SAIC ’17
June 12, 2017 § Leave a comment
It was fun to visit with old friends attending the Sail America 2017 meeting, held recently in Milwaukee. It’s always a pleasure to exchange ideas about ways to help more people find sailing and then make it part of their whole lives. My job was to ask adult women why they are excited about learning to sail and sharing it with friends and family. This great panel made the work easy.
While I don’t think there was a recording, here are the slides from my panel preceding talk.
Do men still outnumber women in sailing?
March 22, 2017 § 2 Comments
Got this email recently from Windy at US Sailing. Windy is the Youth Recreational Pathways Manager there.
Hi Nick,
Hope you’re doing well—we met briefly down at the SAYRA Conference in Hilton Head this past January. I’m working on a girls sailing initiative and read in your book that men outnumber women in the sport 7:1. We’ve been using that statistic pretty regularly and I was just wondering how you found it and if you know if it’s changed at all since the book was written.
Best,
Windy
Here was my response. Windy was kind enough to agree to have it shared here:
Hi Windy,
Those data came from a wide range of sources: my own interview demographics with a sample of over 5000 sailors globally, industry sources, and club reports from the period from 2005-2008.
The ratio of men to women is changing, but it’s important to understand how. Here is a summary of the current trend: http://sailingmagazine.net/article-1326-you-sail-like-a-mom:-it’s-a-compliment,-not-a-put-down.html
There really is only one fast-growing demographic in the sport today (as far as I can tell) and it is adult women. College programs are doing well, and hereto, the growth is coming from women. Growth among youth programs is tepid (although it’s also majority female). Of course, old while guys (like me) are dying off faster than we can reproduce.
My guess is that we’re only 10-12 years from a 50:50 gender tipping point.
Hope this helps,
Nick
Finding our way in the fog
October 17, 2015 § 1 Comment
Had we heeded the forecaster’s gloomy wind warnings, we would not have started the race, but 20 sailboats slipped over the line at 18:30 and inched up the 21-mile course. An hour—and two tedious miles—later, a red sun set leaving a starless sky. Two hours and barely four miles in, the fog came down like a black velour lining a coffin. Wet. Dark. Deadly. Read more in Sailing Magazine.
