New Proposal 11, Reduced entry fees
KB [us5219]:
I remember my first N.A.s on lake pepin 3 years ago. I was nervous about doing my first major regatta. My friends encouraged me and I had a great time. I discovered it to be amongst the safest racing I had experienced.
Now I cringe when I hear people say they dont want to share the course with "newbies". From a safety standpoint, I have to agree with them. But from a "good of the sport" perspective we must be prepared to assume some degree of risk in order to grow the class and encourage participation.
How many people would haphazardly spend $60 to "give it a try"? Definitely fewer still at $120. But even at $60 I think most beginners will stay on their own local pond, or be content to watch from the pits or ashore.
I think we have to challenge ourselves as Competetive DN Class sailors to continue the corinthian tradition that sets us apart from other classes. We need to identify these "newbies" and step forward to help support them. I wouldnt be planning on attending my 4th N.A.'s (and Second Worlds) if it was not for the help that so many different experienced sailors lent me over these past few years.
Ken Smith:
Whoa on here guys. The novice sailors in the regatta are always welcome. Heck we have the most active class based on data from Sailing Anarchy, though they fail to recognize iceboats as sailing.
Part of the reason is because our regattas are all open. Any registered class member can compete. And do. Rookies and novices sweat the rules, sail carefully, and are usually too scared to go all out. They are more Obstacles than Hazards. On the other hand, many old-salts (not the name, the category) are sailing very aggressively, and expecting others to avoid them. Not good, so beware.
Most of us would agree that filing the line with locals when the regatta moves to your home town is a good thing. Unfortunately this proposal goes further. Administering a regatta is hard, this proposal would make it nearly impossible on registration night to sort out fees required. And the contract issue is also important.
I am sure a revised proposal will appear next fall. The weighty-penalty late-registration article came in, as I recall (Jane may remember better) about twenty years ago when we had four fleets at the NAs and worlds, and had real trouble communicating by phone, snail mail, and CB radio. We had to encourage early registrations to get teh hand-done paperwork done, and as the regatta had a bigger budget, as the give-aways got way out of hand, to get them bought.
Times change. We are economizing on give-aways, and are toying with electronic registration. And we have trouble filling three fleets. Oh yes, now we use computers, e-mail, bulletin boards, cell phones and all know each other.
Encourage participation! You will only learn how to go fast when you sail with the best.
Oh, by the way, I am not alone in having qualified all the way from Gold fleet back to Bronze. So I am out there helping the new guys start and round marks smartly, so they are not in my way. ;) Bring them on!
Ken
Capt Dave:
dont forget 300,000 personal liability. sail #s on the hull sides and your responsible for replacing any boat you wrongfully destroy. so for $60 bucks less "give it a go"
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[*] Previous page