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All Sailors Are Rich - Right?

February 16, 2015 by jarndt
All Sailors Are Rich - Right?

Sailors often feel they are misrepresented in the media which seems to love perpetuating the myth that sailors all rich 'yachtsmen'.  Really, where would anyone get that idea?  Perhaps in the New York Times' recent article, 'The Beginner’s Guide to Chartering a Yacht With a Crew' which talks about a Miami resident looking for a fun vacation for he, his wife and their one-year old son. They end up chartering a 'boat' which they describe, 'The yacht, called Impulsive, usually charters for around $100,000 a week plus expenses like food, fuel and gratuities for the crew. That can add another 20 to 30 percent or more to the bill, depending on destination.'

Mind you the 'yacht' is a 126' megayacht and the article doesn't talk about sailing at all.  But knowing how people can easily conflate terms this 'Beginners Guide' could, in a general readers mind, easily be confused with the common and continuing media misrepresentation of sailing.   

Doing a quick 'search' on the New York Times site, when you type in 'Community Sailing' in the New York Times search bar the top two results you get are:

The Cup May Stay, but There’s No Going Back on Speed

N.Y. Court Ruling Goes to U.S. Club in America's Cup Battle

Type in 'Yachting' in the New York Times search bar and you get:

U.S. Holds America’s Cup but Won’t Be Host

Slight Lead for Comanche in Ocean Race (you know the brand new, 100' racing yacht)

It's not that there's anything wrong with these stories but wouldn't it be nice to see some stories of people enjoying sailing?  Kids getting access to the waterfront?  Or just a report on a 'Beginners Guide' to chartering that just linked to options that were more realistic such as your local community sailing program or moving up the scale a local chartered boat or moving up further a Caribbean charter?  Somehow, when reporting on baseball, people see thousands of fans sitting in the bleacher seats enjoying a baseball game but rarely focus on the uber expensive corporate, catered boxes in the upper levels of the stadium.  Like baseball, sailing has its bleacher seats and its high-priced options.  But, to the media, sailing consists of one thing - wealthy yachtsman.   

One of the main goals for Summer Sailstice is to present a more realistic picture of sailing to the world.  The kind of sailing most of us do.  It's fun, accessible and practiced by millions.  And somehow, starting a one-year old out in the boating world on a 126' megayacht just doesn't feel like a good start in life.  Hopefully, if he's lucky, he'll make his way down to the docks sometime and discover kids his age having a blast sailing.  It would be better for him and the planet.

 

Really, what's more fun for a kid? (Or you?)

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