BLUEMOMENT

Not very Scottish. However, great to see the breadth of Irish sailing subjects reported in the magazine. Scroll through the NI Section and it has pages of relevant 2023 articles. Scroll through the Scottish section and there are less than 10 x 2023 Scottish articles, some of which have an Irish flavour, written by Afloat reporters from NI.

Does this reflect the state of Scottish sailing? Have the Scots become so boring that West Highland week reporting is limited to an Irish correspondent's reports on Irish boats attending the race?

I would have thought that Scotland sailing news had more to offer the community than this feeble offering?

https://www.yachtinglife.co.uk

Here is a clue: -

https://www.sailing.ie/Events
https://sailscotland.co.uk/all-events/

"At the heart of Scottish Sailing" yet bereft of Scottish Sailing events that are not CCC (which is fair enough, CCC is not a representative body) https://clydecruisingclub.org/page/keel ... acing-2023

These guys are a wee bit more inclusive http://www.cyca-online.org.uk but haven't managed to get into 2023 yet http://www.cyca-online.org.uk/pdfDocume ... 2023172042

It is quite pathetic that Scotland's sailing can not be served by a single entity that marshals together sailing news and hosts events lists for all.

CCC: is it dead?
Races cancelled/poor participation, ageing and static membership. All forecast over a decade ago...

CYCA: is it dead?
latest news, July 2022...over a year ago

Marinas are full, there are >12,000 members of the Sailing Cruising Scotland Facebook page and there are other Facebook groups with large memberships, but the traditional events and races (West Highland Week & Scottish series aside) are struggling.

where is the next generation of sailors/yachtsmen?

Do any schools have sailing programs? The Mudhook Yachts Club's Schools Week was a great event to get kids onto the water but safeguarding and getting volunteers vetted made that too difficult to organise and it died off.

what needs to change?
what ideas need to be imported from elsewhere to change the trend?

If people in their 30's can't afford the deposit on a house they can't afford a boat.

We need to regress to the 1950's when dinghies were built in the shed or front room. Only oldies (including the likes of me) can afford a boat and all the toys (like AIS - which I don't think necessary by the way) that we're told we just can't do without by glossy mags that cater for a small band on the south coast.

Aja wrote: ↑Tue Aug 01, 2023 12:39 pm If people in their 30's can't afford the deposit on a house they can't afford a boat. ...

Indirectly, this is what I am getting at, less so affordability, but the lack of any aspirational promotion of sailing in Scotland, especially as a cohesive strategy.

I am not so sure that affordability will be the issue, rather a desire to sail will simply not be fostered by any of the organisations in Scotland that could promote it. Affordability, could be a significant issue, I agree, but markets have a habit of correcting themselves.

I compare it to my youth and there is nothing left to encourage sailing in a broad way, as far as I can tell. I think, like Brexit, Independence and MMGW, the elderly are happy with their lot and don't really care about the future in a way that is active, just passive (that is not an anti old person rant). RYA Scotland are invisible. Take for example, West Highland Week. A great opportunity to be there for an afternoon and canvass opinion at grass roots level, plus at other events, not to ask people to join, but to ask people about sailing in Scotland and how it can be developed, for example. I am not bashing the RYA, just wondering about their role in promotion.

Maybe there is no issue and Yachting Life is just a poor quality rag that happens to have an enthusiastic base in NI