Stability comes from local activity

When a one design class needs boat owners to all travel to the same venue for competition, the future of that class organization is at risk. Stability comes from local fleet activity which Carol Cronin discusses in this report:

I’ve been a card-carrying member of the International Snipe Class since 1990. In that time, I’ve “graduated” from crew to skipper and from rigger to boat owner. I’ve also learned to adjust my goals and competitive expectations each year, depending on how much other stuff is going on.

But there’s one goal that has remained steady, if elusive: to someday rebuild Narragansett Bay’s Snipe Fleet 17 (in Rhode Island). This year, I can finally report a significant step in that direction.

When I first showed up as a brand-new crew in June 1990, the locals welcomed me to the Tuesday night Snipe series run out of Ida Lewis Yacht Club—which they took completely for granted. As a newbie, I didn’t recognize the sure signs of fleet ill-health: fewer boats than the previous summer, with several skippers and crews aging out of dinghy sailing. Little socializing after sailing.

And, last but not least, a HUGE untended gap in both communication and performance between the front of the fleet (who traveled to regattas in Boston, Annapolis, and wherever Nationals took place each year) and the tailenders (who didn’t). Sure enough, by June 1991 we could no longer gather enough boats for a series. Fleet 17 became a “paper” fleet, nothing more than a forgotten listing on the class roster. – Full report