Why nobody teaches kids to sail anymore

This is the mission statement for a notable club’s junior program:

“The mission is to develop knowledgeable youth sailors and to instill in them a love for the sport of sailing that will serve as a foundation for the future of the Club.”

The program’s intent is to make new members, but measuring “the love for the sport” is harder than counting trophies. Boasting about retention gets lost in the competitive atmosphere of youth sports, and this report takes a look at how we got here:

Walk down to almost any old boat club today and you’ll see it. A rack built to hold forty dinghies, holding four. Dock lines coiled up and untouched since last season. One faded life jacket hanging where a whole row of them used to hang, sized for an eight year old who isn’t coming this summer.

It’s tempting to blame the kids for that. Too many screens, too soft, not enough grit. That’s the easy version of the story, and honestly, it’s mostly wrong. The real reason is more interesting, and if you actually care about getting a kid on the water, it’s a lot more useful too. Sailing didn’t die. It split into two very different things, and both halves are worth understanding before you go blaming anyone. – Full report