Grow Youth Sailing..... Try Again

Yes, the Waves have been fine for us up to 20kts if it's not their first sail. With plenty of kid-weight on the boats they can generally keep them bob up, but gybe-splats are inevitable. After it happens once or twice they usually get it figured out. They typically have to work together to sheet it in when the wind is up unless they are especially strong kids.

Thanks Barb how big do the kids have to be to right them
regards

Barb,

that really was a good post. Letting the kids play and have fun, while learning to sail trough games must be the best way.

I hope it was the older kids who handled the lobsters, those critters are fast with their claws compared to crabs <img src=

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Thanks Barb how big do the kids have to be to right them

About 90-95 pounds of total kid-weight. If they struggle and can't seem to pop it up (rarely) we have them to continue in the righting position and we give the bob a little flip to get it started.

I hope it was the older kids who handled the lobsters, those critters are fast with their claws compared to crabs

These kids were giving me lobstering lessons. They know all the rules and regs on what you can catch and when. How to clean the tail to take it home and more. The kids here practically have gills!

Here's a question to the fleets

Our goal is sailors who are older. (we want sailors who race sooner then latter).

We are working under the notion that if they sail a cat once... they will be hooked... and they will return to the class down the road when they want to go racing again.

We have about 3 or 4 junior teams 14 and older in the area that will be racing Hobie 16's.

We have 2 regattas (One Catamaran and one Dinghy).
We provide Free loaner Hobie 16's for teams under 21 for the weekend.
NAHCA, CRAC, and Hobie 54 have teamed up to make this happen with insurance through US Sailing's Burgee program, Hobie 16's to use and our initiative.

Last year.. my marketing was a complete miss... only got TWO phone calls to borrow the 4 boats that I had lined up.... and they bailed at the last minute. (memo to file... kids don't read regatta books)

So this year I tried to approach the junior sailing directors at the CBYRA Junior Scheduling meeting.

The problem is...Junior sailing program directors did not seem interested in supporting this program. Later, I was told by folks involved in Junior sailing for years and years.

"What do you expect... the parents are paying these coaches LOTS of money and they have as a goal... a spiffy college admission .... Sailing Hobie 16's is not something they will get behind.

So... New plan... directly market to High school or College kids.

So, my question is... which should I target the High School Sailing Teams in the area to find my sailors... or do I go after the college sailing teams,

My preference right now is the High school kids because they will be around the area all summer.

Suggestions?

I don't understand what the goal is? Is it to hold a regatta for monohull sailors to try out catamarans? Is it to hold a regatta and provide youth without their own boats a boat to sail for the regatta?

If the goal is to put on a regatta with as much local participation as possible then advertise in all the local sailing newsletters, magazines, public sailing centers, West Marine, any place you can advertise. Get out some public service announcements in the local media. Send out press releases to the newspapers. Find out if/how you can distribute a flyer through the schools. Build the hype for the event.

Yes... those under 21 of age who have a decent amount of experience on a 420 so they can trapeeze on the boat and are not intimidated by a Hobie 16.

The question is... High school or college age... which would be most impressionable and catch the multihull bug!

Mark,
I'm sorry, but I did not understand your whole post (prior post and most current). What are you asking?

All ages tend to remember their first ride on a catamaran. Your mission is to guarantee it's a good memory. Offer a little free clinic on the H16 before the regatta (same day or other day) so they aren't stepping onto a completely foreign platform without any instruction.

Why accept an arbitrary age boundary (high school/college) as a limitation? Unless there's some restriction to the event organization that forces a choice just keep it open to all those teens. See which groups the event is more attractive to this year and hone it for next year.

Also, I'd be very careful about stepping on toes. Make sure the various teams and clubs understand you are not trying to muscle in on their turf. Keep everybody happy and smiling.

If you are trying to get teenagers involved, contact all the ones in your area and let them know that there is NOT, and I repeat, NOT a waiting list to race in the U.S. Sailing Youth Multihull Championship at the end of March in California on the new SL 16's. (It is the qualifier to go to the ISAF World Youth Championships.)

10 brand new boats are being supplied by Performance Catamarans, and they need 20 two-person teams.

As of yesterday they finally got the NOR posted at US Sailing's web site. But you can get more information at www.sl16.org/.
US Sailing does not have the pre-registration thing going yet, but you can contact Dan Delave, Regatta Chairman, at ddelave at aol dot com. First ones to pre-register are in, regardless of qualifications.

This is an awesome opportunity for youth sailors, no matter what they normally sail. It's just a matter of letting them know about it. Who wouldn't want to try to win a U.S. championship and go to the ISAF Worlds, no matter on what kind of boat?

Wish I were 50 years younger. When I was a teenager, opportunity to sail a major youth championship on a multihull was not even on the radar. So some progress has been made.

We have the boats, we have the event, we have the venue, all we have to do is find the kids to sail in it.

Sorry, but I am getting a little incensed about this whole thing. Everybody is trying to figure out what to do to promote youth sailing, but a lot is already going on and very little is being done to promote it and let the kids know about what is available to them -- and let the parents know.

I myself just got the details two days ago about this year's U.S. Youth Multihull Championship, and I had to mention to people that there was no NOR or registration page at US Sailing for the event. And the event is only a month away!!

Yikes! Let's get some teams out there to Long Beach. They are going to have a clinic before the regatta to teach the kids how to use a spinnaker and to familiarize them with the SL 16.

Mary, we have two teams in training in Seattle. Peter, Jerry and Laura are training them on both the Hobie 16 and Tiger. All info including the NOR and Registration is now on the website, see http://www.ussailing.org/championships/youth/multihull/

Caleb Tarleton
US SAILING Youth Multihull Champ. Comm.

Mary:

We sue to giving free rode and tied it in with local charity, For $10 you got a ride and a T-Shirt and money went to charity. Shirts were donated. I also give rides on my Hobie 17 for the local Sea Scouts Program. What will happen to these 10 boats. Could they tour the country to be used to promote more youth sailing, as not all can make it to Calf. I started my grand daughter at 6 and she is quite a sailor now. Going to get helm time on the Mystere 4.3 this summer. We did to do ALL we can to get the youth on the boats. Once there MOST are hooked.

Keep up the good work.
You and Rick are great.

Doug and Ashleigh Snell

Yes, I said they now finally have the NOR at the US Sailing site, but they STILL don't have the registration going, as far as I can see, and the NOR says you are required to pre-register, which is why I gave Dan Delave's e-mail.

I'm glad to hear that you have a couple of teams training for the event. Do you think they will get 20 teams altogether? <img src=

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Maybe Ashleigh could team up with somebody for the Nationals. I think there are grants available to cover expenses to get there. And usually the kids are put up in homes of people at the event site. Check it out.

Mary:

When is it? She is in deep *)(^*&^& right now over grades and stuff. If summer maybe.

Doug

It is March 30th to April 1st, 2007. We will have a clinic Friday and racing Saturday and Sunday.

Later,
Dan DeLave
Regatta Chairman - US Youth Multihull Championships

Doug/Mary

School? Grades? Why did they decide to schedule a youth event during the school year? Anyone from the East coast who wishes to compete will have to miss at least 3 days of school if not more for travel etc. This is why my kids will not be there. Not to mention the fact that most kids up north are not sailing this time of year. I think you have a better chance for more participants if it is in the summer.

Also, this years event is not the qualifier for the ISAF youth Worlds. It is a qualifier for the SL 16 Gold Cup event in France.

Greg

No Problem getting participants. At this point the juniors that want to come should be poised at the computer for registration. We have already got over 10 teams contacting us with their interest.

I know that this may not be optimal for everyone. I was informed not long ago about hosting the event and it was hard to figure out where it could go in an already really busy schedule for our Yacht Club. The event in France is in the summer and the winner will need to make arrangements for their trip as well. This event is not a qualifier for ISAF it is for a great trip to France.

Sorry about school, sorry about weather up north, sorry about late notice, sorry about registration not up when you heard about the event...NOT sorry about having the event in Long Beach where the catamaran sailor numbers keep increasing. This will be fun for those involved. If you would like to come and help out maybe we can find a place for you.

Later,
Dan

I second what graybon is saying......I'm from the Northeast and yeah, it would be awesome to sail an SL16, but not in the middle of the school year...............

about getting youth into cats, I think that having kids who already sail spread the word to their friends, and encouraging them to bring others with them will help. I bring my friends sailing with me, and they love it!.......put ontop of that the fact that the club can supply the boats for them, and im sure that more kids will come. I dont think the problem is getting them to like cat sailing, thats the easy part, I think the problem is that parents don't want to buy a boat or trailer it around. (I know firsthand) Having club cats is a great idea, then you could just have a bunch of kids show up and race.

Anyways, I hope everyone has a great time out in Cali.......those SL16's look like a ton of fun. Good luck to everyone participating!

Vinny
I hope we see you at the Hobie 16 Youth North Americans this year.

http://www.hobienac.com/2007/

There should be plenty of charter boats available.

Its winter and so I'm doing a bit of landyachting.

Today I test sailed a golden oldie that had been collecting dust in the shed. I had refitted it last weekend.

It is very similar to the Blokart, although this Stighter was made in the early 80's.

Wind blowing hard out on the beach and the surf was blown in far, washing over the firm plane that we use for landyachting.

I remembered that was a parking lot right behind the row of dunes and I decided to ride there instead. The dunes obstructed the wind significantly but still this oldie reached speeds up to 50-60 kph (30 knots). I put is down to the hard concrete surface. Bloody good fun.

So why am I saying this. Well I got thinking. A new blokart costs what ? In France (incl high EU taxation) a new blokart costs 2175 Euro's. In the USA (no taxes) this is what ? 2500 US$ ?

If the kids today are so hooked on speed and adrenaline rushes then this landyachting in parking lot much be the most promising way to get these kids sailing.

It is FAST, relatively inexpensive and you only need an abandonned parking lot and some wind. Only additional gear needed is a helmet and some common sense.

You don't want to run into a concrete wall at these speeds.

Later in the day I saw a family with blokarts and they had two-seaters where the parent drove with the kid in the next seat. Looked like a ball.

Maybe we are doing this all wrong. Maybe we need to get out of the water and get into landyachts and then when they get hooked on outdoor windsports bring them back into fast catsailing. For these kids will never ever consider slow monohulls after having done landyachting.

Like I said it is a wild idea but so much more practically, inexpensive and accessible. Even in waterless area's. And they are alot easier to home-build as well, if that is your thing

http://www.blokart.com/

Here some video's showing what I'm talking about :

http://www.blokart.com/movies/8v29.mpg

http://www.blokart.com/movies/9v49.mpg

http://www.blokartfrance.com/images/gallery/videos/mpegs/blokart_360spin.mpg

Even truckers like to do it during their lunch breaks

http://www.blokartfrance.com/images/gallery/videos/mpegs/2002java.AVI

Wouter

Congradulations to Jamie Livingston, for putting Niece Sarah Newberry on the helm, and mixing it up with the World Champion Tornado sailors at the 2007 Rolex Miami OCR. Sarah was the US SAILING Youth Multihull Champ last year, and is only 18. Too many sailor parents do not pass the helm to their children, and leave them as crew too long. Many then loose interest and are lost to the sport. My Son Tom took over as skipper on our Hobie 16 at age 15,and remained skipper on our Hobie 18, until we both switched to two Hobie 17's.

It is encouraging to see more familys taking this approach.

Caleb Tarleton

Yeah rhody, I'm definetly going to this years Nationals.....I'm not in that pic though (had to leave earlier), and its a relief to hear that charters will be plentiful. I just emailed Mark about that yesterday.

What Wouter was saying: Ive never been in a landkart, but after those videos, WOAH!, that would definetly convince a kid to never sail a mono again. Just make sure you dont scare them out of cat sailing too! Seems like a good idea though, but it seems like these would be easy to lose control in. Maybe not, but could be too reckless for some kids, and maybe too much for a parents nerves....?

Ha, I guess that makes me lucky to have non-sailing parents, I dont have to worry about being a crew all of my life. <img src=

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This is what I was talking about before:

Blokart

or this

Blokart2

this is cool too....

Blokart3

Don't be sorry Dan your there putting the effort in for the kids, then your knocked because it doesn't fit with some people. That sounds like a normal youth club we all know you would have picked the date out of a hat.
<img src=

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Ummmmm...yeah...and we want to put kids on those - why exactly?

Well, because on all those video's the craft sustained no damage what so ever (and they're are not rotomolded rubber). And I can vouch for that too as I've done a few of those myself.

Secondly it looks alot worse then it really is. These craft don't pitchpole, don't tilt during the moose evation test or whatever. They only capsize sideways during a gusts if you don't sheet out and steer leeward. But then as you can see the capsizing itself is rather mild.

http://superdairyboy.com/recreational%20Items/blokart/videos/blokart_crash.mpeg

That movie clip of the Dutch Roll is actually a manouvre that I had never seen done before and in my experience is incredibally difficult to initiate. I would have said impossible but the video proofs otherwise. The reason for this, and I've been doing this for a couple of years, is that the craft so easily just makes a 360 without tipping over. It is like a go-kart in the way that it just skids around instead of heeling.

See http://www.blokartfrance.com/images/gallery/videos/mpegs/blokart_360spin.mpg

The guy in the Dutch roll is doing his very best to make the craft roll over like that. I wouldn't even know how to do that and that is the honest truth. I did had a fair amount of spin outs though. Very exiting to do a spin-out but also absolutely harmless.

Now I wouldn't put kids in class 5 or class 3 landyachts as with those craft you can just drive yourself to death. But then again these go 100-130 kph (60-80 mph) and accellerate to that speed within 5 to 6 seconds. But these blokarts are alot slower and the driver is well protected behind the frame. Especially if you are riding these craft in urban areas where you don't really get 30 knots of wind that you need to go faster then 60 kph (35 mph).

Hell, I've seen kids make larger and more mean crashes riding bicycles or riding skateboards. As a concept I would qualify especially the latter as more dangerous.

So yes, it looks exiting and it is exciting but it is far less dangerous (when sailing blokarts) then it may appear. As such it may just be what is needed for kids. It looks cool and dangerous but it really isn't so.

But as I said it is just a wild idea.

Wouter

What does it look like when they run into each other?

About the same as when you last hit another bicycle rider at full speed.

Or, the way you looked when you fell of the stairs this morning or tripped over your shoe laces or tried to walk through your all glass garden doors instead of opening them first.

You know :

BLOODY STUPID !

Wouter

(a few bruses and maybe a bend tube or wheel)