Cruisers Forum
 


Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on Cruisers Forums. Advertise Here
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 18-06-2016, 17:14   #46
Registered User

Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Gulf Harbors, Florida
Boat: Aquarius 21
Posts: 5
Re: Will the next generation still go sailing?

I suspect every generation has its sailors; albeit sailors-in-waiting may be closer to it. I didn't find the passion until my 40s.

The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for
authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place
of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their
households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They
contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties
at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.

Attributed to SOCRATES by Plato, according to William L.
Patty and Louise S. Johnson, Personality and Adjustment, p. 277
(1953)."

Now. GET OFF MY LAWN!
Enunemaker is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 18-06-2016, 17:27   #47
Registered User

Join Date: May 2016
Location: mackay, queensland. australia
Boat: e.a jack (builder), g.l watson (designer), 6.2 mtr wll sailboat
Posts: 532
Re: Will the next generation still go sailing?

good excuse for them to use their iphone navigation app / organise share ownership sailboat and other complicated trendy behaviour/ downside marina fees probably equal their internet costs / just as well there's not a 3d online sydney - hobart sailing app
knockabout is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 18-06-2016, 18:19   #48
Registered User
 
Fore and Aft's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Gympie
Boat: Volkscruiser
Posts: 2,652
Re: Will the next generation still go sailing?

In the last few years I would have surveyed maybe three or four yachts for people under 40 years old. Even if you skip the marina and find a mooring insurance, slipping and general maintenance are still pretty big costs for your hobby. The young people I have met were childless and all in good white collar jobs. So they had the means to support there boat.
Most people my generation and younger would want there boat in a marina I think? We are time poor and do not have the time to drag a dinghy from home to the ramp, launch it, motor to the boat and then go sailing. We like to pull into the carpark and twenty minutes later be out sailing. The same when returning, often finding one free day a week is all we can manage.
Myself I am married, two kids 40 years old and probably one of the youngest sailors at Tin Can Bay Marina. Finding the money to keep a 32 foot yacht in the marina and maintain her can be a struggle some months. VISA has been known to sponsor us some months while I juggle the finances around. Luckily my wife understands that networking is a big part of my job. So I can sort of justify spending a large part of our discretionary income on the yacht.
To answer the question younger generations will sail but maybe not in such large numbers as the baby boomers. But who can predict when you baby boomers drop of the perch who knows what your kids will do with the inheritance? Maybe there will be a resurgence in yachting?

Cheers
Fore and Aft is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 18-06-2016, 18:35   #49
Registered User
 
Mike OReilly's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Good question
Boat: Rafiki 37
Posts: 14,131
Re: Will the next generation still go sailing?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fore and Aft View Post
... But who can predict when you baby boomers drop of the perch who knows what your kids will do with the inheritance? Maybe there will be a resurgence in yachting?
Oh, don't worry about that. Current trends show the Baby Boomers are taking it with them.

Headlines:
  • Most Baby Boomers do not plan on leaving inheritance
  • Baby boomers spend the inheritance rather than pass it on
  • Inheritance: baby boomers leave slim pickings
  • Many baby boomers don't plan to leave their children an inheritance
... and good for them! It's their money. Enjoy it, I say .
__________________
Why go fast, when you can go slow.
BLOG: www.helplink.com/CLAFC
Mike OReilly is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 18-06-2016, 21:02   #50
Registered User

Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Alert Bay, Vancouver Island
Boat: 35ft classic ketch/yawl.
Posts: 1,980
Images: 4
Send a message via Skype™ to roland stockham
Re: Will the next generation still go sailing?

All this data skews heavily to the USA, so it may not be reflective of what's going on in the world. But these facts suggest to me it is largely economics that are driving the downturn in sailing with the youngin's. With the average US household income at around $55,000, clearly sailing is a luxury most people can't afford. And the kids today are making a lot less than their parents.

Add to this the fact that the entry level boat keeps getting bigger and hence more costly. And with an apparent requirement for more and more doodads, the cost of just getting started with sailing has gone up, locking out even more people.

Really ... it's no surprise sailing is dying.

This sums it up. Sailing in the USA is dying because the economy and culture are dying. Also boats in the USA are far too high tech and expensive. This does not apply to the rest of the world, ask any Newzelander or Ozzy. You will find one on the nearest boat!
roland stockham is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 18-06-2016, 21:22   #51
Moderator
 
Jim Cate's Avatar

Join Date: May 2008
Location: cruising SW Pacific
Boat: Jon Sayer 1-off 46 ft fract rig sloop strip plank in W Red Cedar
Posts: 21,134
Re: Will the next generation still go sailing?

Quote:
Also boats in the USA are far too high tech and expensive.
Possibly true of NEW boats, but there are an awful lot of not new boats that are simpler and, importantly, very inexpensive to buy. Then, if one should be fiscally limited, one does not have to upgrade to you beaut status... one can fix the leaks and just go sailing. Running expenses can be high, especially in some specific areas, but other places are less dear, so folks there may have limited incomes and still go sailing... if they want to.

Quote:
This does not apply to the rest of the world, ask any Newzelander or Ozzy. You will find one on the nearest boat!
Apparently you have not recently wandered about the marinas in the Pittwater area, or in Sydney. They are chockablock with very new, shiny, complicated and expensive boats... and I have asked, and they are indeed owned by Aussies.

I can't guess if there will always be an interest in sailing, but it has in fact persisted in humanity for a long time!

Jim
__________________
Jim and Ann s/v Insatiable II, lying Port Cygnet Tasmania once again.
Jim Cate is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 19-06-2016, 03:18   #52
Registered User
 
daletournier's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Australia
Boat: Catalina 470
Posts: 4,578
Re: Will the next generation still go sailing?

Credit is easier to get than it was 20 years ago. The average house price in Sydney is approx $1,000,000 (I think). Lots of people in recent years have been using lines of credit attached to their houses to buy all sorts of things, I assume alot of boats are purchased that way as well. Using your house you don't need to explain to the back what your buying. As long as credits available, cars, boats and lots of other stuff will sell.

Sent from my vivo Y35 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app
daletournier is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 19-06-2016, 04:01   #53
Registered User

Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 11,002
Re: Will the next generation still go sailing?

We got into cruising in our late 20's. We were the youngest by far with the significant numbers not starting until people were in their 40's with 50's-60's being the most common before tailing off.

My bet is millennials simply haven't reached the point in life where they can afford large expensive toys.
valhalla360 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 19-06-2016, 05:01   #54
Registered User
 
Ramblingman's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2013
Boat: Chesapeake Light Craft Passagemaker, Tyler Craft T42, and 9' RIB.
Posts: 148
Re: Will the next generation still go sailing?

I keep going back through this thread and thinking of the question...

I doubt sailing will go away. it will change, it has changed.

When I was a kid in the 60's and 70's, we sailed and cruised the bay every other weekend from late April till just shy of Halloween. We most often stayed in anchorages and most of that was rafted up with other sailboats.

We belonged to a sailing club that had a monthly meeting, monthly cruise May to October and a lot more. There were 100 or so families and at any time an event had 30 of them. The boats ranged 17 to 36 feet. Some of those folks made careers out of sailing.

There was no AC, no game console, maybe an odd TV ( black and white ) and not much else besides an AM transistor radio.

Fast forward to today...

We still stay at anchorages, but have the genset running at times with the AC to cool things down, watch Netflix or Hulu stream on to the TV's or tablets. Bluetooth and WiFi light up our boat, connecting all kinds of devices. We don't think of getting ice so much but reach into the refrigerator.

Yet the constant of sailing is the same, it's just different in comforts. Those things that make life easier. AC, electric power, electric heads and type 1 sanitation, and more.

Yet, in the end, there is still the quiet, watching the sun set with the light breeze blowing.

My kids, that next generation, two like it but it's not on their current list of things. Jobs, school and living day to day are their priorities. One says she wants a boat some day. To sail, maybe a day sailor, maybe a coastal cruiser for weekends and vacations.

One visit to Annapolis and you know, sailing is alive and well. Cruising too, is alive, just different.
Ramblingman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 19-06-2016, 05:25   #55
Moderator Emeritus
 
Hudson Force's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Lived aboard & cruised for 45 years,- now on a chair in my walk-in closet.
Boat: Morgan OI 413 1973 - Aythya
Posts: 8,453
Images: 1
Re: Will the next generation still go sailing?

Earlier this Spring my Nephew, in his twenties, left for the Florida Keys in his $200 Sovereign sloop. He's doing well, living on little, but found a job. He has been a live-aboard cruiser for about six years now and makes more money than he spends.
__________________
Take care and joy, Aythya crew
Hudson Force is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 19-06-2016, 06:31   #56
Registered User
 
Scaramanga F25's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 971
Re: Will the next generation still go sailing?

In Canada a new Beneteau 25 costs $ 100,000.00 Canadian.

Do you not think this has something to do with it?
Scaramanga F25 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 19-06-2016, 07:42   #57
Registered User

Join Date: May 2011
Location: Lake Ont
Posts: 8,547
Re: Will the next generation still go sailing?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scaramanga F25 View Post
In Canada a new Beneteau 25 costs $ 100,000.00 Canadian.

Do you not think this has something to do with it?
Oh sure, but was your first car a new Mercedes S-class? I can think of several ready-to-sail 25 footers currently for sale at under $10k, a few around $5k. A nice, well-equipped 28 ft boat at our club just sold for $11k.

Reading this thread and thinking about the sailors I know... the pattern seems to be: some sort of introduction as a kid (cottage, summer camp or program, relative's or friend's boat) and that is when the hook is set. But the prime school, work and child-raising years leave little time and money for serious boat ownership, though a sailing dinghy may be feasible. it's only when some stability, time and discretionary income re-enter the picture that most people can turn their attention back to boating.

[My turn to go political. Remember "the future" promised to us? Our technological progress, leaps in productivity, our financial might - all this was supposed to produce a shorter work week and more time for study, volunteering and leisure. Instead, most of us (especially the young) have student debt, benefit-free McJobs and employment instability, while wealth continues to pile up at just one end of the scale. Taxes are at an all-time low for the top tier, yet good jobs are being lost (actually, being shipped offshore, for profit). Over a third of US economic activity is now the financial sector, which doesn't actually 'produce' anything, except profit for those able to play the game. Wtf?!? A rising tide was supposed to lift all boats; instead it seems the wealthy just built better dams. ok rant over ]
Lake-Effect is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 19-06-2016, 09:31   #58
Moderator Emeritus
 
Hudson Force's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Lived aboard & cruised for 45 years,- now on a chair in my walk-in closet.
Boat: Morgan OI 413 1973 - Aythya
Posts: 8,453
Images: 1
Re: Will the next generation still go sailing?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scaramanga F25 View Post
In Canada a new Beneteau 25 costs $ 100,000.00 Canadian.

Do you not think this has something to do with it?
I'm often surprised by how people make decisions regarding value and the money that they part with.

Here's a number: $2,500

That's the sum of all the money I've spent purchasing sailboats (30'+) divided by the years owning these boats.

Here's another number: 10

That's the average age of these boats over all my ownership years.

Here are the same numbers for my millennial nephew:

$32 and 27

'seems like he's much smarter!
edit: Of course he's single on a 24' boat & I've had a family of four on a 41'.
__________________
Take care and joy, Aythya crew
Hudson Force is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 19-06-2016, 10:12   #59
Registered User
 
Scaramanga F25's Avatar

Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 971
Re: Will the next generation still go sailing?

My point was that I could buy a new 25 footer in 1975 for 6 months salary,
now it would be 12 months salary, if I was still working.

Purchasing power of wages has gone down in America.
Scaramanga F25 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 19-06-2016, 16:08   #60
Marine Service Provider
 
SV THIRD DAY's Avatar

Cruisers Forum Supporter

Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: La Paz, Mexico
Boat: 1978 Hudson Force 50 Ketch
Posts: 3,920
Re: Will the next generation still go sailing?

My "average customer" for cruising gear is a retiree, not someone under 30 or even 40 mostly.

But lets look at the reality of it...real wages haven't increased in the last 20yrs, while everything from cars to homes and rents have skyrocketed. So without disposable income or the ability to save more than $7.45 per paycheck...it's not just the Cruising fleet that will shirk, it is most leisure activities as society moves through the Baby boom bell cure. Invest in assisted living homes...not cruising boat manufacturers!
__________________
Rich Boren
Cruise RO & Schenker Water Makers
Technautics CoolBlue Refrigeration
SV THIRD DAY is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
sail, sailing

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
The Business Case for Next-Generation Chartplotting hyman Navigation 17 24-11-2011 22:34
Next Generation of Off-The-Shelf Navigation Systems bobmor99 Navigation 7 16-05-2010 18:04
Sailing's Next Generation . . . TaoJones General Sailing Forum 2 16-07-2007 13:11

Advertise Here


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 20:30.


Google+
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Social Knowledge Networks
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.

ShowCase vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.