Should the Crews Union be concerned?

[B27]

I doubt that to be honest. The increase in the number of female sailors in the racing fleets has been very noticeable, it's a very rare boat now that is all male. We are frequently 50:50. At Dartmouth this year we had only 2 blokes on board.

When I was young, I was mostly racing dinghies, there were many couples racing. Also the youth side was close to 50/50.
Also when I was racing dayboats late last century there were quite a few notable female helms.
Offshore tended to attract mostly blokes, and racing IOR influenced boats inshore tended to imply recruiting a crew of grunts.
Maybe modern boats are less physical to sail, you don't need your crew to be gorillas and you don't need them on the rail by the hundredweight. Maybe not so much 'less physical' as less 'crudely physical'?
These days, dinghies are tilted more towards singlehanders, so the same old blokes are more often leaving their wives at home. Lots of blokes in their 60s helming dinghies, crewing can be a bit more of a young person's game.

 

[flaming]

When I was young, I was mostly racing dinghies, there were many couples racing. Also the youth side was close to 50/50.
Also when I was racing dayboats late last century there were quite a few notable female helms.
Offshore tended to attract mostly blokes, and racing IOR influenced boats inshore tended to imply recruiting a crew of grunts.
Maybe modern boats are less physical to sail, you don't need your crew to be gorillas and you don't need them on the rail by the hundredweight. Maybe not so much 'less physical' as less 'crudely physical'?
These days, dinghies are tilted more towards singlehanders, so the same old blokes are more often leaving their wives at home. Lots of blokes in their 60s helming dinghies, crewing can be a bit more of a young person's game.

The popular dinghy classes, RS200 etc are very often couples sailing together even today.

The yacht side of things has got more and more mixed as time has gone by. Even the Cape 31s, the latest greatest speed machines are very mixed. But yes I think the boats are physical in a very different way, fewer positions on the boat really need brute strength, but more of them are starting to need a greater stamina than was perhaps the case with IOR boats. Loads on lighter boats are smaller, but to get the most out of them you have to work them harder than a "point at mark" IOR boat.

JOG raced to Poole this weekend... The race back, from just outside Poole to Cowes seems to have been a breezy A-sail reach. The fastest boat, the new Farr X-2, took 2 hours to do the 27 mile course. A 3300 took 2 hours 11 to finish second. They were both the 1st 2 boats to finish and the winners on IRC. They finished right on low water so wouldn't have had a lot of tide with them....

Both were doublehanded...

That must have been a very fun sail!

 

[Birdseye]

What is now interesting to me, is the entry list for the winter series/ autumn champs.

In the part of the rating split that I'm interested in - i.e about 1.000 to 1.030 there are already 17 boats entered for the autumn champs, and I know of others who have said they will be there. That will be by far and away the biggest fleet in that split that we've raced in this year (RTI aside). Looking at the list, I can only see 1 or two that we have yet to race at some point this year.

So in a way it seems to me that the challenge is less persuading people to sail inshore regattas, and more persuading people to sail the same inshore regattas.... As when we get to a quiet part of the season with nothing else on, the entry is large...

I accept that the PY/NHC scene in the Bristol channel where I sail is a different one to Flaming's south coast but we have noticed the same thing. Whereas it once was routine that you would turn up at another clubs annual regatta and indeed the Channel Conference arranged regatta timings to allow that to happen, it is now quite rare. Racing continues and is quite active but travelling to race at another club is not, with the exception of a couple of long established open races.

 

[doris]

I’m surprised that no one has mentioned insurance becoming a problem for occasional racers. Solo racing is becoming very tricky and expensive to insure for. Pantaenius have withdrawn completely.
Even friendly 2H now requires an extra £500 and lots of detail. Fine if one is doing a significant number of races but if it’s just going to be 4/5, the ‘can I really be arsed’ aspect certainly comes in to play.

 

[flaming]

I’m surprised that no one has mentioned insurance becoming a problem for occasional racers. Solo racing is becoming very tricky and expensive to insure for. Pantaenius have withdrawn completely.
Even friendly 2H now requires an extra £500 and lots of detail. Fine if one is doing a significant number of races but if it’s just going to be 4/5, the ‘can I really be arsed’ aspect certainly comes in to play.

True, but less relevant to the example that started the thread, DH dominating the fastnet....