Snipe Class and Class Promotion

By Pietro Fantoni, SCIRA Secretary Recently the Board and the National Secretaries analyzed the statistics of the Class (members since the ‘90s, boats since the ‘70s) that Renee Bartell had collected. Based on the numbers we have started a discussion about promotion and activities that the Board, Countries and Fleets could do to improve the Class and help it grow. I believe a good starting point for the Board, SCIRA countries, and fleets is to share ideas and experiences. It is obvious that we are a Class, an International Class … not a group of isolated fleets. So what we need is as much shared information as possible. We would like to encourage every member to take part in this discussion, so please contact me with your ideas, experiences, or thoughts for change. (top photo courtesy of Fried Elliott - US Nationals - San Francisco)

Snipe Class and Class Promotion Image

By Pietro Fantoni, SCIRA Secretary

Recently the Board and the National Secretaries analyzed the statistics of the Class (members since the ‘90s, boats since the ‘70s) that Renee Bartell had collected. Based on the numbers we have started a discussion about promotion and activities that the Board, Countries and Fleets could do to improve the Class and help it grow.

I believe a good starting point for the Board, SCIRA countries, and fleets is to share ideas and experiences. It is obvious that we are a Class, an International Class … not a group of isolated fleets. So what we need is as much shared information as possible. We would like to encourage every member to take part in this discussion, so please contact me with your ideas, experiences, or thoughts for change.

(top photo courtesy of Fried Elliott – US Nationals – San Francisco)

120324 ONSnipeMM 0196(Photo on the left: courtesy of Maria Muina – Spanish Open)

The numbers make it clear that some countries are doing fine, others are struggling, and a few are disappearing. In recent years the overall membership has progressively and slightly gone down. The reasons probably are many, including too many classes, economical crisis, different choices of national sailing federations. Not all is bad, especially compared to what is happening in some other international classes. There are also examples of other classes that are growing after not so good times in the past.

As SCIRA Secretary, I would like to know from our National Secretaries, fleets, and members the reasons why some fleets or countries are struggling. Knowing the reason may help the Board, SCIRA, and other fleets to make suggestions for improvement.

Also, I would like to know why some fleets are doing well. Antwerp, Mission Bay, Miami, Salta, Orkney, Minorca, as well as others fleet in Japan have attracted people to the Snipe, so who are these new Snipe sailors (young, old, former big boat sailors, former dinghy sailors)? Maybe other fleets or countries can copy those models. We need to know who our “target sailor” is, though maybe the answer is different from country to country.

Also it would be interesting to know how SCIRA Croatia was able to rebuild its fleets in recent years. It could be a good example for other countries.

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(above: Dutse Wurste Race – Wurstel Race – Antwerp, Belgium)

I know some fleets hosted clinics, fun and funny regattas (GFU in Mission Bay, Wurstel Race in Antwerp, Coppa Pomodoro in Trieste), “Snipe days”, junior programs … so maybe these could be a model for other fleets.

There are two areas where we should work: inside the Class and outside. Inside, we should involve more people in fleet activities, including social events and local, national, and international regattas. We need to send the message that the Class and the fleets are alive and inclusive, via Facebook, SnipeToday, and other national and local sites. (Don’t forget word of mouth, which is still the best way to promote the class.) We offer both serious fun and serious sailing, a great combination. We cannot ignore either if we want to both attract new people and keep our current members.

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(above: Junior teams in Nassau, Bahamas)

Outside the class, we need to attract people from other classes. How the Class appears to the media is important, but the “word of mouth” from sailor to sailor is even more important. We especially need to figure out what we can do to attract more young people. We need to ask current Snipe sailors like Nick Voss, Nicola Gerin, Alvaro Martinez, Felipe Sebino… all our juniors and young adults, how we can best communicate to their peers that our class is fun.

We also need to ask boat builders and sailmakers for ideas to promote local and international activities. I am sure those who sail the Snipe for business like Jan Persson, Enrico Michel, Andrew Pimental, “Lemao” Kurt Deamer, Javier MIranda, Eric Heim, Daniela Rochelli, Junichiro Shiraishi, Xandi Paradeda, Andrea Zaoli, Pedro Pires … and others have a lot of things to say about charter boats, transportation, used boats and equipment. It’s very important to create ways for those who want to start sailing Snipes to get into affordable equipment.

If you have ideas or experiences to share of what works and what doesn’t, or you want to tell us what to change or improve, don’t hesitate to contact me, other members of the Board, your National Secretaries or your Fleet Captains. I will include your best suggestions in a future article.

Thank you!

Pietro Fantoni ([email protected])

(SCIRA Secretary)

 

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1 comment

Saarhelo Kai
01/05/2013 -

I guess Pietro is the who deserves the title Snipe Sailor of the Year due to all great promotion work he has done for the Class via this superb site!

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