"Friends & Mentors" - Dawn Nelson, who sails out of Chandlers
Landing Yacht Club in Rockwall, Texas, is a Child & Family Therapist
and a sailing mom. Here she provides her professional and personal experience regarding one design fleet growth:
Ever walked into a party and felt like the whole room stopped and stared at you?
If you're part of a fleet that is trying to encourage kids to sail with
you, being a "strong fleet" won't help at all if everyone is staring at
the kids when they come to the big party, aka the regatta. There are two
things you should consider:
1) Are you making the kids feel welcome, off the water as well as on the
water? It's easy for adults to sail with the kids, teach them during
the races, and then at the dock, walk over to the keg and talk 'above'
the kids. If they aren't welcome at your table, they won't want to be on
the boat for very long. If you answered 'yes', are the kids being
included in the sailing discussions at the table? Are adults talking to
them, not condescending down to them?
2) Speaking of condescending, when you get an experienced youth sailor
in a regatta, cheating is a really good way to get kids to choose a
different boat class. That kid at the helm of that keelboat, the one
that another boat's skipper is yelling at, trying to intimidate him to
get off the starting line, has probably sailed in more regattas because
he doesn't have to work all summer. If he wanted to, the kid could quote
the RRS sections and numbers, and successfully protest for violating
his right-of-way and lack of sportsmanship. But he won't do that; he'll
just never sail your boat class again (true story)!
At 9, 7, and 4 years old, my sons fell in love with sailing on a J/22;
just them and one extremely patient skipper. The boys have since raced
in national and international championships in eight different boat
classes in eight years. Yes, they love high-tech and speed, and are
currently begging for a Nacra F18, but on any given Wednesday night,
you'll find a 17 year old working spin on a J/92, the 15 year old on the
helm of a J/22, and the 12 year old cranking sheets on a Hunter 35....
because it's the relationships that make the difference.
The sailing crowd are friends AND mentors. Thanks for contribution from SailingScuttlebutt.com