Decline?

There's been a lot of wringing of hands and beating of breasts recently about the supposed decline in popularity of our sport of sailing.

Maybe I'm not mixing in the right circles but I don't see this decline.

Take a look at this photo (shamelessly stolen from Yachts and Yachting's website). It shows 235 Lasers racing at Rutland Water last weekend. The weather forecast was for strong winds and rain, and on Sunday they did experience "torrential rain".


When 235 Laserites turn out in November in England to race in torrential rain, I don't think we need to worry too much about our sport being in "decline".