Double your chances of winning this coming weekend - June 18th and help grow participation in sailing.
If you’re racing the weekend of June 18th – Block Island Race Week, Marion to Bermuda Race, Cleveland Race Week, Hobie Alter Trophy in Long Beach or any other venue around the world you’ll have another chance to win by signing up for the 2011 Summer Sailstice global sailing holiday. Now in its 11th year, Summer Sailstice is connecting sailors around the world in a shared celebration of sail and gives all sailors signed up and sailing a chance to win from over 400 prizes donated by marine suppliers. Grand prize is a BVI charter with Footloose Sailing Charters or you can win a Hobie kayak or from the long list of numerous other prizes.
One of the great challenges in presenting sailing to the non-sailing public is creating a cohesive picture of the diverse and eclectic nature of sailing. Let’s face it, if you ask someone ‘do you want to go sailing’ you have no idea what they might be picturing. Could it be a Caribbean charter? A seasick ocean voyage? A white-knuckle, rail-riding bash to weather? Or maybe helping you varnish the toerail. Summer Sailstice is carving out a date on the calendar when all members of the sailing community can showcase their unique niche within the world of sailing, i.e. beach cats, bluewater cruising, kiteboards, handicap racing or whatever kind of sailing it is that you do. By collecting all these different ways to sail on one weekend it will help create a ‘critical mass’ of sailing activities allowing sailors to broadcast a fuller picture of how most people sail, most of the time.
Maybe they picture this?
By including your event participants as part of the Summer Sailstice holiday you can help demonstrate to the broader public the full menu of sailing options. It’s likely once they see all the different ways of participating they’ll gravitate towards an activity that suits them best – trailer sailing or ocean crossing. The diversity of ways to participate in sailing is one of its biggest curses and blessings. The curse is it’s very hard to easily describe sailing but the blessing is it’s hard to imagine that there isn’t some aspect of sailing that wouldn’t please almost anyone. If you waterski you might like kiteboarding, if you’re a history buff you might like tallships.
Or maybe the picture this?
By putting a more complete picture of sailing out in the world we’ll attract people who will find they like either the athletics of trimming sails in a big breeze, the relaxation of calm coves with wine, cheese and friends, the science of weather routing and plotting polars on an ocean race or the adventure of discovering a distant cruising destination which, if your nine years old, might just be across a Bay.
As sailing organizations we don’t want ‘spectators’ or ‘eyeballs’ we want participants – people who want to put their hands on the tiller. Summer Sailstice, held annually on the weekend closest to the solstice, can help kick off the summer sailing season by giving sailing a date where all sailors bring attention to sailing while promoting their unique niche with the market. It can help people get their hands off the keyboard and onto the water to participate and not dream about sailing. Schools out, the days are long, most sailors are ready to spend more time under sail. It’s an ideal time for us all to sail ‘together’ in a shared celebration of sailing. Sign up, sail, celebrate!
Or this? Photo: Onne Van Der Wal
Or this?
We all know what tennis looks like don't we?