HERE HERE! I agree 100%. Media, local or national, is what will take this sport (back) to the next level.

I don't think that money offered in regattas is going to make things worse immediately. The only events that are going to have any substantial purse are events like the Worrell - and I think it's going to do wonders for our sport. If cash prizes were to be introduced into our local level racing, my immediate concern is that the current level of 'good sportsmanship' could take a turn for the worse...which would eventually turn away a lot of sailors. However, I think that it would be a very, very, long time before that became the norm.

There is one event in Myrtle Beach that offers money for the top three positions for us 'normal' sailors (in the neighborhood of $400 for first and so on). There was no apparent difference in the attitude on the water then - I think we could survive it. If we ever did get there, it would be important to not forget the beginners when awards are handed out.

yes offer prizes; it's basic human nature
people will do more -be more active- if they receive a prize or something to show to other people and brag about. even a $5 plaque with a $25 entry fee is something to brag about

The Worrell 1000 is a unique event and prize money is acceptable at that level.
For other events where us ordinary sailors participate, I think that sponsor's money should go into extra and better prizes, more publicity etc.

IMHO, anything that makes it cost more $$ to go sailing/racing is a bad thing.

The prize money will either come from higher entry fees (more money) or from commercial sponsorship, which will be HUGE money and will make everyone just that much crazier about their gear which will drive up the cost of said gear which will sooner or later prohibit people from participating at all.

And if you think it will only make it more expensive to RACE, then you're nuts. You think Maufacturer X is only going to jack up the prices of his "racing" hardware when this craze takes hold, and leave the rest of his prices alone????

I have looked at this thread a couple of days and have hesitated on my response. I'm not a racer but, I did the ground logistics for Michael's race for 2 years. Will the large cash prize eliminate some of the more casual and underfunded campaigns (I mean that with the utmost respect, any person with the guts and grit to start this race much less finish it, I have nothing but admiration and respect for). Yes.

Will the cash prize bring more attention to the race? Yes. The cash prize has been Micheal's dream for a long time and it is Michael's race, any who doubts that refer to rule #4(Worrell 1000 rule book).

The one thing I love about Micheal is his pure devotion to this race. Of the other sail races that I have been around, I have not seen the devotion from the racers or orginizers that I have seen at the Worrell. If there is a race event that deserves a purse it is this one.

Will the prize end the cooperation between teams? This is a question all of the race officials and some team members talked about over the 2 years I was involved. Unfortuately, yes.

The overall question will the prize hurt or help sailing? My opinion is that if you want more people participating in your sport, bring more attention to it. I think the million dollar prize will do that. Cat sailing has had a lot of competition over the past 20 years with surfing, pwc, windsurfing, etc. I think the prize will bring more deserved attention to the sport and help the sport grow.

Just my thoughts,

carlyle

Let's try it this way. I am posting right after what I have read,again you disagree with making cat sailing for money. Is that any money? Some money? Alot of money?Or absolutely positvely no monetary gain at all. Should we get Catsailor magazine for free? Should Rick teach seminars at cost.And I'll take the rest of those training videos for free please!I am only challenging what you said in the post about racing for money. Why is it that when somone does not agree with a statement from you they must reiterate on every detail until its finally understood.

Okay, Bob, I have figured it out now: Your post about my needing medication and something about roads and brakes should have been in this thread so people, including me, would know what you were talking about. (Note: Bob's post above is in response to the fact that in the "Mary medication" post I had asked him what he was talking about. See that thread in order to understand his post above.)

Apparently, because I said I was voting in the poll that cash prizes are bad, you thought I had an opinion on the subject. That is not the case. I had to vote "bad" only because the question is so general and open-ended, and I thought it was better to err on the side of maintaining the status quo until more information is available about the pros and cons. When you open a can of money, there might be worms in there, too. I think that is why so few people have voted in the poll. And that was the purpose of asking people to express their opinions in this thread.

There are so many questions and so many different potential situations.....
Is money okay in a few, specific, major events like the Worrell 1000? Or should all regattas be able to offer cash prizes?

Is there a difference in the palatability of having cash prizes when the money is being provided by a major sponsor, as opposed to the sailors themselves putting their own money into a pot to be divided up?

What about the "professionalism" issue? Should sailing be divided into two camps -- the professionals, with their own "tour" of regattas, and the amateurs with their tournaments and leagues? That is how it works in golf, tennis, bowling; but is that feasible for sailing? We don't have enough sailors to have such a division. And we can't get spectator money and television money to pay for the cash prizes. Sponsors are hard to find. So that leaves the main option being for the sailors themselves to provide the prize money.

Will sailors who go to a lot of regattas every season be willing to pay an additional $20 or whatever in their entry fee in order to have cash prizes? Or do they want to give up T-shirts, trophies and beer so that money can go toward cash prizes?

Or could we have one or more optional "professional" classes available to sailors at every regatta?

And how deep into the finish positions do you go with the cash?

And if the same people are winning all the money all the time, are they going to start feeling bad about it and stop racing because they don't want to keep taking their friends' money?

This is not a cut-and-dried, good-and-bad issue. There are just so many ramifications, some of which have been addressed already in this thread.

Racing for money can create a large problem in the U.S. In many states and the NCAA, it is against league rules to accept prize money. We have enough problems getting youth involved, but by introducing prize money that completely eliminates them from competition. I am a college athlete and bought a formula 18 and race almost every race in the season. If prize money were offered, I would have to quit because racing for prize money would null my amateur status and I could no longer compete at the college level. The same goes for any high school athlete. The minute they compete for prize money, they lose their amateur status.
Leah

If the prize comes from a bigger entry fee- No. Why make getting into racing more expensive?
If the prize comes from sponsors inside the sport - No. As pointed out earlier, they will get it back from inside the sport.
If the prize comes from external sponsors - probably not.
1) big-boat mono racing shows how aggro sailing can become when money is involved.
2) Sponsors demand publicity = demand exciting images. Great for sailing in a way, but what does it really do?
Here in Australia we've had live coverage of sailing (skiffs and Sydney-Hobart) for years. Neither class did well out of it. Both priced themselves out of the sport and the skiffs only recovered after TV went away. The Hobart gets lots of publicity but the fleet this year was the smallest for decades, becuase only the front of the fleet gets publicity and attention. The whole race becomes about them, the back of the fleet gives up and goes away.

Sure, the images look exciting. But will non-sailors see an F18HP and say "Gee, I'll do that". I've spent hours sitting beside the wavesailing and skiff vidoes at boatshows. Non-sailors look at it, go "wow", then "I'll never be able to do that" and go look at something theyt can do- run a powerboat. The sport should be publicising boats beginners can sail.

Sailing to the public in Sydney is very well known - but only for the Sydney to Hobart, skiffs, and America's Cup. It's got the image of a difficult, elitist sport. When it had a different image, it was growing. Not it's not.

We went through this in windsurfing. The sponsors came in, then demanded that it become more exciting to watch (among other factors, mainly marketing). The whole accent changed, from fun all-round sailing to reaching/waves in high wind. The sport is now a shadow of its former self.

Sorry to run off so long....

Great insight CJT!
You wrote:
"The whole race becomes about them, the back of the fleet gives up and goes away."

Sailing as a sport requires competition between sailors... If the competitive balance is skewed dramaticaly (by money or Olympic status) fewer and fewer sailors compete in the sport (or class). Fewer and fewer competitors results in a single class which skews the competive balance further and new racers have no yardstick with which to measure their progress.

As our racing season starts to emerge from the snow banks... we must keep in mind that our top sailors are addicted to racing and we can count on them to take care of their own needs....Meanwhile, our C fleet sailors are trying the sport on for size.... We must grow our base of sailors by providing a friendly competitive envirorment that matches their goals in the sport that we are running.

You wrote:
Non-sailors look at it, go "wow", then "I'll never be able to do that" and go look at something theyt can do- run a powerboat. The sport should be publicising boats beginners can sail.

I agree that this is important. One problem that all but kills this kind of initiative is that the sailors who are running clubs and events are addicted to the sport and have moved up from the entry level boats and simply lost touch with the non sailor just getting going in this kind of sailing. Time is limited for everyone these days and I think its a lot to ask of these club members to take on this additional challenge. Dealers and factories have a direct stake in new sailors! We need their leadership and manpower to grow the sport by recruiting new sailors and then introducing them to the sport of cat racing.

Take Care
Mark

Mary,
After thinking about the consequences and speaking to a few "good" sailors I must retract my initial knee jerk opinion.
I know that there is know that there is no way that the average or above average sailor can beneit from the cash purse. There are too many "rock stars" out there that will dominate the race. If Worrell needs 50 sailors to make his plan happen, at a minimum of $28,000 to get in......I think the sailor doing it on a shoe string has been snubbed. It was about guts and bragging rights...now it is cash and will attract the ones who are after the cash and can afford to go for it.
I don't think there are 50 sailors out there that think they will actually "place", therefore making the purse smaller.
I hope I am wrong, I hope this can get some media excitement.

I guess this is part of evolution.

Damon's right. The attention and recognition is what this sport needs to revive it. There's not a beer swilling, football loving armchair quarterback in America who doesn't know what the America's cup is. And that race is not even exciting unless you have a real appreciation for sailing. When we can expose what the real thrill of catsailing is to the masses in armchair America, we could well spark a resurgence of the sport. Who knows where it could all lead, we could even have real fleets again, instead of a bunch of limping decrepit old mismatched 30 year old beachcats competing against the one or 2 guys in fleet that can buy the nice boats.
CARY

ARBO has a point. There may not be 50 entries which will diminish the purse.. However, when ya think of it, the Worrell has been made up of our Rock stars of catsailing for a number of years. How many of us can afford new Inter20's with triply redundant sail packages? Not me, I just stand by hoping for their leftovers.
Sure it will change the character of camaraderie between teams on the Worrell, But I don't think it will filter far from that. The Myrtle Beach Cash prize race has never changed the nature of that race or its participants at the smalller levels, as Jake noted. I for one would have started this sport off a lot earlier had I known more about it, maybe a little media will prevent that from happening to the next guy and we'll get more sailors at the local level.
Smart Media coverage would fill the boring times with a history of the sport, Showing how little Billy went from his leaky Hobie 14 to a Nationally ranked Catracer in just a few years. Let's face it, It has greater possibilities than we know, and it is obvious that whatever ALL of us are doing, the sport is barely hanging on, we gotta do something drastic to turn it around, maybe this is just the sort of jumpstart the sport needs.
CARY

Interesting thing: I was just at the website for the ISAF 2003 World Sailing Championships for the Olympic classes (www.cadizworlds2003.com). The site is all in Spanish, but I know enough Spanish that I noticed they have a polling question very similar to this one. It asks, "Do you believe that the professionalization of sailing is good for the sport?" So far there have been 751 votes, with 55 percent voting yes, 40 percent voting no, and 6 percent that don't know or don't care.