OPINION: The slow death of a great sport...?

Here's an opinion to get the minds working: Sailing as a sport for the general public has been dying out in this wide brown land of ours over the last few years. While in the northern hemisphere the sport goes from strength to strength (cold, wet England being the prize example). I have a few theories (that mostly apply to dinghy classes):

1. The prohibitive cost of new exotic materials, high tech gear and the push by the elite (wealthy) few to have lighter and faster design changes brought into older classes. Look at the price of a Sabot these days! $11 - 14,000 for a kids training boat!!! Don't get me wrong here, I like speed just as much as the next man. My argument is that not all classes should be going down the path of exotics. Or maybe classes should have 2 divisions, classic and carbon (I'm not sure we have the numbers to make that sustainable though).

2. The lengthening of winter sport seasons (Rugby League is a good example) which impinges on the start and end of the sailing season. For some reason the general public don't see sailing as a team sport...!

3. The death of backyard boatbuilding and simpler classes of boat and class rules.

4. Lazy parents that are quite happy to use the Gameboy, Xbox, computer, DVD, etc as a babysitter instead of raising, mentoring and challenging their children with healthy outdoor (and cerebral) activities.

5. In Australia I would argue that the Olympic training policy of Yachting Australia has effectively disenfranchised a whole lot of kids. The few dollars available are spent on one or two kids in each region at the expense of the remainder. The non-sponsored kids get disenchanted and leave the sport. Sail training programs have fallen apart as emphasis is placed upon coaching the few. I say we should be building a broader foundation by spending that money on sail training & racing programs for every kid.

6. The sporting media in this country chooses to cover football (the 4 codes of football, cricket and football...). The start of the Sydney Hobart is a major event every year in Australia with millions of spectators and Worldwide media coverage. Its the only time you hear about sailing in the mainstream media in this country. I think its probably the elitist reputation. There's also a misconception that its boring. With today's technology why don't they use boatcams to cover the major titles, etc?

7. The birth of the instant gratification culture - the World is becoming populated with people who probably can't be bothered to take the time to rig a boat, learn to sail, work for pocket money to buy an old boat then spend a winter doing it up ready for the summer sailing season. And I'm not just talking about the kids here, the parents are just as bad.

8. The time factor. Sailing pretty much takes up almost a whole day, prepping the boat, rigging, briefing, sailing, unrig, wash and clean the boat, go home. People (parents) generally just aren't prepared to make that sort of committment these days. So, what does that teach their children? Only do stuff that takes lkess than an hour of your time, never commit to anything that takes some effort and work. My feeling is that the more effort or work required the bigger the reward. So the net result is we have a generation of kids who are unfulfilled and searching for something they will probably never find because they aren't being equipped with the skills to take on life itself.

OK, I'm now off the soapbox. We live in one of the best countries on the planet for sailing, yet it's a dying sport here. We need to revitalize the sport for the average punter. Thoughts anyone?