Over the past couple of weeks we’ve run a short survey asking members their opinion about media coverage of sailing’s ‘F1’ type sailing events such as the upcoming SailGP and the impact these have on sailing participation.
Here’s what you thought…
Question 1: Does media coverage of ‘Formula 1’ type sailing events (i.e. SailGP, America’s Cup) help to increase grassroots participation in sailing?”
The results were decidedly undecided – 26% of respondents think these events don’t help increase grassroots participation, 35% think they do and 39% responded that they are unsure.
Question 2: “Explain Why or Why Not.”
Of those who thought these events do help increase participation, the general feedback was because they increase exposure and awareness and showcases sailing as an exciting sport. Here are a few of the individual responses:
“It gives people a greater understanding of the verity sailing that one can The greater the coverage of all sailing events the better the understanding and how exciting sailing is.”
“Becoming a good spectator sport , with the new thrilling high speed boats , which encourages young people to start sailing at the grass routes level.”
“Exposure makes it an attractive sport.”
The respondents who don’t think these events help increase participation cited the fact they may create a sense that you need a lot of money to compete in sailing, or that sailing is unattainable for the average person. Here’s what you said:
“Gives the impression that you need a lot of money to compete in an elite sport. These big boats have professional crews eg. No emphasis on Corinthian crews in the S2H race.”
“People think you have to be wealthy to sail if they only see expensive versions of the sport. The normal options just aren’t visible. Every one of my non-sailing friends think we’re all loaded, even though I sail $1,500 Corsair Dinghy’s at one club.”
Thank you to everyone who provided their feedback!
