J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment The dream of boat ownership

Occasionally someone says something thoughtful about our sport on Sailing Anarchy, in this case two on the subject of owning your own boat.

Nick Hayes author of Saving Sailing: "...when the boat is made exceptional by our own plans and hands, the sport becomes priceless..." More at http://www.sailinganarchy.com/article.php?get=4868

Jesse Falsone a 505 sailor out of Severn SA on the "the seeming demise of the dream of boat ownership".
http://www.sailinganarchy.com/article.php?get=4849 and http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=100940

I read here the descriptions of work people have done or are doing on their J/30s and I am thankful to both be part of it and able to support it some way.

Bob - just read the threads on Sailing Anarchy. We are fortunate to be part of a OD class that is affordable and can bridge between a "racing only" boat and "cruising boat". I'm fortunate to be around guys like you who have been at the J/30 thing a lot longer than I have.

Our boats are affordable, and can be brought to "new" condition with some hard work, and some TLC. The key to the resurgence of the J/30 fleet has been the people and their willingness to share.

For those of you who have not had the opportunity to read Saving Sailing, I'd recommend the book. Nick has done extensive research over the past several years specifically relating to the decline of sailing. The book provides some good insight as to why sailing has declined and ideas on how to bring the sport back to what it once was.

You can get a copy of the book at amazon.com for less than $20.

I'm looking forward to reading the book. I've been long concerned about the same issue...seeing boats sitting and turning into "mosquito breeders" in backyards. In the Portland (Oregon) area a bunch of us have started taking time to "coach" and build entry level fleets. Much of the time we've found folks who've sailed, but were hesitant to start racing or actively cruising their boats, so we've encouraged participation by offering to coach, teach, help maintain and do anything we can to take the "fear" out of boat ownership. We've had the satisfaction of seeing a Ranger-20 fleet come "out of the woodwork" and grow to a stable 12-15 boats, mostly family crewed. Now we're working on a Merit 25 fleet with similar results. I've moved my J closer to home and I'm stuck racing PHRF (well...the local version which also takes into account how many dogs you have on board and whether or not you run a microwave....at least it feels like that sometimes ). In an age where parents are giving up their own lives to take their kids to soccer game, band practices and dance recitals, we now have several families working TOGETHER instead of the parents being spectators of their kids growth. They are learning and growing together, sharing triumphs and losses as a group, instead of being spectators watching somebody ELSE raising their children. I've been having a blast, even if it means I don't get to sail MY boat as often as I'd like, but also it means I seldom have a lack of skilled crew when I do get to take Koesh out