Sparkplugs

[Tim Carter]

I know we all sing the praises of our boat whenever we can, but sometimes there are other ways.  I just stumbled on this through a Lightning Class newsletter and it has some ideas that may be overlooked.



Sparkplugs
Most engines will not start without one! We have discussed this issue many
times before?in Flashes, on the web, around the keg, in meetings?Fleet
development is always a concern for our class, and while we do a decent job,
WE could always do better. Sparkplugs is a word I heard when I first joined
the class to describe a fleet member that makes things happen, such as ways
to develop your fleet (active and inactive).
1. Get the 3 boats in the yard to go out and sail (not just race).
2. Involve the youth at your club?even if it means you might lose an ever
important club series! Take a year off from winning your home trophy to
teach new sailors!
3. Take a new sailor to an AWAY event. This does not have to be Championship
event?it can be an event just down the bay.
4. My personal favorite! Develop both ends of your fleet. If you have a veteran
fleet of 7 racers, don?t throw the newbie to the wolves?get another
boat so they can still compete! I can?t stress how important this is. Too
many times fleets die by being too top heavy.
5. Those of us that travel need to bring another boat from our fleet to an
away regatta.
6. Turn that valuable crew (that you dare not want to lose) into a skipper.
Give the tiller to your crew?split the races one day! While some are VERY
happy staying a crew for life, you might find one or two that say, ?Hey, I
can do this, maybe I will get a boat.?

[Jeff Jones]

Great topic tim.   These are fantastic ideas. 

We are going to try and do clinics on the Friday before our weekend circuit.  Last friday I spent about 5 hours on the water jumping between various boats.   

There are two big benefits to bringing up the back. A) they will continue to attend regattas b) by becoming faster, they will make you faster.

[Drew Harper]

A credo for the Viper fleet has been, since I've been involved, the front teaches the back. Brad, Tac, Ched, Skip all have been gracious to host debriefs at the end of many of the majors on the East Coast.

We need to have that extend into the West and Gulf fleets. Get the front to sail with the back to get them up to speed. Run debriefs, fund coaching boats (they're great beer holders too :-) elicit sail makers to talk at length about rig tuning and sail shaping in various conditions.

It's all going to build a strong fleets.

[Dan Tucker]

Strong local fleets are the backbone of EVERY successful 1-design class. Getting butts in the boat locally is important. You may or may not get someone who tries the boat once to buy one, but it generates talk, and unearths new leads.

Focus on your local Fleet!!

[Paul Zimmerman]

This is exactly how we developed the Northeast from the ground up.  Look at us now!  We are now awaiting delivery of another  12 new boats.  I think there are around 60 Vipers between NJ and Ontario.