It's odd and a little disappointing to hear that the racing program is not drawing young folks as much. It would be my suggestion that for young people racing offers a high level of fun, competition, adrenalin, adventure, etc. as a great way to learn to sail.
Somehow the word has to get out to young folks that there is more to life than video games, smartphones and clubbing. Racing is what did it for me back in 1982-83. Since then I have told anyone who cared to listen - if you want to learn to sail - go and race. In our fall racing series at Lions Head I bumped into a young guy, maybe 28 years old before a race and asked him who he was sailing with. He said he was sailing his own boat, a Hughes 29. It was his first year here and I just met him for the first time. Wow! A young person, just bought a boat and now going racing! Very cool, but that's just one. How does the sailing community pass along the torch to younger generations? No easy answer I guess. I do one thing however for my part - I post on Facebook lots of sailing pics etc. to family and friends, esp. nieces and nephews. It's like planting seeds, maybe someone will see something they like and want to come out. Then again maybe they just say to themselves "I wish Uncle Steve didn't post all those sailing pics . . ." ;-) Cheers Steve Hood S/V Diamond Girl C&C 34 Lions Head ON ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Fri, 1 Nov 2013 12:56:37 -0400 From: Stevan Plavsa <stevanpla...@gmail.com> To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Subject: Re: Stus-List Getting young people into sailing? Message-ID: <caddevn7pnoquy9brvwmbzbptg0yfvxaxkenhvc1-3dkn1eg...@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252" Toronto Sailing & Canoe Club is a sailing club, not a yacht club. It is the most accessible club in Toronto, I think. Anyone can walk in off the street and crew but our race nights haven't been well attended in recent years. Very solid dinghy racing program that produces some top notch racers, solid youth and adult sailing school and this past year we hosted the Canadian national team. Speaking with the older members it seems that there's a lot less racing going on these days than there used to be. I took my intro dinghy lessons at TS&CC and then my CYA basic ... then I bought that Mirage! My first time on a keelboat I threw up :( But I came back the next day and got back on the horse and learned how to sail a keelboat. The other guy that threw up that first day didn't come back .. and he talked real big about buying a big boat and all. TS&CC is a small club, inexpensive, no slips, all moorings, not many amenities ... but we're accessible. I decided to buy the biggest boat I could afford after the Mirage because I felt that a bigger boat just had more options. My girlfriend and I talk about sailing off into the sunset but we're also realistic. I figure if that day comes we could do it on the 32 if we had to. Truthfully I would rather do it on a C&C40 but one can't have everything. Needless to say, I broke the bank on the boat and while I'de like to be at a club with a slip, I love the old non-snobby TS&CC and right now I can't afford the 8k or whatever it'll cost me to go to the yacht club closer to my house .. and have a slip. I do want a slip one day though, I do a lot of work on my boat and keeping it on a mooring makes that more difficult. When maintenance is difficult it's not done as frequently. It's also a lot easier to bring guests. Many advantages to having a slip. Our anchorage is also not the most sheltered. Boats have broken moorings and washed ashore in the past, I've seen it. This is why I'm on the mooring committee every year and why I check my moorings and have oversized lines! What will happen to all the old boats? I don't know. But I've heard all the clubs on the lake have the same problem .. dwindling numbers. Members are getting older and leaving sailing and younger people aren't filling their shoes. On our recent cruise to the thousand islands my girlfriend and I spent a lot of time chatting with folks on the docks at various clubs .. in every case we were the youngest .. by far. Most people were retired. She's 26 and until she met me, hadn't set foot on a boat. She's sold on the sailing thing and I love her for it. You really have to love this thing to sacrifice a new car and other opportunities at this age, that's the reality. Or, maybe I'm just stupid and impulsive :) The fiscally savvy part of me tells me to sell the boat but I just hum a tune and ignore it. Steve Suhana, C&C 32 Toronto _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com CnC-List@cnc-list.com