By Airwaves writer John Storck
In the ongoing debate of how to improve the state of our beloved sport, there is one argument that keeps coming up- provided boats. The argument typically comes from someone who is heavily involved with the keelboat team racing circuit, which is sailed at high-end yacht clubs throughout the country and abroad in provided boats. The argument is that we need more provided boats since people obviously aren’t getting in line to buy boats these days.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love the keelboat team racing scene, and it would not exist without provided boats. Match Racing is another aspect of our sport which needs provided boats to be successful. But I think we have to be careful in looking at the concept of provided-boats as a solution.
For starters, provided-boat regattas are exclusive by their very nature. There are a limited number of seats. If there is a 12 team cap on registration, and a 13th team wants to come, that’s a whole group of sailors that will be sitting on their couch instead. This doesn’t help the growth of our sport.
Secondly, the provided boat concept does not promote boat ownership. If there are more and more provided-boat events, there are just more sailors convinced they never have to own a boat. However, due to the limited seats, that same sailor is likely to only be sailing half the regattas that they would in a boat-ownership situation. Boat ownership is good for more than just the owner as well. With no registration limits, there are far more seats to fill with crew as well. And lastly, the provided-boats concept is really tough on the boat-building industry, which we all should want to be thriving if we love sailing.
Finally, there is the problem of who can actually afford these fleets of provided boats. In reality, there are only a few high-end yacht clubs around the country that can do so. And if you want to regularly compete in these events (and have your regatta fees at least partially covered), then you better become a member at one of those clubs. Once you do so, get in line, because there are a few long email lists that will show you how many of your fellow members want to go to the same events. At the same time, you are probably going to pass on becoming a member at your local club to save money, making it less likely for that small local club to be able to support this new world of provided-boat sailing.
I recently heard an idea out of a small club that might be a better solution. There is one active active one-design fleet in their area. The board at this club is trying to get the money together to buy one boat of that type. They would then allow for new members to pay a low annual fee to be able to use that boat. The catch being that a member could only be in that program for a season or two. Not every member is going to go out and buy a boat after that experience, but chances are good that a few might. And if that happens, then they have successfully grown their local fleet. This is just one example, and I am sure there are more ways to help our sport grow.
Again, I really want to stress that I love keelboat team racing, and there is no way that aspect of our sport thrives without provided boats. However, asking for more and more of it won’t help sailing grow due to it’s exclusive nature.
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[…] This article is written in response to the Airwaves piece done by John Storck: Are Provided Boats Really the Answer? […]
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