Are we an ageing population?

[Jon_P]

Spot on Jim,
The 12 is so versatile it can be anything you/the market want it to be.
It's like when the Vareo was launched by RS they sold it as a performance racing dinghy with enough room for dad to take the kid out when he was not racing!
That is just made up hype! but people bought it!
I think the 12 could be sold a lot better.  

[rick perkins]

[quote by=philipcosson link=Blah.cgi?b=Cool,m=1163443689,s=43 date=1163591794]Hi Rick,

Did not realise there was a marketing guru in our midst (perhaps more than one?) Do I take it that you agree, we should be more market driven?

[/quote]

Of course which is why I have previously suggested research as the first step and I have offered some of my time FOC to the chairman ...

Rick

[Jimbo41]

Jon_P,
I am your opinion, 'cos what we've got to sell has substance and has (with a little development ) stood the test of time...

Come on Antony! Let Rick do his stuff!!!!

Cheers!

Jim N3130 and 3470

[davidg (Guest)]

Having held the position of publicity officer about 25 years ago (must be ageing), let me have my penny worth!  

We are too small a sample to spot any obvious candidates for the class.  The class has always had a problem with protecting its existing fleet, vs. adapting to demands of the market.  We are not a manufacturers class therefore there will always be inertia and a reluctance to embrace change.  At the moment we have a great product, unfortunately we have limited resources to sell it, and the supply chain is not very good and we are quite expensive.

The important thing is "beating the drum", this is best done by someone with lots of enthusiasm (a cynic might sugest naive enough to think he (or she) can make a difference).

On this front (and I note that my boat was on the Gill non attendees list), the key to attendance at any club, Gill or Burton Cup event is that there should be a good vibe in the class, so that helm's and crews want to go to the next event and will make the time.  Once the sequence is broken inertia sets in, which is why the selection of venues and event management is critical to the class going forward.  

Sometimes this has nothing to do with the class, but is down to the weather, my last Gill Event was at Datchet 3 years ago which was dismal and my last Burton was Weymouth, where the weather made it very hard to sell Burton Week as a future family holiday.

We do like sailing at Salcombe though!

Regards,
David
3461

[Antony (Guest)]

I do read this forum, as most of you know, and I and the rest of the committee have not been idle since Burton Wk.  There is a lot of stuff going on to prepare the class for 2007 and to create the sort of re-invigoration both next year and on a longer-term and sustainable basis that Dave Greening and others suggest is important.

However, the NTOA is not run as a dictatorship yet and so I do need to discuss things with the Committee and we do need to think about priorities before we spend our members subscriptions.  In the next two weeks or so you should see some activity, starting with the publication of the fixtures for next year, and then you will know that we have been busy on your behalf.

I hope that al of those contributing to this discussion will hold this enthusiasm through until the 2007 sailing season begins... bodes well for the turnout at the first Gill event.

Antony

[MarkSimpson]

[Jane Wade]

Even the experts need a reminder of their craft from time to time and Philip I think you are right.  

David I also wholeheartedly agree with your comments and us fickle Brits are very easily swayed by the weather.  We had a fabulous summer this year but the weather at Burton Week was really poor which makes taking non-sailing family members away much harder.

Rick - my message outlined where I believe the negative aspects of the class currently lie and I believe others have also highlighted some other areas.  Don't misunderstand me I do love sailing the boats and Grafham (only 40 minutes from home) with 30 other boats was fantastic.  I want to sail with lots of enthusiastic people and that is getting harder in this fleet.

Jane (MA Leisure Marketing!!!)

[rick perkins]

[Jane Wade]

Apologies!! No I think to be fair he just got uptight and cross because he struggled to compete in a way that he would have found satisfactory.  He is far more competent in a trapeze/spinnaker set up!  It is far more fun sailing with someone who has a genuine passion for the class.

Jane

[Kevin]

All I can say is that I am very POSITIVE about sailing with Jane at the Royal Harwich mini-series this weekend - a weekend when my home club does not have any racing scheduled - and for the foreseeable future!

Kevin

[davidg (Guest)]

Mark, the point I was trying to make is that maintaining momentum and a feel good factor is the key to building on previous successful events.  Keeping families and crews interested is an important factor.  Sometimes factors outside the control of the class can conspire to break this momentum.  As a sailor I had a great time at Weymouth, especially the windy day in the harbour, it wasn't so good for the rest of the family who were holed up in a house a mile from the sailing club.  This broke the successful sequence of Tenby and Looe.  I could not pursuade them to go to Abersoch the next year, had Weymouth been a more enjoyable week for non-sailors it might have been different.  Like it or not, for us any summer sailing week has to be a family holiday.

In this case the weather was completely outside the control of the committee (I think!) but it does break the sequence.  If you look back at turnouts at Burton Weeks I am sure that there is a direct correlation between good BW turnouts in the year following a successful BW and reduced turnouts following a poor BW.

Actually my reason for not sailing the 12 so much is even more pathetic, my double stack trailer is such a pain to move around, trailing to meeting to meeting has become too much hasle!  Easier to go to one place and stay there.

Regards,
David
3461

[guesting (Guest)]

[Lukepiewalker]

Do those sales figures include sailing schools?

[Roly Mo]

[Jimbo42]