular for this reason, although the wonderful J/22 has shown that it’s not the rule. The Lightning class still draws a strong southern circuit adoption. The Etchell with the Jaguar Series is the envy of most one design sailors. The Viper 640 and Melges 20 classes with three sailors draws huge numbers. With 60 Melges 20’s in the country, 30 showed up in Newport for the Nationals. It’s predicted that 50 will be on the line with many European participants for the Gold Cup. Part of the success of the 20 is in requirements such as legs in, where owners can invite older sailors with more acquired vacation days, sail limitations, and low cost of inventory, and no equipment upgrade costs. Three can stay in a large hotel room, and the winter circuit is held in one locations minimizing time consuming logistics.

In this day and age, when even well to do owners have to be on a flight out of Miami for a Monday meeting, low cost air fares from a major airport become mandatory. Again time and money are the issue. Everybody has preferences. After sailing a range of one design and handicap boats, most rewarding is sailing state of the art higher performance boats which plane down wind with well organized and strong one design classes. My crew and I have devised courses with graphics for next season for w/l placed away for land effects to practice starts, sail trim, boat speed, meteorological calls, and the shifts. While it’s not perfect we can go home or more likely at the bar to see whether we are getting better at placing the boat in the velocity and the correct shift both up and down wind. Other’s go for the Laser, Lightning, J/24 or the Etchell. Most of the local racing takes place on week day evening, owing to lack of turn out on the weekends. Etchell main $2050, J/24 main $1710, Lightning main $1060, class legal Laser main $595. Sports boats like the Viper ^$1735 and Melges 20 $2100 (laminate). In the grand scheme, sails are but a small fraction of the total cost of national circuit racing, which argues for choosing a boat for regional sailing if the bottom line is the limiting issue. These together with finding friends with time should dictate choice of boat and fleet. In the mid-west the scow would be the option. Elsewhere the Snipe would be. In the end we should be encouraged that ardent handicap sailors are selling their boats and joining the ranks of one designs. Relatively speaking one design sailing in the US is strong.

Elizabeth, I enjoyed your article, “What’s Happening to Participation in One Design Sailing.” US SAILING will to address this question and some solutions at the One-Design Sailing Symposium on Nov. 12-13, 2011 at the Bay Head Yacht Club (Bay Head, NJ). Please encourage your readers to attend. Information is attached and on the web at http://racing.ussailing.org/One-Design/ODSS/2011_ODSS.htm. Regards, Lee Lee Parks Inshore Director US SAILING Learn and Share with the Best at US SAILING’s 2011 One-Design Symposium Presented by Bay Head Yacht Club, Bay Head, NJ November 12-13, 2011 As an avid one-design sailor, we want you to know about the many presentations, breakout sessions and other learning opportunities at the upcoming US SAILING One-design Symposium in Bay Head, NJ on Nov. 12-13. US SAILING’s 2011 One-Design Symposium (ODSS) is the premier event for one-design class racers. This event brings together one-design leaders, racing icons and industry experts in our sport for a great exchange of ideas and information. This year’s keynote speakers include:  US SAILING President Gary Jobson  Multiple one-design class champion Greg Fisher  North Sails Manager Nick Turney  Olympian Carol Cronin  Melges, J/22 & 24 PRO Hank Stuart  ISAF Measurer David Sprague  Star & Snipe photographer Fried Elliott TOPICS: More than 25 panel discussions, workshops and breakout sessions are planned including two days of Go Fast Workshops – learn from industry experts and class champions how to get around the course faster. Topics include:  Sail Trim, Racing Tactics & Strategy, Rig Tuning and more – Nick Turney, North Sails  Tricks of the Trade: Boat Maintenance, Will Harris, Waterline  Panel: PRO’s & Classes working together to create great regattas & increase participation  Panel: What Makes Classes Strong? Greg Fisher and a panel of class leaders  Insurance Myths Dispelled: Making Smart Decisions, Sarah Davidson, Gowrie Group  Manage Your Image in Class Marketing & Media, Fried Elliott  Lightning Boat Grant Program, Laura Jeffers  One Day Race Management Seminar – Friday, Nov. 11 at BHYC (extra fee) Learn more about these keynote speakers and their presentations. REGISTER: The $150 ($195 for non-members of US SAILING) registration fee includes the official ODSS notebook, more than 25 presentations, panel discussions and workshops, plus two cocktail parties, two lunches, morning coffee and access to Saturday evening’s awards dinner with keynote speaker Gary Jobson. Extra tickets for Saturday cocktails, dinner and presentation may be purchased for $60 per person. BONUS! All US SAILING members attending will receive a free copy of Dave Perry’s Understanding the Racing Rules of Sailing and Winning in One-Designs. Register online today! Visit the event website Preliminary Agenda Travel & Accommodations Questions? Email LeeParks@ussailing.org or call 1-401-683-0800 x650. US SAILING One-Design Awards will be presented at the Symposium. Know someone deserving? Make a nomination before October 15.