Organizing Sailing as Gouvernail Sees It.

[Gouvernail]

I posted the following in the kill it thread and decided it should be the OP in a thread with a different very positive solution oriented discussion.
.*************
My take comes from a rarely discussed perspective.
Organizing authorities are each created for the same reason.
We create a fleet to help manage our local group and improve our games.
We create a sailing club to help manage our games, have a storage and launching place. …
We create regional sailing associations to help coordinate the regional games and make our sailing better
We create National and continental and world associations to better the chances of having fun play over larger and larger areas.

Then time passes

The yacht club boards of directors have facilities to manage, properties to maintain, staff to manage,
…. At some point the club becomes an entity with restaurants, hotel rooms, a marina, repair shops, a convention room, a wedding chapel, a chandlery, and…. Oh yeah… we also have members who hold their sailboat races

Many years ago, while it was still NAYRU, the entity now known as USSailing started changing from a tool for managing our games into a business with employees and assets of its own. The “success” of the entity became more about its financial health and the welfare of its employees and less about making North American sailboat racing a wonderful, accessible, affordable, fun, respected, and enduring game for everyone who might be involved.
Nobody did bad stuff. It just happened.

As there is a huge pot of gold available from the wallets of those who worship the Olympics, and USSailing management needs money to make itself prosper, the focus of the self preserving organization has turned almost entirely away from the mission of making sailing great for the 99% who are not involved in the quadrennial event.

USSailing is not about NAYRU’s north american sailboat racing anymore. (Yes. I know CYA split off decades ago)

USSailing is about gathering Olympic funds to run itself and it does a littie bit of charitable work for the rest of sailboat racing.

Where are we??

Sailboat racing in the USA really doesn’t have a management group whose task is to make sailboat racing all over the USA work better.

We do have USSailing holding the title to that position and sailors who send funds to USSailing imagining USSailing is actually pushing that role.

How many of us pay our USSailing dues “because it is the right thing to do.?”

I maintain, it isn’t anymore.

We shouid probably start up an sssocistion to play the role most of us assume USSailing is playing.

Twenty four years ago I took over as NA Laser Secretary and ran that Association as a tool which worked to make Laser sailing happen.
In three short years we doubled paid membership, Tripled new boat sales, tripled our allotment of world championship berths, and.. got the USA back on the Olympic Medal stand.

After I left, the Laser class returned to being a business whose purpose was to provide jobs for its staff….. and tries to control the game

That transition, as described above with sailing clubs, is a natural occurrence which must be constantly monitored and blocked.


The do it / don’t do it question:

Does it help the racing??


Sometimes the answer might be:
**Building a clubhouse where a babysitter can watch the kids while the parents and older siblings sail is good for sailing

**putting in a tennis court give us something to do when there is no wind and keeps people in the habit of coming to the club is good for sailing.

** a tennis only membership is REALLY hard to sell to this author


Summary:
Nobody involved in USSailing is a bad person. it is simply time to recognize USSailing has grown past its mission as a tool which helps sailboat racing.
We need an association whose mission is to serve the American sailboat racing game.

Example of something the Americsn Sailing Association might do:

Create a website with a map. If you hover over a place on the map you can get sailboat racing information for that area.
Clubs and contacts
Fleets and contacts
Regattas
Regular races
Sailing schools
Sailboat dealerships
Parts dealerships
Public ramps
Sailmakers
Canvas makers
Hotels and motels and restaurants with suitable parking for sailboat trailers
Weather information
Tides
Water temperature
Sailboat friendly maintenance shops
High schools and colleges with sailboat racing
Nursing homes for keelboat sailors


Yes…, that would be a full time job for a few people… and it would go WAY more for sailboat racing than spending millions trying to win Olympic medals

And…. As cream rises…. We would get plenty of medals

 

[Couta]

Well said Gouvernail...and very positive suggestions. While I'm in Aus...and we have a different funding model .....the situation regarding self serving, money focussed peak bodies is equally true here....Your suggestions for refocusing a peak body are a great starting point...esp like the Nursing Homes idea...my only concern would be..."would anyone, ever want to visit us there...knowing the stories they'd have to endure?" 🤣😳

 

[sunseeker]

Good luck with that. It is entirely possible for a new support organization to be created. Would not be that hard or expensive.

 

[Gouvernail]

I would happily lend support but I cannot afford to be “the guy” or even a major player.

 

[BrightAyes]

Excellent observations and suggestions Fred. You've been around long enough to see through the haze and call a pig when you see one. Indeed, what we locals need most is information and a means of meeting one another off the water so we can get together on the water. The ASA crew website has brought me a number of crew over the past five years. It's been a life saver for keeping me little campaign of racing into my 60s alive. US Failing got nothing like it to offer. Hell, even their website is so bloated you can't find what you're looking for. I realize a group of blue bloods in Rhode Island is not too interested in my issues for $60 annual donation. I wouldn't expect them to. However, I would think they would have put together a national crew site by now. Hell, many such sites exist, but they're run locally. Even just linking them in a website would be useful.

I think the 1 design classes pretty much take on the role of US Flailing. They all have FB pages, calendars, forums. etc. PHRF hacks are pretty much on your own, but even most clubs have a fleet organized. Guess we don't need no stinking national organization, especially one run by a CEO and Board of nitwits. IMHO.

 

[[email protected]]

I posted the following in the kill it thread and decided it should be the OP in a thread with a different very positive solution oriented discussion.
.*************
My take comes from a rarely discussed perspective.
Organizing authorities are each created for the same reason.
We create a fleet to help manage our local group and improve our games.
We create a sailing club to help manage our games, have a storage and launching place. …
We create regional sailing associations to help coordinate the regional games and make our sailing better
We create National and continental and world associations to better the chances of having fun play over larger and larger areas.

Then time passes

The yacht club boards of directors have facilities to manage, properties to maintain, staff to manage,
…. At some point the club becomes an entity with restaurants, hotel rooms, a marina, repair shops, a convention room, a wedding chapel, a chandlery, and…. Oh yeah… we also have members who hold their sailboat races

Many years ago, while it was still NAYRU, the entity now known as USSailing started changing from a tool for managing our games into a business with employees and assets of its own. The “success” of the entity became more about its financial health and the welfare of its employees and less about making North American sailboat racing a wonderful, accessible, affordable, fun, respected, and enduring game for everyone who might be involved.
Nobody did bad stuff. It just happened.

As there is a huge pot of gold available from the wallets of those who worship the Olympics, and USSailing management needs money to make itself prosper, the focus of the self preserving organization has turned almost entirely away from the mission of making sailing great for the 99% who are not involved in the quadrennial event.

USSailing is not about NAYRU’s north american sailboat racing anymore. (Yes. I know CYA split off decades ago)

USSailing is about gathering Olympic funds to run itself and it does a littie bit of charitable work for the rest of sailboat racing.

Where are we??

Sailboat racing in the USA really doesn’t have a management group whose task is to make sailboat racing all over the USA work better.

We do have USSailing holding the title to that position and sailors who send funds to USSailing imagining USSailing is actually pushing that role.

How many of us pay our USSailing dues “because it is the right thing to do.?”

I maintain, it isn’t anymore.

We shouid probably start up an sssocistion to play the role most of us assume USSailing is playing.

Twenty four years ago I took over as NA Laser Secretary and ran that Association as a tool which worked to make Laser sailing happen.
In three short years we doubled paid membership, Tripled new boat sales, tripled our allotment of world championship berths, and.. got the USA back on the Olympic Medal stand.

After I left, the Laser class returned to being a business whose purpose was to provide jobs for its staff….. and tries to control the game

That transition, as described above with sailing clubs, is a natural occurrence which must be constantly monitored and blocked.


The do it / don’t do it question:

Does it help the racing??


Sometimes the answer might be:
**Building a clubhouse where a babysitter can watch the kids while the parents and older siblings sail is good for sailing

**putting in a tennis court give us something to do when there is no wind and keeps people in the habit of coming to the club is good for sailing.

** a tennis only membership is REALLY hard to sell to this author


Summary:
Nobody involved in USSailing is a bad person. it is simply time to recognize USSailing has grown past its mission as a tool which helps sailboat racing.
We need an association whose mission is to serve the American sailboat racing game.

Example of something the Americsn Sailing Association might do:

Create a website with a map. If you hover over a place on the map you can get sailboat racing information for that area.
Clubs and contacts
Fleets and contacts
Regattas
Regular races
Sailing schools
Sailboat dealerships
Parts dealerships
Public ramps
Sailmakers
Canvas makers
Hotels and motels and restaurants with suitable parking for sailboat trailers
Weather information
Tides
Water temperature
Sailboat friendly maintenance shops
High schools and colleges with sailboat racing
Nursing homes for keelboat sailors


Yes…, that would be a full time job for a few people… and it would go WAY more for sailboat racing than spending millions trying to win Olympic medals

And…. As cream rises…. We would get plenty of medals

This is brilliant. I think a country of this size should do both-- do all this stuff to grow the game and fully fund the olympics. Theres enough folks willing to throw $ at both problems...

 

[Trovão]

Things are not that different down here in Brazil, unfortunately...

 

[Pollination]

Back in the days of USYRU...we had meetings and spent time to assist all clubs in the local area waters to organize and plan regattas so that there was the ability to participate in each one. All volunteer with the exception of a few drinks at each hosting club's bar after the meetings. No internet, no cell phones, just a phone call and a printed schedule to know when to be there and the location. We all pitched in and got the job done in magnificent fashion, after our real job working hours. Everyone in those meetings knew how to race a boat and tie a knot or two. If there were sport necommers, they would become experts in a year or two, just by attending and getting involved on and off the water. At that time any donations were used for perpetual trophies and to pay expenses for some of the club boat upgrades. The rating meetings would go on and on with the usual fanfair.

That all changed when a new crowd of politicos insisted on politics over yachting, socializing over sailing and walking through the back door to avoid the $15.00 admission fee to some club event. Very charming.

Some were voted out of the flag offices for refusing to allow for memployees.

 

[DavidYacht]

I think the OPs comments apply to the UK too, though I would add Junior sailing and support for many minority (though well deserved) groups, which tick the boxes for whatever grant aid might be available.

IMO the best thing any national authority could do would be to co-ordinate making quality coaching available to your typical weekend warrior.

In other sports (tennis, skiing, golf) coaching is available on demand, in dinghy racing it seems to be readily available for youth, disabled and olympic pathways, but for your typical weekend warrior coaching is hard to find, but can be transformative to the sailors enjoyment of our sport, and retention.

The coaching that I have received has mainly been as a result of young sailmakers trying to sell their wares to oldies, but it has been transformative to my enjoyment … I wish I had benefited thirty years ago, I might have then been fit enough to win a few things!

 

[Foredeck Shuffle]

This is brilliant. I think a country of this size should do both-- do all this stuff to grow the game and fully fund the olympics. Theres enough folks willing to throw $ at both problems...

There is no evidence that very many support funding Olympic sailing anymore. The money is not showing up. Nothing in this thread supports funding the Olympics.

Better to support sailing, sailors, fleets, and clubs to grow sailing in the US. Keep them completely separate. See if either or which flourishes or withers.

 

[sailingbiz]

One key element of the observations here involve volunteering. Our sport was built on volunteers - sailing was taught to others by volunteers, races were organized by volunteers, clubs were run by volunteers. Many involved in our sport/passion are wiling to pay someone to do the work, so they (we) can play. This creates the bureaucracy of organizations that becomes removed from the goals.

Sure enough, our Olympic Sailing efforts are the key focus for US Sailing and that may not represent the "interests" of most members. The Olympic movement is a classic example of bureaucracy run amok! (not as bad as FIFA but running a close second!) Just as there was a time when volunteers were the heart of sailing and sailboat racing, there was also a sense of patriotism that was motivated by Olympic success in many sports, so the two elements, volunteerism and patriotism have diminished in our culture.

If you want to see change, volunteer to replace paid employees and step forward to be the change you desire.

 

[[email protected]]

There is no evidence that very many support funding Olympic sailing anymore. The money is not showing up. Nothing in this thread supports funding the Olympics.

Better to support sailing, sailors, fleets, and clubs to grow sailing in the US. Keep them completely separate. See if either or which flourishes or withers.

Do you know a lot of philanthropists in the sailing world? I do, and they fully support both but dont want to throw good money after bad.

 

[sunseeker]

Do you know a lot of philanthropists in the sailing world? I do, and they fully support both but dont want to throw good money after bad.

I suggest you get your wealthy friends to donate to the team, but only under the conditions with which they are comfortable. The team can either continue to operate on a shoestring, or they can accept that terms that come with the money.

 

[Foredeck Shuffle]

Do you know a lot of philanthropists in the sailing world? I do, and they fully support both but dont want to throw good money after bad.

Who cares who they support? They obviously are not interested in sailing in the US outside of their bubble.

 

[Delta Dog]

Thanks so much for you thoughtful post. I'm in complete agreement. Our sport is in decline. For the most part, its financially un-approchable for the average person. Participation is down and the providers and organizing body increasingly cater to the elite few of pay the bills for big bucks sailing program. Locally, there are exception but generally this is true. Much of this has been discssion and I'm saying nothing news here.

A ground up rebuild by sailors, for sailors is the only answer. Whether or not this leads to a rebound in the sport we love doesn't really matter. If it creates a better experience for those who pursue sailing as a passionate hobby, its a win.

 

[[email protected]]

Who cares who they support? They obviously are not interested in sailing in the US outside of their bubble.

huh? they donate $$$$$ to all sorts of sailing causes. they don't throw good money after bad, ie give to US Sailing, which is an unmitigated disaster at the moment. Not sure how you can cast aspersions based on that statement

 

[armchairadmiral]

IMO that article applies extensively elsewhere. In NZ fees to the national body YNZ are compulsory to affiliated clubs. Where does the vast majority of funding go ? You guessed right....the 5 ring circus and yes its true, they get Govt.funding as well for that. Grassroots sailing gets some support at a junior level but not at the intensity of the 5rings. Keelboats left to their own devices. Success and $$$ priority is judged on medals count. Yet when you analyse it this is a small percentage of fee contributors. As a lifetime sailor, me, and my contemporaries have contributed extensively in all facets and what have we got ? Well we've provided employment for staff at not inconsiderable cost. Medal winners when they grace us with their presence mostly expect to be paid...and so on. I don't recall any tangible thing YNZ ever done. for us. And don't tell me about structure like rules etc..So yes...no one is a bad person its just how it happened. Grassroots clubs should abandon national bodies to run their own grassroots amateur sailing and leave the pro's ,coaches, sailors and management to go their own way.

 

[duncan (the other one)]

We create regional sailing associations to help coordinate the regional games and make our sailing better

Serious question - does anyone actually see this happen in the US or anywhere else?

Here in Aus, it is overwhelmingly the class associations that drive inter-club events, states, nationals, etc.

Further up - it is the international class associations which drive at their level.

Even for multi-class events, it is generally a club who decides to run an open regatta.

 

[duncan (the other one)]

IMO that article applies extensively elsewhere. In NZ fees to the national body YNZ are compulsory to affiliated clubs. Where does the vast majority of funding go ? You guessed right....the 5 ring circus and yes its true, they get Govt.funding as well for that. Grassroots sailing gets some support at a junior level but not at the intensity of the 5rings. Keelboats left to their own devices. Success and $$$ priority is judged on medals count. Yet when you analyse it this is a small percentage of fee contributors. As a lifetime sailor, me, and my contemporaries have contributed extensively in all facets and what have we got ? Well we've provided employment for staff at not inconsiderable cost. Medal winners when they grace us with their presence mostly expect to be paid...and so on. I don't recall any tangible thing YNZ ever done. for us. And don't tell me about structure like rules etc..So yes...no one is a bad person its just how it happened. Grassroots clubs should abandon national bodies to run their own grassroots amateur sailing and leave the pro's ,coaches, sailors and management to go their own way.

admiral - you are mistaken.

Just like here in Oz, YNZ's majority of funding (~$5.7M in 2022) is from government for the 5-ringed circus, not affiliation fees ($0.6M). See the annual report at https://www.yachtingnz.org.nz/resources/annual-report

So just like in Oz, YNZ's focus is driven by their funding - monkeys, clowns and well-paid ringmasters.

 

[Pollination]

Just like any organization, when there is an ongoing problem, someone must pinpoint the source. Once that is identified, the meetings won't take hours and hours, with a lunch break. If a meeting takes more than an hour, someone attending did not complete their homework.