Dart 15 Forums

I was very disappointed to learn elswhere on this forum that our committee has recently decided not to endorse the DX sail for the Sprint 15. I had no plans to acquire one myself but saw DX as a vital sign of new life in our class which would help attract more and hopefully younger members (to this point I should say that in recent years I have been asked to help with the dinghy show as "one of our younger members" - now at 51 that is a compliment and my children laugh that I have been considered worthy of "stand totty").
I fully understand the rationale given which is essentially about maintaining a "pure" class but suggest that the addition of another format would not damage this. The potential positive impact on the future of our class does I believe outweigh such concerns, just think about the stories that we can tell. We already have sport mode so why not allow those who wish to progress to do so, history shows that protected markets ultimately fail.
Some of our most long serving and respected members got off their butts to do something for our class, they should be applauded and supported. I feel that the committee's hasty decision ahead of the dinghy show is premature and suggest that the wider membership should have a say in whether we want such enhancements for our class. We need to stick together and not do anything that might result in splinter groups and the ultimate decay of our excellent association.

There has been a certain rustle of interest and optimism surrounding this project. I hope that the decision does not reflect the class as a bit "Fuddy Duddy". The Sport Nationals and inclusion of Sport Mode in TT events do not seem to have had a detrimental effect on the class, indeed. I think that, now a decision has been announced on our behalf, it would be polite to our committee to accept such gracefully, for the time being at least. I suspect that the fat may be chewed for a while longer, though. I understand that DX 15 events may already be under discussion and I'm wondering if they might be inclusive of, say, Sprint 15 Sport sailors. Just to make up the numbers, of course, and DX sailors remain some of our closest and most respected friends, being almost symbiotically linked. Please pardon the referral on our discussion forum to the affairs of a different class, however.