New Year's Resolution

This past weekend I was in Atlanta for the US SAILING One Design Symposium. The attendees included a complete range of individuals, from the active sailor to the class administrator, to the industry professional eager to share advice and support the sport. There was an enormous amount of information exchanged, and thanks to Mount Gay, nearly as many cocktails consumed. But by the end of the event, there were two significant ‘take aways’ that are as applicable to the one design sailor as to any other category of the sport.

The first is that the sport is our recreation and our passion, and that our experiences need to be shared. Everyone in Atlanta would love to see their part of the sport grow, and everyone was in agreement that this can be done by sharing the experience with others. Either through story or through splashes, presenting the sport in a positive light will git'er done. The second is how our sport is run by a volunteer army. While there are plenty of entities that profit from the sport, the heavy lifting is done by those with no more to gain than the desire to give back. The more we support this army (and the less we berate them), the better off the sport will be.

I suspect that there is some kind of formula based on how much sailing enthusiasts take from the sport, and how much they give. While it might be too early to finalize our New Year’s Resolutions, it might be timely to consider what they will be.