Sport must serve every customer

While sailing is meant to be recreation, some people play harder than others. That’s fine as long as everyone has a reason to play, and this was the topic in a 2014 column I wrote for Sailing World:

Trophy winners largely direct our sport. We schedule the races they want and we form the rules around their preferences. The trophy winners are passionate about racing, and love the reward of winning. Their reward of a trophy and the adulation of the fleet motivate them to spend more money and invest more time. They are opinionated, and the rest of us listen to them. We admire their success and see them as leaders.

But what motivates everyone else? If the sole role for others is to pay the entry fee so the trophy winners get their reward, we’re in trouble because racing needs to be rewarding for everyone, and it needs to be fun. This is supposed to be recreation. We must find out how to serve every customer.

Consider the balance of sailing to socializing. Not everyone wants or needs a full day on the water. Physically, there is a point at which fun becomes agony. The top guys might want a four-race day, but if most everyone else can’t physically handle it, they will eventually be turned away.

One of my dreadful regatta memories was when I won the Snipe U.S. Nationals. I still remember walking by the yacht club bar near the end of the regatta, realizing I had yet to step foot inside the place. The days on the water were too long; there was no time or energy to hang out. This was how I was using my coveted free time?

Even championships must have a balance, because if we don’t find that balance, the downward spiral will begin.