StugeronSteve
New member
Not quiet sure how to take being re-branded as "Britain's Average Yachtsman". Let's face it being average is, by definition, nothing special, but if I'm average I don't half feel sorry for the poor s*ds that are below the norm.
As I understood the exercise, YM were trying to get a snapshot of leisure boat use in the UK, at 2004. With the intention, one would assume, of using the information gleaned to tweak the publication towards the interests of the readership. Though, from what I can recall, the questionnaire seemed to be mostly aimed at the boat owners, rather than the greater yachting community.
Being a regular YM reader, and not infrequent user of these fora, I was quite happy to take part in the survey and, after clicking the send button, thought little more of it. It was sometime after the survey that Dick Durham posted, on Scuttlebutt, looking for someone from Coton in the Clay (Britain's most land locked location?). Being above average in the naivety area and about to leave for a business appointment no more than 5 mins drive from Coton, I gave Dick a call, thinking that he was needing somebody to do a little leg work for him. Dick explained that YM were planning an article about the survey findings and that he was hoping to tag in a little asside about the life of a landlocked (sea sailing) boat owner. With no replies from Coton, Dick decided that Nottingham was far enough from the sea to fit the bill and it was during the subsequent conversations that it became apparent that my boat ownership/use was very close to their statistical mean. So from a starting point of abnormality (although there is actually quite a sizable sailing community within the Central/East Midlands region) I went on to become Mr. Average. It has been noticeable, in recent months, that YM are paying particular attention to the family side of boating and many of Dick's questions concerned this aspect of my sailing life. The matters relating to the problems/advantages associated with the geographical separation between me and boat really didn't get a deal of coverage.
The whole experience (including reading the recent posts) has been interesting. I never fail to be amazed by how relaxed people are when afloat. The morning meeting with Dick involved several cups of tea, a typical boaty chat (the sort that regularly shoots off at a tangent) and a pleasant, if placid, sail on the river. Short tacking amongst the boats and moorings and berthing in a strengthening cross tide, whilst under the constant eye of a camera, didn't even quicken the pulse.
Anybody spot the deliberate mistake in the pics? I am wearing my ancient and much loved Musto Snug back to front!!!! I had sneaked out of bed at 0500 and dressed in the dark, so as not to wake swmbo. Then, following an uneventful drive, jumped out of the car at the marina and set to rigging the boat for the photo shoot. Never even looked in the mirror. It was on the journey home, when things warmed up in the car, that I noticed. Doh!!!
Good bit of fun, so let the arrows fly!
As I understood the exercise, YM were trying to get a snapshot of leisure boat use in the UK, at 2004. With the intention, one would assume, of using the information gleaned to tweak the publication towards the interests of the readership. Though, from what I can recall, the questionnaire seemed to be mostly aimed at the boat owners, rather than the greater yachting community.
Being a regular YM reader, and not infrequent user of these fora, I was quite happy to take part in the survey and, after clicking the send button, thought little more of it. It was sometime after the survey that Dick Durham posted, on Scuttlebutt, looking for someone from Coton in the Clay (Britain's most land locked location?). Being above average in the naivety area and about to leave for a business appointment no more than 5 mins drive from Coton, I gave Dick a call, thinking that he was needing somebody to do a little leg work for him. Dick explained that YM were planning an article about the survey findings and that he was hoping to tag in a little asside about the life of a landlocked (sea sailing) boat owner. With no replies from Coton, Dick decided that Nottingham was far enough from the sea to fit the bill and it was during the subsequent conversations that it became apparent that my boat ownership/use was very close to their statistical mean. So from a starting point of abnormality (although there is actually quite a sizable sailing community within the Central/East Midlands region) I went on to become Mr. Average. It has been noticeable, in recent months, that YM are paying particular attention to the family side of boating and many of Dick's questions concerned this aspect of my sailing life. The matters relating to the problems/advantages associated with the geographical separation between me and boat really didn't get a deal of coverage.
The whole experience (including reading the recent posts) has been interesting. I never fail to be amazed by how relaxed people are when afloat. The morning meeting with Dick involved several cups of tea, a typical boaty chat (the sort that regularly shoots off at a tangent) and a pleasant, if placid, sail on the river. Short tacking amongst the boats and moorings and berthing in a strengthening cross tide, whilst under the constant eye of a camera, didn't even quicken the pulse.
Anybody spot the deliberate mistake in the pics? I am wearing my ancient and much loved Musto Snug back to front!!!! I had sneaked out of bed at 0500 and dressed in the dark, so as not to wake swmbo. Then, following an uneventful drive, jumped out of the car at the marina and set to rigging the boat for the photo shoot. Never even looked in the mirror. It was on the journey home, when things warmed up in the car, that I noticed. Doh!!!
Good bit of fun, so let the arrows fly!
