US/NA 470 class goals and direction

[asumpton]

Hi All- following our US Nationals some of us got talking about things we'd like to see our National/NA class association do and what sort of goals we'd like it to pursue. While driving back from TX I wrote up a sort of "vision" statement that I'd like to throw out into this public forum and see what ideas and aspirations other class members have for our organization

470 Class Goals:

Presently the already small NA 470 class is split into two independent groups: regional club sailors who participate in club races and the occasional class championship such as US Nats or NAC’s, and college or post college sailors who are targeting Olympic track sailing and are focused on achieving a spot on the USST and competing in RMOCR and then European circuit and World Cup events. As it stands, neither group presently offers much to the other- RMOCR is too much of a commitment to be a viable event for club level sailors, and the various Class championships are not attended well enough or sailed at a sufficiently challenging skill level to warrant the committed attendance of Olympic track sailors. Because of this neither of the two groups bother to co-ordinate with each other regarding goals or event planning and operate pretty much independently further diminishing the impact of the already small number of class members.

It is our belief that there is common ground to be found between club and Olympic track 470 sailors in North America, and that efforts to build up this middle ground will provide material benefits to both club sailors and those pursuing Olympic dreams. Put succinctly, if the various NA 470 class championships can be built up into events with greater attendance and skill level, then they would provide useful training opportunities for new Olympic track teams looking to gain experience in the class before committing to the summer circuit in Europe, and strong class championships would help promote the class as a viable one design dinghy choice for club sailors looking for an affordable performance dinghy that gives thrills and spills but is more forgiving than other trapezing classes such as skiffs or the 505. As an end result the intent is to achieve:

North American Champs, US Nats, CAN Nats, ACC’s and 470 Midwinters
w/ 20+ boat fleets

This would roughly be a doubling of recent attendance levels at these events (and the addition of a few events as well)

To work towards this vision we propose pursuit of the following 470 class NA goals:

➢ Greater co-ordination and planning of NA class events

➢ Co-ordination with USST in -planning event schedules / avoiding schedule conflicts
-promoting and assisting USST attendance at NA class events

➢ Drive to encourage fleet exposure and growth
- for youth sailors interested in USST
- for regional NA sailors interested in affordable performance dinghy
-Class supported regional demo clinics / class supported
college demo clinics

➢ Keeping NA class website up-to-date and informative, with news items regarding
NA and international events, national and international class news items, boat care, maintenance and tuning items

➢ Producing a quarterly or bi-annual 470 Class NEWSLETTER

[abjolly]

As an ardent supporter of the 470 class for a number of years, I feel qualified to comment on this proposal.

While encouraged by the dozen or so enthusiastic regional club sailors who annually take their vacation time to participate in the National and/or North American championships, I am also convinced that number could be doubled.

There were a number of aspiring USST 470 sailors at the RMOCR this past January, but not even the offer of free charter boats was sufficient to bring them to Seabrook, Texas for the 2009 Nationals. They missed out on a great event with a wide variety of conditions. These sailors are the future of the 470 class and need to be cultivated in order to be a continued presence in the class.

The most discouraging and disturbing observation, though, is that not one 470 class member or leader has replied to this thread. Is it that everyone is satisfied with the health, strength, and growth of the class? Is it apathy? Or is the class too weak to even grasp the proverbial life ring being thrown?

I eagerly awaited responses to this posting, yea or nay, interested to see how the class felt about the courses of action and specific goals presented here. Instead it seems that the class is either as directionless as a rudderless ship, unable to respond to the helm, or else in need of a crew change to effectively sail the ship.

I love 470’s, the boats and the sailors, and challenge everyone who feels as I do to respond to this proposal. Let’s see this class rebuild rather than succumb to inertia.

Allison USA-1705 “Lucky”

[HRatliff]

As a new member of the class, I too am fairly disappointed with the lack of depth. Personally I would like to see more events in North America through out the year. I think what Erin is doing with organizing an ACC is great and I would like to see more events like this, and see more sailors in attendance at the events. I think a lot of sailors have the mind set of well its not worth my time. The competition won't be great. its not worth the money to get out there. and this creates a domino effect. "Well if so and so aren't going I'm not going either."

The 470 is a very expensive class to sail, and with the majority of the events being over seas it makes it that much more expensive. It is hard to warrant spending 10s of thousands of dollars traveling to these events without first learning the boat. It would be very advantageous of the fleet to have clinics through out the year on boatspeed, boathandeling, boat tuning, crewing techniques etc.

It is also very difficult to find information about the 470. I know when I got my boat, I was very overwhelmed with how to go about rigging it. I turned to the internet but found little information. Due largely to the fact that every boat is rigged differently. I ended up spending countless hours on the phone and many emails back and forth with Larry Suter to get my boat put together. It wasn't until MOCR this January when I had the pleasure of working with Morgan Reeser that my boat was finally set up properly, which in this class is worth its weight in gold!


I agree with Andrew and what he has proposed as solid class goals. I believe that the class has a lot of talent, but at this time is lacking a real foundation. We are taking the right first steps at this time, and I am anxious to see where this discussion will take our class in the near future.

Best,

Hunter
USA 1751

[Zar and Karina]

Its great to hear Hunter's perspective as he represents that college crowd going the Olympic track, that Allison is talking about.

It seems like we need to do everything we can to make this boat more accessible including good quality clinics, better online resources and competitive racing.

Can we liven up the website a little bit? It rarely gets updated and still says it is under construction! I think that leads to nobody using it.

Also we need to get current 470 owners to actually join the class. Honestly its a difficult sell at the moment since the class does not seem to offer anything. The only reason 470 owners join is because they have to in order to participate in certain races, seems like we need to change this, and give people a reason to join, any ideas?

Zar and Karina US-1789

[asumpton]

Well, for things the NA 470 class could offer (in addition to supporting the international class org., which is about all we get from our memberships at the moment), how about

A website with info on new rigging ideas, sailing tecnique and informational stuff like this that could be helpful for new 470 sailors coming up to speed in the class. And news about events and developments in 470 international would be useful to everyone. (Although making class membership a requirement for access would necessitate restricting the site, which seems contrary to the goal of class promotion. I suppose class membership would let one know they were contributing to such a useful site though!)

Class supported clinics- maybe 470 NA could support one clinic a year, and groups or clubs could bid to host. Probably wouldn't cover a coach's fees, if these are anything like youth coaching or (heaven forbid) Olympic coaching fees. But maybe the class could cover the cost of a plane ticket for a volunteer coach or something similar.

Strong class National Championship Regattas!!! If 470 sailors see that a set of healthy National/NA events are being nurtured by the class then we all may feel better about sending in our dues each year! (Although I gotta say, at $21, dues are pretty cheap!)

And last, our class membership could support 470 class promotion- promo clinics/demos or some flyers or something..!

So yeah, I guess I'm just repeating things mentioned in the initial post, but I think there are a number of good things the 470 NA class could do that would provide good reasons to support the class through membership!

What else should we add to this list?!

[John Michael]

The proposed goals and suggestions are all excellent from the club racer’s perspective. The key will be adoption of the goals by the top tier sailors.

I would also suggest that this discussion thread be added to the top of the classifieds section as a "sticky" posting since there seems to be a bigger audience visiting that part of the website and visitors may just be missing this posting unintentionally.

In addition to your proposals I would also like to see the regional regatta schedules posted on the website. Generating participation at the regional level will feed into the national events eventually. I would also post the major events as soon as they are finalized; the North Americans at CORK are already known but not posted, for instance.

· May 16/17 Opeka Spring Regatta
· Lake Carlyle Leukemia Cup Memorial Day weekend Sat/Sun May 23/24
· Milwaukee Bay Challenge Cup June 13/14
· July 5th MCSC Mid-Season Championships
· Lake Michigan Championship July 18/19
· August 9th MCSC Quarter Barrel long distance race
· Doug Drake Invitational (whether this will be on Lake Opeka or Lake Michigan is still being determined, but it will be in Chicago regardless) August 15/16
· Milwaukee Community Sailing Center Fall Regatta September 19th –
· September 19/20 - Lake Carlyle: Whale of A Sail
· October 4th/5th Lake Carlyle: Muddy Waters
· Dolphin Long Distance Race with the Solings (MCSC) To be determined ( Sunday Oct ? )

Events Outside of the Midwest Region;

· Any East and West Coast regattas?
· 470 North Americans at CORK, Kingston, Ontario August 23-27th for an OCR (Olympic Class Regatta) setup this year. That means 470s are started by the best race committee which will result have fewer ‘issues’ than were experienced last year (like the impossibly long delays between races and failure to score boat finishes or consider a redress for that)

[asumpton]

Yeah- it'd really be nice to see regional events get promotion on the site.

At the least we could start a "Upcoming Events" thread?

[ebhanso]

I just want to say that I have been interested in the 470 class for many years. I started on a laser in Colorado, and my uncle sailed a J-24. I think this is a great boat, and I hope everyone will participate in strengthening this class. I need to find a good entry-level boat for now. I hope by my sailing it at Cherry Creek reservoir in Denver, that I might stimulate some interest here in the west. I notice that much of the action is in the northern tier or the East. I hope I can change that...it is a great boat! - Eric Hanson

[mike lindstrom]

As a newbie to the 470 there are a lot of questions I have about the class that answered may change my opinion, but until then I offer the following;

Grass roots sailing will provide the largest number of participants (see Hobie 16)
Larger participation numbers will grow the class.
A growing class will provide a larger association.
It will all start at the local level and move up. I think if you want to build this class the answer is to provide good, competitive regattas at the local level through fleets. The class association should focus on providing local fleets an avenue to build the class in their respective territories. Regional qualifiers and a points system to sail the nationals come to mind. At the club level this is not an expensive class to sail if you don't get caught up with "keeping up with the Jones". There are good boats for sale for less than $3500.

My point is the more the association promotes the local fleets and grows the interest in the class I think the top tier will take care of its self. Just a thought.

[asumpton]

Hi Eric- welcome to the 470 class! These truly are great boats to sail, with great people sailing them!

Like Mike said- growth of the 470 class in this country must come from the roots. If there is any way the 470 class Org. can facilitate your entry into 470 sailing, please post up! I'm hoping that this thread can generate ideas of how the class can be responsive and helpful for grass roots 470 sailing in the USA!

-Andrew Sumpton #1732

[mike lindstrom]

A second thought about class growth; did anyone see the "Mug Race" in Jacksonville, FL last weekend? It's a 28.5 mile race form Palatka to J-ville and mostly a down-wind ski ride. What a blast to sail in a 470! It's typically a drifter half way home and then a 20 knot + South-Easter fills in. The course is South to North running with a 3 knot current (yes, the St Johns river flows North). 300 plus boats, every thing from an RC 30 Cat to a C&C 42.

Point here is that we too could have local events that encourage all types of boats to participate and shake up the "around the pins" routine. These events would show-case the awesome 470 and just how fast it can be. In Texas, we have a race called "Turn-Back-Canyon Regatta" held on Lake Travis near Austin. This place is stunning, water so clear and you can almost drink it it's that clean. Same as the Mug Race, TBC is a distance race from one end of the lake up to a beautiful park where all sailors overnight and party, then sail back the next day. Two day scores are combined. I place second overall out of 280 boats 15 years ago on a Hobie 20.

These races are a blast and get the local fleets of whatever out to race as a group. It creates 470 pride!

ML

[braempower]

Just thought I'd add in my two (Canadian) cents worth, and a shameless plug for some Canadian west coast events!

WAVES, July 3-5 at Royal Vancouver Yacht Club in Vancouver, BC

470 Canadians, this event will actually be preceded by Fall Dinghy Championships in Victoria, BC. We will hold Fall Dinghies Sept 26-27, then have a three day training camp prior to the 470 Canadians from October 1-4. This should be a fantastic event and all US teams are invited to attend. Billeting is available and there are charter boats too.

We've been working hard out in BC to build our fleet but it still feels vacuous at times. If there were to be any other events out west, even in California, we would support them. As it is, we can usually support two trailer hauls out east, so if events are happening it would be great to keep them close together so we can simply send a trailer out and hit multiple events at once or en route. It's tough for us to commit to towing five days each way for weekend events.

We're bringing two boats out to CORK again this year, and hope to see a few teams out west in the fall.

Jen

[asumpton]

Hey Jen- see you all at CORK again!

[One Design Weekly]

Without spamming too much, I have a website dedicated to one design racing. I'd love to help you all out posting events, articles, pics, etc. If you have an event, video, or anything race related, drop me a line and I'll post it up. I currently have around 8,000 readers a week. aaron@onedesignweekly.com or upload it on the site www.onedesignweekly.com

[ward brooks]

I sail on the Great South Bay, Long Island, NY
Middle of Last season 2009, I discovered 2 other 470's within 15 miles of mine.
Anybody got any suggestions on how to organize, with a possible(lofty) goal
of fleet revitalization in my area?
Where do all those opti-420 kids go after college anyway, and why the heck did the 420 become so popular when the 470 is soooo superior and actually offers a future beyond college competition?
p.s. I find that calender section of the 470 NA website very difficult to operate, and see what, close enough regattas I might want to attend this season.
p.p.s. Any report from the 2009 ACC's, maybe I can talk that up for next season
Thanks,Ward Brooks #1683