This post is to make the comment Paul made more visible to all:
Again make sure you guys are joining so I can make you Authors. Once you are an author you can post on your own. I've already invited a few people.
Joe
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
.jpg)
Thanks to Joe for organizing this site. The discussion last night was very interesting and fruitful. At the risk of being presumptuous, the general theme of the discussion was “How to attract more members to racing and maintain interest in new racers.” That would be a worthy goal.
There are several things I really like about the set up right now and I hope we maintain:
o We get lots of races in. The more starts we have and marks we round, the more we learn. We did 4 races last week. In many fleets, it takes a month to get that many starts in.
o The racing is low key. Nobody gets too bent out of shape. We don’t keep score.
I had some ideas about attracting and keeping newer skippers. For the neophyte, it has to be fun. Going out losing the first time may not be fun. A new skipper may not understand how to helm the boat competitively, and may not know the rules either. Considering that they may be up against other skippers with decades of experience, I wouldn’t like those odds either. Here are some thoughts on how to keep people coming:
o Share knowledge: Take 10-15 minutes before the skipper’s meeting to go over topics to help newer skippers be more competitive. Our races are short, so it’s easy to focus on just a few things that can make a dramatic improvement. If all the teams knew how to set-up the boat for racing, how to get a good start, and basic helmsmanship, there would be an immediate and dramatic improvement. We could also use this blog to share information along those lines.
o Make sure we canvass the newer skippers at the skippers meeting and try to get them out with experienced skippers. This is sometimes done, but often not.
o Explain to everyone that we are trying to develop the newer skippers so they are aware of what we are doing and why we are there.
o Stick around after the races to discuss what happened while it is fresh in your mind. Taking off without having some sort of time to talk is not only socially inept, we miss the best opportunity to review what worked or didn’t work. I always enjoy the group that convenes after the series races. The discussion is always lively and entertaining. We might consider a very short low key BYO social event after the races to kick things off.
o Encourage people to participate by having them helm the boat at least one of the races. Ashley mentioned that you sometimes have to be pushed like she was. (I bribe her with a cappuccino on Sundays, if you want to call that pushing. Otherwise she’d sleep until noon.)