By Gerry Christman
Intro by Matt Fisher
Gerry Christman from Clinton Lake Sailing Association put together an outline for how he and the other members of the CLSA fleet built their fleet through a program that we are now referring to as the “Fleet Boat program”. There is always a question of whether the challenge is boat availability or if are there people wanting to learn to sail, get back into sailing after an absence, or get involved in a more active fleet.
This is Gerry’s write up.
CLSA has gone from 3 active Thistles in 2017 to 18 in 2024. One of the first parts of this is that one needs to be patient in this type of program. This improvement is not going to happen in one year. Give your fleet 3- 4 years to see the improvement in numbers.
Several key objectives and goals need to be agreed to by fleet members:
1. Enable new and experienced sailors to discover Thistle Sailing
2. Make the experience FUN. —On and off the water— error much toward more fun rather than more competitive.
3. Program can develop crew for weekend sailing.
4. Keep costs low for new sailors.
5. Once the first boat is purchased or donated, it creates a pipeline that allows the program to keep improving and growing.
6. Have a Thistle ready to sail for new club members.
The fleet boats do not need to be competitive on a regional or national basis. This hasn’t been an issue for new sailors who get involved as the learning curve is steep for a new sailor and having a boat that is not ready to sail in the nationals has not been an obstacle. This increases the pool of boats that are available for purchase or donation. When the age of our fleet boat becomes a limiting factor for a skipper, we help them find a more competitive boat.
Weekly Thursday Night Sailing
Thistle Fleet 66 sails on Thursday nights in addition to Sunday sailing. The Thursday night sailing is the key or our success as we treat this night as the “Development” night. We invite anyone to come to the club and enjoy sailing a Thistle, whether they are new to the sport, or trying to get back into sailing. Communication and keeping the night fun are the guidelines to having a successful “Development” night.
Communication and Mechanics for Thursday night sailing
1. Sunday/Monday
a. Email sent out to a list of people interested in Thistle sailing.
b. Sailor responses to participate that week are expected by Tuesday night.
2. Wednesday
a. Crew assignments are made for each boat and are based on optimizing experience of each participant. For example, match the newest sailor with the most experienced.
b. Rotating crew helps share different techniques and personality differences
3. Thursday
a. A boat orientation for new people may be held at 5:00 to cover basics (i.e. boat balance, hiking straps, jib sheet, spinnaker gear etc.)
b. Boat set up starts at 5:30 with informal racing about 6:00.
c. Race Committee and support boats are not needed. First boat out puts in a couple marks.
d. Starts are collegiate style and we don’t keep score.
e. Races are short (10 to 15 minutes) to keep the fleet together.
f. Beer, brats and hamburgers after sailing
Other key considerations:
1. Email contact list
a. Add to list from multiple sources: your club Learn to sail students, fleet member friends, and club members who sail other less active boats.
2. Insurance
a. The CLSA Thistle fleet is self insured. With the TCA fleet program, TCA will insure the fleet boat if the boat was donated to TCA.
3. Boat maintenance
a. As much as some folks believe this will be a major stumbling block, it as not been an issue at CLSA. The person who was using the boat when there was an issue is responsible for getting it repaired.
Gerry did want to point out that as you get started, identify your fleet’s obstacles and to help you prioritize your focus. Here are some obstacles to consider.
– Pipeline for new sailors
– Crew availability
– Crew scheduling
– Boat availability
– Boat costs
– Available training
– Personality issues in the fleet
– New sailor frustration
– Boat repairs/lack of maintenance skills
– Club membership rules or costs
This is a great write up and we appreciate Gerry taking the time to put this together. We get asked what can TSA add to the fleet boat program. Two things — and you, as fleet coordinator, may not want to take advantage of this — 1) is that a boat can be donated to the class and and then 2) TCA would handle the insurance, which can be an issue with damage. Sometimes with the fleet boat, the value is low and the tax write off is not helpful and does not override the insurance help. Likely we need to look at lapsed users in your District to locate boats that have not been used and the current owner may be willing to part with for minimal to no change to the local Thistle fleet.
Feel free to call Gerry at 309 212-6136 to run some of the potential issues or opportunities you see with your fleet. Gerry has more information if you want to discuss further and ask questions directly.
