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Cruising Helmsman July 2018FROM THE HELM
AS THE editor of this fine magazine I
decided on two philosophies that assists
to decide what articles to publish and
what activities to support. I may have
already written about them before: get bums on yachts
and get yachts out there.
The first one may be seen to be self-serving, the
more people we get out sailing the more likely they
will purchase the magazine! Maybe so but, like all
activities, sailing needs numbers to retain inf luence.
Inf luence in the corridors of power is a sad necessity so
that our needs are serviced and we are not overtaken
by other activities that are detrimental to cruising.
But, therein lies another anomaly. One of the main
reasons we all love to go cruising is because we can get
away from it all. The last thing we really want is our
waters crowded with people on boats. Oh the irony!
As a media organisation we regularly ask various
state ministers of maritime services, whoever it might
be at the time, about legislating for a national yacht
registration to cut down on costs and bureaucratic
administrivia. The answer we usually get is different
versions of: ‘it will never happen as each state will not
give up the revenue it receives.’ So we need numbers
of people to get sailing so we can use the numbers to
pressure the governments, such is democracy.
The double irony is, of course, the more numbers rise
on the water the more monies the governments receive;
making it more important not to hand the revenue-
raising mechanism over to a national body.
So which is the best way to go? Individual sailors,
naturally, would like to see numbers kept low to enhance
our sailing experience; but then, in all good faith, they
cannot then complain about a lack of facilities at the
places they visit. We all do currently complain of course,
it makes for great sundowner conversation!
Organisations however, like sailing’s governing body
Australian Sailing, want more people sailing so they can
run a well-funded, more efficient organisation for the
benefit of all. Numbers equate to power and inf luence.
In a way it is the same problems modern societies
find themselves struggling with. All economists
know that economies that do not encourage growth
will die. They do not stagnate, they atrophy; slowly
dying off as the pool of money for goods and services
dwindles. How do you grow? Throw money into the
pot? Nope. You can pull various economic levers
but the only real way to grow is to encourage more
people to spend.In a society there is only so much money going around
so the only way to introduce more money is to introduce
more people. Then the question becomes: how many?
This, I feel, is the same problem we have in our
sailing society.
We are seeing some fantastic yachts coming onto the
market at prices and full of options, never before seen.
I am unaware of the number of yachts being sold but I
think it has remained on a pretty steady climb over the
decades. Steady growth, no problem there.
But what do we see each year at boat shows around
the country? More and more attention given to
every other watersport except sailing. The amount
of yachts f loating in Darling Harbour for the Sydney
International Boat Show appears to me to be reducing
every year; noticeable even in the short time I have
been editor of Cruising Helmsman.
Our numbers may be increasing but, relative to
other sports, it is diminishing in importance and,
therefore, inf luence.
Moorings in far-f lung anchorages, ghost boats
sinking at moorings, keeping rangers on the water,
construction of more marinas and many other services
provided by our governments are not cheap. We can be
thankful that a lot of the other watersports also need
some of these and therefore they are funded to continue.
But those services that only yachting requires may be
increasingly sidelined if we do not keep up our presence
in the water and in the lobbying for the ballot box.
As I said, it is ironic that for us to enjoy our peaceful
existence we may need to make a stand and push for
our voice to be heard and respected.
What do you think? ≈How ironic
PHIL ROSS – EDITOR