My five things from the Sailing Leadership Forum

by Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt
At the inaugural US Sailing Leadership Forum in San Diego (Feb 5-8, 2014), opening speaker Ken Read advised the 600 attendees to be wary of all the information they were soon to consume over the three day conference, and suggested each person identify five things to take back to their organization and work on.

My yacht club got wind of this suggestion, and already reached out to those of us who attended. Here was my list…

* To keep college-age people sailing beyond college, clubs need to make connections with them during college, not after. Expose them to what they may not be familiar with (ie, keelboat racing, local one design classes, race committee, etc).
* Collaboration. The strengths of each organization in an area need to be recognized and supported by the other organizations. Limit duplicity and focus on big picture of growing/supporting sailing together.
* Clubs must foster a strong relationship with the Coast Guard to gain trust for event permitting.
* The exclusivity of club access to non-members affects people’s opinion of sailing. Opening Day in New Zealand is when clubs are open to the community.
* To increase diversity and to better relate to minority segments (ethnicity, gender, age, etc.), the leadership of the organization (clubs, businesses, etc) needs to include people of these segments.

At the risk of getting inundated with 599 emails, I am asking for those of you who attended the Forum to submit your list to Scuttlebutt. We will gather the suggestions and publish them. Send them to editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com