tonyquoll Posted November 6, 2011 Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 73 people participated in Try Sailing Day, Sunday 6th November 2011, at the Wallagoot Lake Boat Club. They ranging from 3 to 60 years old. The club catered for the diverse group by making 9 different boats available; 3 Pacer dinghies, a Maricat (cat), Hobie 14 (sloop), Hobie 16, Nacra 14square, Paper Tiger and a Caribou trailer-sailor. When asked which boat they wanted to try sailing, it was typically the teenage boys who demanded the speed thrills of the cats. Middle-aged couples favoured the Pacer dinghies, and older couples chose the trailer-sailor. However, the two bigger cats at the club are owned by mature women, who enjoy also prefer the speed thrills to the flat-bottomed monohulls. Try Sailing Day was a huge success. We had a great variety of people, variety of boats available and even a variety of winds throughout the day. The common element was that everyone had a great time. Some gently cruised on the dinghies, others went full-tilt on the cats, and everyone came back smiling. Try Sailing Day provided some people with their first experience on a sailing boat, while others took advantage of the chance to re-kindle their flaming passion for sailing after a break. The Club is delighted that many wish to return for the Sailing Lessons in January, and may become regular sailors. Quite a few participants asked about boats for sale. In most cases they will first have to attend the sailing school and learn to sail before purchasing a boat, so wont be in the market until February. I have created a "Classifieds" page on the club website, so if anyone has a good beginner boat, please feel free to send me the info and I'll post a free ad. Anyone interested in learning more about the Wallagoot Lake Boat Club may find information on the Club’s website: http://www.thebegavalley.com.au/wlbc.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minicat Posted November 7, 2011 Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 Sound like fun to me. Next time let us know before the event Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyquoll Posted November 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 OK; it is held annually on the 1st Sunday on November. The next event will be Sunday 4th November, 2012. The Wallagoot Lake Boat Club [WLBC] promoted the event with articles in local newspapers (Merimbula News Weekly, Bega District News, Eden Magnet), ABC local radio, A4 posters on noticeboards, A3 posters in shop windows, on the website, and most effectively, with huge placards along the main road (Sapphire Coast Drive). The total cost for this was $20, to print the A4 posters. Some participants also heard from word-of-mouth networking. Our Commodore quipped "73 people? Next year we'll have to cut the advertising budget." The Boating Industry Association also promoted the event, by mailing stuff to schools and libraries across the state, with radio interviews and an appearance on TV. Personally I didn't see any of that, maybe it got more exposure in Sydney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Peter Posted November 11, 2011 Report Share Posted November 11, 2011 Glad yours went so well. Ours was an absolute blow-out. Just three people, all members of my own family, and we tried. We are just wilting on the vine. The next question is how many of these people will translate into members for your club. My calculations for Victorian clubs in 2010 was you needed 20 people through the door to get one member. So - 73 people might equal 3.5 new members. Sorry to sound so cynical about it. Peter Commodore YYC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loose Change Posted November 12, 2011 Report Share Posted November 12, 2011 the way I figure it is this, if you get 3.5 people out of it then you are 3.5 people better off than what you were before the "Try Sailing Day". Now you need to ensure that those 3.5 people have a positive event every time they go sailing but that doesn't mean that have to win every race they enter but rather that they go home feeling good about the day they just had. If you are really lucky those 3.5 people will maybe get another 2.7 people to come down and try sailing. Harry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sando Posted November 12, 2011 Report Share Posted November 12, 2011 Port Kembla Sailing Club has been participating in Try Sailing Day now for 4 years - we had 25 people turn up - 16 of them juniors. Our junior sailing program already has in excess of 30 young people 7 to 17 years. So today we just didn't have enough boats nor hambergers! 7 doz bergers. We also follow up the Try Sailing with an adult learn to sail for 3 Saturdays after. Many parents of the juniors are now looking to purchase boats. All hard work, but that's what is required to keep the club growing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyquoll Posted November 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2011 Interesting to read how other clubs went; thanks for that. Too early to say how it will translate to members at Wallagoot. The event has led to the club's January sailing school being booked out, and one family has purchased a boat. At the end of last season, we had 19 boats on the water, but so far this season are averaging only 10. Our mature aged sailors are away on grey nomad adventures, waiting for leg operation, renovating the house, or have other reasons keeping them away. It seems recruiting new sailors is essential to maintaining a fleet on the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QB2 Posted November 19, 2011 Report Share Posted November 19, 2011 It seems having a healthy club must involve ground up promotion to get young people on the water. We have a significant gap in age groups with only a few kids involved and then most active sailors mature and grey nomad adults. What is interesting is the number of people who just walk up and ask about youth sailing saying they have seen the learn to sail kids and adults out in our dinghy fleet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Peter Posted December 4, 2011 Report Share Posted December 4, 2011 YV Pacer Fleet / Whitworth Tackers I guess its a mixture of personal contacts and the work of organizations bringing sailing to school kids. A kid I know from my school tried the pacers last year, then the tackers, and this year he had another crack at the YV Pacers. I was in the boat with him. Earlier this week his Dad spoke to me about going sailing today and I put the word out for boats at my club To me - we had to catch Dad. Yes the boy was keen but we had to encourage Dad because he can drive the car. We put them both on a Timpenny 770, a decently fast TS, and they enjoyed 15-18 knot breezes. Dad had never sailed before and he had a blast. Talked to them both afterwards and suggested they ring me when they would like to sail again. Looks like this coming weekend given the enthusiasm. I said we have two guys who crew for each other and compete in just one boat rather than two because of a lack of crew. If they give me enough notice then they could crew for these guys. This is the way we'll teach them to sail. We have no adult program and a very low key junior program. No doubt they saw just how fast cats are today. That's a job for another time. I guess the interest was fanned by the YV pacers and Whitworths Tackers. The trick was the personal contact. The strategy is getting a parent keen to go too. Peter Commodore YYC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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