This is what happens when a sport is mismanaged - people start to call bullshit…

Opti’s started to take over junior sailing about 15-20 years ago, and the decline in the US has followed in progression with the increase in Opti sailing, as an introduction to the sport. Basically, kids try it out, and then move on to more fun things as soon as they can. Our system is like a funnel, designed to squeeze out all but the best whose parents have the money to send them trotting around the globe competing in slow worthless boats.

Many of us who grew up when the US was a sailing powerhouse now have little interest in seeing our kids spend their time playing a game that too many try to make money from, when there is no real money to be made. “Pro sailing” is a fucking joke. And I can say that with some authority, because I was the President of the US Professional Sailing Association, an entity that was formed and owned by USYRU to “cleanse” prize money for prospective Olympic sailors. When the IOC changed the rule about professionalism, there was no need for USPSA as it was originally consituted, and there was no market then, and very little market now 20 years on, for an organization that was basically only going to tax pro sailing in the US. So, I shut it down, because there was no way to add value to the equation.

This subject has been beaten to death, some countries have a way for people to make some sort of living, but few are getting rich, and no one is making serious money off the game. We have plenty of good sailors, we just play a different game than others sense days.

There’s more to life than pretending you are making money from or sailing for your counties glory in the sports reality TV show that is called the Olympics.

Check out the thread: http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=146357