As a former junior sailor in the 70’s, I don’t believe you need another boat or rig to address attrition. My twin girls collected a lot of trophies on Narragansett Bay in Opti’s, then quit the sport in favor of running (they continue to collect trophies) because they found all the Opti adults suffocating and wanted a sport where they could literally run away and be self sufficient with other kids. My son sailed 420 with minimal enthusiasm and similar results – until he was introduced to a 29er – a boat that is too fast for a coach boat to keep up and where very few adults can offer any advice. We can’t pry him out of the boat and he just took second at the 29er East Coast Championships.
Kids want to hang out with kids – not adults. Kids want to socialize and sailing eats more hours than any other sport – so it’s gotta be fun. Kids (old and young) want to be cool and go really fast. You want to reduce the drop-out rate – here’s my advice:
1. Make Saturday Dances mandatory at regattas and hide the chaperons .
2. Ban coach boats in favor of crash boats at Opti Events.
3. Ban coaches and parents from rigging areas at 420 and Opti events before and after racing – except for Green Fleet who should have its own area.
4. Play the video of the 2009 29er Worlds 24×7 in your club house. Problem solved.
Then take the money that you were going to spend on yet another youth toy and buy yourself a V15 or Lightning to show the kids that dinghy sailing is for life!
Regards,
Chris Bulger