Growing the Fleet: Listen to what they do

by Patrick Nelson and Jim Schrager
It’s every Race Committee’s worst nightmare, a race where no one shows up. Or perhaps just a few boats come to the starting line while most remain in the harbor.

At our yacht club on Lake Michigan, we’ve had a long distance race scheduled on a night with beautiful weather when no one showed up and other races in less than perfect weather where just one or two boats decided to race. Whose fault is that?

Talk to most seasoned racers and they’ll tell you: “It’s up to each skipper to decide to race or not.” If the weather was a bit rough, the course too long, or the prediction had thunderstorms moving in, it’s true each skipper makes the call to race or not. But that response sidesteps a deeper–and rather important–issue.

What does missing a race tell us about the skippers who decided to sit this one out? “The rest of the story,” it turns out, is all about growing the fleet.

Rule #1: When it comes to growing the fleet, the hard work hard is to keep everyone racing coming back for more. Yes, you have to do more than that to grow, but this is where it all starts–keeping your existing racers engaged with a program they want to participate in.

Rule #2: Recognize how JaM (jib and main only) racers are different than Spinnaker or One Design sections. JaM boats are older, usually less expensive, crews are smaller, with fewer fancy new sails and lower budgets of time and money. Most Jammers don’t want to sail in rough weather for evening “Beer Can” races. They realize their local program isn’t the Olympics and see races mostly as fun and a chance to learn how to sail better. So it’s easy to see why JaM skippers may not like the same conditions Spinnaker or One-Design sailors enjoy.

Rule #3: All skippers, whether in JaM, Spinnaker, or One-Design, want to win a trophy. No one likes to be excluded from the chance to place in the top three and be recognized at the awards banquet. Jammers want to win just as much as anyone does, and when skippers decide to stay in the harbor on race day, they send a strong message. You can hear that message, or ignore it.

One battle hardened Fleet Captain we spoke with said it was up to the Race Committee to know what the skippers wanted. We asked how she knew what skippers want, and whether we should send a survey to better understand the conditions they want to sail in. Her response was wonderful: “Listen to what they do.”

She noted the best Fleet Captains don’t make decisions on what the skippers want. Instead, skippers tell the Fleet Captain by voting with their feet. If they stay in the harbor when you call a JaM race on a rough night, listen. Don’t ignore them. Forget the old salt who notes “that was their choice.” Remember Rule #3: Everyone in all sections wants the chance to win.

When you take away their ability to compete for a trophy, that’s when they start thinking about moving on. They know it’s up to them to sail fast enough to win; they won’t blame the RC if they lose as long as they had a chance. But take that chance away by forcing them to sail in poor conditions, then that’s your mistake, not theirs.

Avoid giving your skippers two bad options: race on a night where they don’t feel safe to be out on the water, or force them to take a Did Not Compete. Give them two bad choices enough times and they’ll stop coming back.

So next time one of your races falls flat on its face with just a few boats at the starting line, think beyond the idea that “it’s up to the skippers.” Instead, realize the Race Committee needs to call races your skippers want to sail in.

If most of a section stays in the harbor, the skippers are sending a strong message no Race Committee should ignore. Listen to what your racers do. A happy group of racers lays the foundation for growing the fleet.

Patrick Nelson races in Spinnaker out of the St. Joseph River Yacht Club on Lake Michigan, is on the Race Committee, and is a former Commodore. Jim Schrager is Fleet Captain and races in JaM with an old boat on a limited budget, Ken Zimmerman was RC Team Leader on the Race Boat for over twenty years.