Evolution

Yacht racing has changed significantly over the years. Forty years ago you could select one of the few one-design classes that were popular in your area and then shop around for your boat. Made of wood, boats depreciated rapidly, so you could usually find one within your price range. In those days fleets were large, and it was not unusual to find 30, 40, or more boats in a class.

Then came the fiberglass revolution and with it came the small stock auxiliary that siphoned off a good percentage of those one-design sailors. The lighter construction also encouraged new designs for planning hulls, and more classes were created. The desire for even greater speed fostered the multi-hulls, and the catamaran classes were added. The most recent “invasion” is from the sailboard explosion.

This evolution in the sport of yacht racing is not all bad. Although it has diminished the size of many of the classes, it does offer something for everyone, and the general effect has been to strengthen the sport by increasing overall participation. And as the sport has evolved, the national authority, the United States Yacht Racing Union, has kept up with this change in emphasis. A case in point is the new set of racing rules just published for sailboards.

Regardless of the size of your boat, the USYRU coordinates, interprets, and enforces the rule; it educates the sailing instructors, race committees, and judges; it administers the national championship program and offers many more services to the amateur sailor. I urge all of you to maintain membership in the union and thereby receive the rule changes, decisions on appeals, and the myriad of yacht racing information reported bi-monthly in the newsletter.

I also urge each of you to support the GSBYRA through our Sustaining Membership program, for which you will find an application on the blank on the back of this message.

Jack Saxe