On the whole... Are the
Who Is Coming Lists
of pre registered or pre paid sailors coming to your event helpful for turnout or do they hurt turnout?
A 505 sailor argued with me that such lists were not good.
He liked the fuzzy wuzzy system... where the class scuttlebutt that X and Y were coming was good for turnout.... If X and Y were actual BS'ers... and actually had to put a credit card down and pay and they would not do so and so the flim flam that 20 boats were attending was not sustainable and so a list was not helpful for turnout. In essence… not knowing was a good thing for turnout. He also argued that nobody connected the lousy turnout LAST year with the current turnout for this upcoming event this year..
Other fleets list all of the sailors that they HOPE will be attending months in advance... and sometimes they actually come.
A third system is the On line reg sites which are independent of payment and so you can put your self on the list and show or not show with no penalty.
Finally, the on line registration sites will put you on the list when you have registered and used your credit card OR you are pending until your check arrives.
I am sure in a perfect world... all sailors would like to show up the morning of the event register and pay and fully confident that their expectations of who is racing will be fully met .... But... that's not the way it works. So... What is the best approach?
Does it depend on your particular fleet and region.
Is it expected for the
Big National Regattas
or for just serious race classes?
What is your preference and reasoning?
(Lots of national organizers are now sweating bullets hoping that gas and the economy doesn't blow their regatta financials out of the water)
Who Is Coming Lists
of pre registered or pre paid sailors coming to your event helpful for turnout or do they hurt turnout?
Interesting question, Mark. I have always wondered the same thing.
In general, I think its good. Although as you know when I figure out I'm going, I'm going regardless of who else is going. Also, those that misuse the list or hype an event as
their favorite.... and should not be missed and I'll be there!!
and then don't show get put into a category and it is not forgotten.
On the whole... Are the
Who Is Coming Lists
of pre registered or pre paid sailors coming to your event helpful for turnout or do they hurt turnout?
...
What is your preference and reasoning?
Publication of the
who is coming
list is not necessarily positive (or negative) for the stated reasons.
However, when it comes to website publication of information about a regatta, I believe more information is better than less. Readily available data - even at gossip level - simplifies the work of the press, increasing the chances something is published about the event.
All the best,
I try to get a who's coming list about all regattas in my area. If I did not think it was better to have it than not I would not do it. I think it gets excitement about a regatta to see how many and who will be showing.
This weekend we will have the F18 West Coast Championships. One sailor, Charly, has arrange a trip to Europe around attending. Greg and Jacques will be together sailing for the first time this year. Brandon and Damon will be there. Pete Melvin will be sailing an Infusion. Keith Christensen will be sailing sans his great (right now broken) crew brother but with another accomplished crew Jeff Fortuna. It all gets pretty exciting when it appears you have a good turn out and a great list of racers on the line. In all we will have at least 13 boats (F18s) on the line.
Put me down as a big fan of
Who's Coming
.
Later,
Dan DeLave