It’s hard to believe that it’s almost May and the racing season has begun in earnest.  The skis are put away and the sailing gear is out, the boat is put together and the first races of the season are under the belt.  A couple weeks ago I went out on a cool April afternoon in my Europe dinghy at Shilshole and I was glad to look around and see that most of  the boats out on the water were sailboats, crewed with other sailors who were just as eager as me to get out on the water and feel the boat moving beneath their feet. I don’t mean racers, I mean people just taking their sailboat out for a sail. That’s what the sport is all about.  I think that with so much emphasis on racing we can lose sight of the simple pleasures of a boat well sailed moving through the water, the enjoyment of mastering new skills, and the fun of shaping the forces of nature to meet our own desires.  And as racers, we’re basically striving towards the same goal as those folks out for a day sail – goals of doing a better job of getting from point A to point B using wind, wave, and our own skills and strengths. Let’s also be mindful when we’re racing, and we encounter someone out on a day sail, that we are both after the same experience and they have just as much right to enjoy this particular bit of wind, wave, and water as we do. Yelling at people to get out of the way isn’t the way to grow our sport.

If your spouse, significant other, or family aren’t involved with your racing program then, in the balance between racing, sailing for fun, and time with family, sailing for fun will lose out every time unless family is involved, too. Most families or couples don’t race together, and there’s good reasons for that. So if you have a family, don’t lose sight of the powerful ways that the adventure of sailing together can make lasting memories.  We’re blessed here in Puget Sound with having some of the best cruising waters in North America, so when we don’t share our skills and knowledge with our family and friends to use what nature has given us, we’re doing them a disservice.

I worry too about the state of youth sailing, not just here but worldwide.  As I write this to you from Barbados I have spoken with several sailors from Europe who share the same concern I have that our youth racers are at risk of being over-coached, over-managed, and over-trained.  They need time to be kids. They need time to develop self-reliance. They need to learn how to fix things when they break. They need to know what it’s like to be a leader, and of working together as a team – few of these experiences are served by the present format of youth racing.  Meanwhile only about 5% of kids who go through the learn to sail programs nationally go on to become racers.  We need to be sure that just as we have programs for the 5% that go on to be racers, we have a path for the 95% which will entice them to make sailing a lifelong passion and not just something they did one summer.

Bruce Van Deventer
Commodore
Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle