kill it?

[Editor]

A friend of SA responded with this answer when asked what he thought of the current US Failing situation...

I think the argument is that US Sailing wanted to use some of the funds raised by Cayard (not really very much) for member programs not related to the Olympics.

As it is, the Olympic Program spends $5.5 mm out of a total budget of $11.5 mm (as of 2021 audited financials). USOC contributes about $1.3mm, along with some other Olympic-specific funds leaving the Olympic program spending about $3mm more than it generated in donations. There are about $7mm in donor pledges ( three donors make up half of that) that presumably would pay for more Olympic program expenses.

But even that is far from what is required to field a team in every discipline. So the fight, as always, is about money. My recommendation (on deaf ears) is to cut the program down to support one or two classes where they might get a podium or - gasp! -even a win.

Right now I think the best thing - and this will not be popular - is to kill the Olympic program and get on with doing a better job with junior programs.

 

[[email protected]]

nope. utter nonsense. USA has the money. the problem is the dumbfuckery from folks like Richard Jepsen.

 

[onepointfivethumbs]

RYA spent $1MM per medal in Rio, historical wisdom suggests two quads for peak performance, Caleb Paine spent $250k+ per year and $500k in 2016, so budget $2.5-3MM per athlete.

Part of the problem is that the USST spends more time fundraising than they do going to events, $5.5MM across 10 events ain't shit

 

[Soley]

Now that wank stain Cayard is out, his bloated salary can be applied to the Olympic program.
A lot of the money in sailing is old money, those old fuckers think sailing programs can be run on dreams and elbow grease.

 

[Steve Clark]

The US Olympic Sailing program was always funded by very few people. I think it may have been as few as 3 "old fuckers" during the glory days.
They didn't make a big deal of it either.
That being said, it was a lot cheaper then. In 1972 when I sailed in the US Trials most people had full time careers outside of sailing. A top of the line program then would be bottom of the barrel. One fairly new boat and maybe new set of sails for the trials. The guy who won had a 4 year old mainsail. No one had coaches or support teams. 3 teams stayed at my house.
SHC

 

[crashtack]

Right now I think the best thing - and this will not be popular - is to kill the Olympic program and get on with doing a better job with junior programs.

...and lose the donors whose contributions make up the majority of the budget? genius.

 

[Wess]

Click bait if there ever was. But don't wound it. Kill it. Kill the IOC, WC, USS, and all the bureaucrats in all the associated classes. Not a single one does anything good for the sport of sailing. Just a bunch of money hungry, control freaks using athletes as pawns.

 

[Couta]

Serious question...reposted from another thread...why does anyone really care about medals at the Lympix? Is it just nationalistic egotism? Does a country feel humiliated by not having medals?
Is there any data to suggest a positive correlation between Lympix sailing participation and growth in participation of the sport (Yes I get it that WINNING medals gets some short term publicity...but i question whether just being a Lympix sport boosts much/anything)
I'd suggest - based on decades of personal involvement, that having a small elite (elitist) group of athletes and hangers-on operating in a bubble outside of the mainstream of the sport does little-to-nothing to grow our sport...in fact, it sucks up the whatever funding there might be at the expense of development...
This discussion around the peak body and its performance is being had by almost every country...and the conclusion is that the Lympix has hijacked the sport. Sailing is shrinking in participation...and worldwide, the Peak Bodies are desperately hanging on to the teat of govt funding using Lympix as the rationale....fiddling while Rome burns...
Time to rethink our objectives and refocus our resources.

 

[Wess]

Plus 1.

 

[Goodvibes]

The US needs to look at what is happening at club level.

It is not succeeding because it costs too much where the talent comes from.

 

[Steve Clark]

It is important to differentiate "Sailing" from "Sailboat Racing." Sailboat Racing is a declining because the primary activity is toxic and doesn't fit well with modern American lives. There is more sailboat racing in schools and colleges than ever before but this has not transferred to increased activity in the general population. We have trained more women to race in the last 30 years than ever in history and yet the participation of women in club and class activities has barely budged. When you start this discussion you are met with a waves of denial and blaming not with anything vaguely like constructive attitudes.

Otherwise there are many people dragging themselves around the water with the wind. This is in many different ways that aren't organized rule governed behavior. It isn't rare to see more kites than sails, and it is common to see more people kiting than sailing in a boat race.

The value of the Olympic imperator is difficult to determine. Every activity seems to want to become an Olympic sport. In part because there are professional careers managing Olympic sports that can be funded by someone else's money and because Olympic medals are easily monetized. The actual Olympics are more corrupt and morally bankrupt as the NCAA, which is really saying something. They control a highly profitable franchise without the slightest hint of accountability. Life time appointments are actually intended to insulate them from "politics" so they can swan around from one 5 star hotel to 5 star resort to discuss the value of sport.

US Sailing has tried to position itself as the training authority for what used to be called yachting and to deliver value to the non racing sailors who are the majority of the people who sail. The racing sailors don't value this in any way shape or form. This is a pattern repeated in every NGO I know of which has a general membership and a competitive membership. Add "Olympic" to the mix and it gets way worse.

I lost a lot of skin in the American Canoe Association in the 1990s which is how I know this.
SHC

 

[Wess]

Amen. Well said.

 

[[email protected]]

Now that wank stain Cayard is out, his bloated salary can be applied to the Olympic program.
A lot of the money in sailing is old money, those old fuckers think sailing programs can be run on dreams and elbow grease.

muppet.

 

[DELETED]

You cant put at $ or £ value on True Spirit...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_the_Eagle

 

[Foredeck Shuffle]

Sailboat Racing is a declining because the primary activity is toxic and doesn't fit well with modern American lives.

Without pulling out the soapbox, more because I do not want to irritate you by rehashing past events that you still harbor bad feeling about, I have a question to ask about this.

Why do you feel that sailboat racing is toxic?

 

[tillerman]

I'd suggest - based on decades of personal involvement, that having a small elite (elitist) group of athletes and hangers-on operating in a bubble outside of the mainstream of the sport does little-to-nothing to grow our sport...in fact, it sucks up the whatever funding there might be at the expense of development...

Time to rethink our objectives and refocus our resources.

Absolutely.

 

[Wess]

Be careful there. Benefactors are major source of funding for US Olympic athletes and Cayard was doing a good job bringing in $s. Those benefactors want their money spent where they want it spent and as much as I prefer grass roots that ain’t why the money was gifted. So to some extent they are a small group of elitist sailors distinct from and funded to a significant extent distinct from grass roots. Not solely but to a large degree. And that is what USS just blew up when they acted in manner that forced Cayard to leave. And the money to dry up…

 

[Steve Clark]

It is elitist, at least in the US.
The shouting and yelling turns off almost everyone who hadn’t started racing as a kid. The atmosphere on the race course is unpleasant and hostile with too many aggressive people trying to intimidate each other. In many ways it resembles dodge ball where the biggest bully wins.

I continue to race because I enjoy the Easter egg hunt that is figuring out the best way to get around the course. I also like trying to make my boat go faster than the other boats. The thrust and parry of “close tactical racing” has little attraction to me. Rules should only be used to manage traffic. My success has been when I could just sail around the course faster than the other kids.
SHC

 

[Pollination]

Please consider the origins of Sailing. Yep you got it . Shipping and Warfare. Both are based on Profit.

 

[martin 'hoff]

Here's a caring, nuanced take https://carolnewmancronin.com/u-s-olympic-sailing-upheaval-momentum-lost-again/

TBH I feel for the sailors who are campaigning. The adults that are supposed to lead, guide and support haven't made it out of kindergarten. Instead of focusing on sailing (and fundraising, which US sailors have to do most of), they now have to worry whether the promised support infra for Paris will be there.

And what SHC says about toxic environment, I'll blame on the over-crowded race courses and elitist bs that I associate (perhaps unfairly) with optis. I find the toxicity to be in direct relationship to the distance my fleet has (culturally, geographically, pathways-wise) with optis...