Your feedback

Is your class growing or just surviving?This article is appallingly subjective and does a disservice to many "traditional classes" and "development and restricted classes". I have no grievance with the "new" classes, they are a healthy thing for dinghy sailing in general, and have led to an expansion of the sport, for instance I note that many of the participants on the RS800 circuit are ex-windsurfers. However there is no excuse for the dismissive comments inferring that some traditional classes should be allowed to die.

My experience is that sailors in these classes tend to be long term players in the classes and sports, whereas the 'new'class sailors may be transients, looking for the next 'thrill'. Championship turnouts are a great indicator if your class has a good year, but there is more to the health of a class than championship turnouts, often a specially good venue will result in high turnouts, or a competing world or European championship may deplete turnouts.

Look at the Wayfarer turnouts in your table. My particular axe to grind is the putting down of development classes. National 12's, Merlin Rockets and International 14's all have increased turnouts according to your figures, but this is not the full story; All these classes are reporting increasing activity at all levels, with increased open meeting attendant's, new designs etc. This is to be expected, initially the newer classes were a snapshot of the development classes frozen in time, now the development classes are moving forward offering increased performance and fun. Your figures do not show for instance, that 120 Merlin's are expected at Salcombe Merlin Week. Nor do your figures show the depth of good sailors in these fleets (or classes like Enterprises, Fireflies, Larks etc). Nor does your article identify that it is possible to have a boat optimised to your weight, venue etc. in the development classes, often resulting in wider 'optimum' weight bands than the new one designs.

The development classes are at the forefront of technology, development class sailors learn a perception of why their boats go fast, skills which can be transferred to other classes (ref. Neil MacDonald, Jo Richards, Phil Morrison, Roger Yeoman, Dave Ovington, Mike Lennon etc). The comments of built in obsolescence in 14's should be considered against the fact that all the changes in the class have been made through a democratic process within the class, and have provided newcomers a cheap route into the class. Bear in mind that the 14's have a route to invoke change, whereas a big one design builder is more likely to dump the class and launch a new one. The development classes have seen this all before, and are still here, Fireflies, Larks, Laser's, Europe's are all snapshots of development class boats from the past.

From Simon Lomas-Clarke
Is your class growing or just surviving?Just because a class is old does not mean it is obsolete. Some of us do not have chequebooks big enough to spend on the latest machines. I could get a decent new car for the price of an 800 - even a second hand 800. Cheap one design classes offer fantastic close racing and teach the beginners how to operate a proper spinnaker and then move on at an asymmetric if the bank balance grows. Don't forget people have to start somewhere - you cannot just step into a 4000 and expect to stay upright. People have to progress and it is easy for the experienced sailors to forget about the boats they used to kick start their career. Another point often missed is that people are sailing for fun and the social scene is often as important as the sailing and sailors often choose a fleet with that in mind and it may keep them there for some time. Look abroad too - how many asymmetric are sailing in the US. Perhaps the 14 but not much else and the traditional spinnaker classes are still going very strong indeed. One day the high tech bubble may burst itself in the UK and the fragmentation of the fleets by the manufacturers and designers will inevitably see some classes go under. Sizes may be shrinking but most reach a low level and carry on happily at their own pace