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Is Sailing an Elitist Sport?

15K views 66 replies 46 participants last post by  albrazzi 
#1 ·
I realize this has been hashed out before; but, after looking at ticket prices for the America cup, it really makes you wonder. It makes NASCAR look good.

Sportsmark

LOUIS VUITTON CUP FINALS
Single Day $800
2-Day Pack $1,500
3-Day Pack $2,175
Full Series Flex $2,900
4 guaranteed days + option to purchase
3 additional days
Guaranteed days: August 17, 18, 21, 24
Contingent on outcome: August 25, 28, 30
($700 per additional day)

AMERICA'S CUP FINALS
Opening Weekend (Sept 7 & 8) $3,000
2-Day Pack $2,800
3-Day Pack $3,900
Full Series Flex $5,500
5 guaranteed days + option to purchase
4 additional days
Guaranteed days: September 7, 8, 10, 12, 14
Contingent on outcome: September 15, 17, 19, 21
($900 per additional day)

Private Waterfront Chalets

An exclusive hospitality experience affording corporate groups the
unique opportunity to entertain 280-360 guests throughout the
exciting final stages of the 34th America's Cup (Louis Vuitton Cup
Finals & America's Cup Finals). The Private Waterfront Chalets offer
unparalleled views of the race course and a first-class setting to
develop your business relationships.
The Inclusions
• Exclusive use of 20' x 70' footprint with the executive furnishings
• 40 tickets per day for all race days
• 20 VIP parking passes per day
• 40 America's Cup programs delivered to the tent each day
• Premium food & beverage package
• Four (4) credentials for a Team Base Tour for a select day
• America's Cup Insider Experiences
• One (1) table of ten in the America's Cup Club for a select day
• Opportunity to purchase 10 additional SRO chalet tickets with five
(5) parking passes per day
Louis Vuitton Cup Finals, Single Day $62,500
Louis Vuitton Cup Finals $250,000
America's Cup Finals $395,000
Both Finals Series $600,000
That's just a sample of the America's Cup area. I'm a whole-hearted capitalist and i believe you charge what the market will bear. I wonder sometimes why America can't find talented sailors for the Olympics.
I'm glad i can watch sailing from any vantage point.
 
#2 ·
"Full Series Flex $5,500"

And my vantage point would be from where???

Unless this put me on a Committee boat, or hovering above the course in a helo, it's about as silly as selling tickets to watch the Woodland Kingfisher migrate South. JMO
 
#3 · (Edited)
Well, as I was saying to Hunter and Daphne at the Club the other day, if we lower our standards any more just about everyone will think that they can be a sailor ...
 
#4 ·
I can only go by my first hand experiences here.

When I mentioned to my co-workers that I was looking at a boat. The first questions out of their mouths was "what size engine?" We are not talking rednecks here.. the idea that I was looking to get a sailboat seemed about as alien to them as if I had ridden a horse to work amd wore homespun clothing. in this digital age, getting anywhere slowly by using the forces of nature does not compute
 
#8 ·
What does 'sailing' have to do with the 'Americas Cup?' That's like asking if driving a car is elitist because Formula One racing is expensive.

You can probably watch 'yacht racing' every day in the summer if you want to. My club (dues is $50 / year) races numerous series in the summer and you can watch for free. The other local yacht clubs have similar racing on other days Is that 'common man' enough for you?

Barry
 
#11 · (Edited)
The America's Cup is elitist, and has always been from its inaugural event in the 1800's (the owners didn't even bother to sail their own yachts). The origins of "sailing for fun" are also elitist in case you forget, no matter how down to earth many cruisers and live-aboards are today. Nowadays, it simply is being commercialized, as is everything else. But is that very different from the expense-account ticket-holders in luxury boxes at football, baseball, basketball? The Olympics? Today's philosophy is to charge what the market can bear and push the financial boundary as hard as you can (and that is not entirely new, either). It has little to do with sailing, a lot with business. The irony is that the best view of all these races is not on some expense-account venue but on your comfy couch at home (assuming you are not living on board somewhere) watching the whole thing on TV. Thus, it has more to do with "networking" among business people and their hangers-on... and bragging rights.
 
#13 ·
Interesting thoughts. I've not come across anybody on this site here who seems to be too elitist to me :) . Seriously, though, my Canadian wife always is amazed how much more down to earth many sailors seem to be over here in the UK (her brother's in-laws in Quebec were avid sailors). When I still lived in Germany it also seemed to be much more elitist. I remember trying to contact an "Academic Sailing Association" whilst at university which seemed to be nearly as stiff as some of the very old fashioned student unions. Whilst there is certainly a rich "elite" that sails over here, I've come across old clubs that pride themselves of having a working-men history and background. I wonder if this does also have to do with the fact that sailing is luckily rather unregulated (or non government self-regulated) in the UK. Always thought of boating/sailing as an unwritten right of the inhabitants of these isles. Whilst the RYA is doing a great job educating and setting the background, anybody can buy or build a boat and go out in UK waters at their own peril as long as they don't harm anybody else. No need for a sailing "license" or to register your boat legally.
 
#15 ·
It's funny you mention that. Friend of mine is from Cologne and knows how to sail. He was telling me the classes and school he attended in Elba to allow him to pilot anything under 20m..
 
#14 ·
I realize this has been hashed out before; but, after looking at ticket prices for the America cup, it really makes you wonder. It makes NASCAR look good.

Sportsmark

That's just a sample of the America's Cup area. I'm a whole-hearted capitalist and i believe you charge what the market will bear. I wonder sometimes why America can't find talented sailors for the Olympics.
I'm glad i can watch sailing from any vantage point.
I have been on the two last America's cup in Europe and I cannot even remember if I paid anything and if I paid it was so inexpensive that I cannot remember it anymore.

I guess that is the American way to look at it. In Europe in races like the Vor 70 or the Vendee globe you don't pay nothing to go to the race village to see the boats and watch the in-port races, talk to the racers and be part of the action. The money come from elsewhere, from the TV coverage, sponsoring and publicity.

But for that you have to have an huge popular interest that permits returns in publicity from sponsorship and TV coverage.

In US where the sail is a lot less popular they cannot have money that way and it seems there are some from whom sail races are a fashionable jet set event so they make them pay. someone has to pay for it:D

Sailing as a Sport is only expensive if the racers are amateurs and in that case racing big boats is a millionaires's sport and kind of a funny sport because money is a big part of success. If the racers are professional and are paid to race on the sponsors boats than it is not an elite sport, not more than many others.

Cruising is another story, yes for that you have to have money and that could be considered a kind of elite activity but then cruising is not a sport.

Regards

Paulo
 
#16 ·
As the ad says:
"An exclusive hospitality experience affording corporate groups the
unique opportunity to entertain 280-360 guests... (in) a first-class setting to
develop your business relationships."
They self defined themselves and the even as elitest. And apparantley don't have a problem with that. My only problem is that these entertainments are tax deductable business expenses and don't in my view meet any kind of reasonableness test.
This is nothing more than an opportunity for corporate fat cats to play big man on campus for a few days at stock holders expense.
 
#17 ·
Is sailing an elitist sport? Sure it is. Sport is elitist. The median household income of something like $32,000 does not leave a lot of wiggle room for any leisure activity that costs money. OTOH, there are plenty of people who work their ^ss off, and make sailing a priority, even at a shoe string level. More power to those who can operate at higher levels, as long as they don't deride the ones that do not have the same resources.
 
#18 ·
those prices are on par or less than Superbowl ticket prices, and I hardly think football is elitist. The top tier events of ANY sport is going to draw big ticket prices. Heck, even when the Stone Skippin' Nationals (yes, there's really such a thing) came to our town, tickets prices were high.
 
#19 ·
I've been cruising and living aboard on less than $300 a month, for decades. I could never afford to live ashore on that amount. Doesn't exactly put me in the "Elite" category.
When I do offer people simpler and far more affordable ways of doing things, those who want to make it "elitist" get me kicked off the web sites and chatlines. I consider that sheer flattery. Sure glad they don't identify me as being one of them.
 
#20 ·
Of course the America's Cup is elitist! Just look at the obscene amounts of money they pour into the boats in order to win a trophy. I don't begrudge them their exclusive parties and viewing areas. It's their money! Let them have the prime locations, there is still plenty of places the "masses" can watch for free!

As for sailing in general, no, I don't think it is elitist. There are plenty of ways for the average joe to get out sailing. In fact, sailboats are a more affordable way to get on the water than power boats! I certainly couldn't justify the expense of a 30' power boat! If I had to pay those fuel bills I would never go out!

Even yacht clubs aren't necessarily elitist. Some are exclusive in that you have to be able to afford membership, and certainly there are elitist people within the clubs, but by and large my experience is that regardless of the size and value of the boat you own, we all share a love of the water.

As with any sport, there are the elite levels, and then there are various levels below that right down to the kids just starting out and the "beer leagues".
 
#21 ·
Oh Phft!

Formula One, Football, the World Cup, pick any premier event and there will be super boxes and members only areas. So what?

If you're willing to invest a little elbow grease you can have a boat on the water for a grand. Or if you have the means you can spend over a million on a sailboat.

Yet you can both wake up in the same quiet anchorage, have a cup of coffee, watch the occasional fish jump and the birds doing their thing. Isn't that the opposite of elitist?

Not to mention most sailors I know are anything but elitist.
 
#22 ·
Well, ladies and gentlemen - I chanced opportunities to be aboard 2 America's Cup boats - True North and Canada 1. Both occassions sporting a tool box rather then a club blazer & tie. Each magnificent machine turned out in their finest Awlgrip primer grey, and sans hardware. No muckity muck pomp and posturing for me at the Royal Palmy Bastard YC.:laugher
 
#25 · (Edited)
The point of those seating areas has nothing to do with boats, sailing or racing. Its an opportunity for those that measure their self esteem in dollars and cents to compare wieners.

Those that measure their self worth in terms of learning and harnessing the forces of nature to accomplish your aims are more likely to be sailors, and yes we are an elitist bunch.
 
#44 ·
...Those that measure their self worth in terms of learning and harnessing the forces of nature to accomplish your aims are more likely to be sailors, and yes we are an elitist bunch.
Sailors, young or old, wealthy or not, may be and mostly are an "Elite":

A group of people considered to be the best in a particular category, esp. because of their efforts and talent...
But, very rarely are Sailors, young or old, wealthy or not "Elitist":

A person who believes that they are superior to others (and thus deserve favored status) because of their intellect, social status, wealth, or other factors; or, somebody who believes that society should be ruled by an elite class.
In fact, as a class, most Sailors--young or old, wealthy or not, seem to be about as egalitarian...

believing in the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities.
...as a group of people could be. Sailing seems to be a great equalizer and folks at a beach pot-luck never seem to care that Fred and Suzie Farkel may have come off of a 64' Swan while Jack and Jill Dokes may have come off a 27' Albin. Fred and Suzie and Jack and Jill are usually treated about the same by all but a rare few.

FWIW...
 
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#26 ·
EVERY activity has some who are "elite".
You can join a pricey tennis club or play on the public courts in the park.
You can join an indoor soccer facility or play in the gym or just kick the ball around on some grassy patch.
You can buy a new SWAN to take Biff and Chelsea out for a sail (or more likely, sit at the dock and drink) OR you can buy a used Laser/Santana/Catalina and go sailing.

No more or less elitist than people's perceptions of what you do for a living. OH, you're a doctor? Must be loaded. Yeah, that family GP that lives in the middle of PoorCounty USA and sometimes gets paid w/ a chicken. Or the doc that volunteers in 3rd world countries.

If I had to tally up the costs of all the work I'm doing to my boat versus having the yard do it all, sheesh, don't even want to go there! But hey, I'm an elite person!
 
#27 ·
The title of this thread illustrates the difference in cultural views regarding the sport of sailing.

In Australia, NZ and many parts of Europe, sailing is a common activity among common folks. Nothing elite about it. In Australia, the word "yacht" is used to refer to nearly any pleasure craft, not simply boats larger than "X" meters, or sailboats or power boats.

In the United States, no matter how old, or crappy the sailboat, sailing is seen as something "wealthy" or "offbeat" people do. You're either a rich elitist, or you're some kind of Luddite.

The word "yacht" has a very negative connotation here in the US. It is commonly used to refer to large power or sailboats, typically equipped with a large cabin, and many amenities.

I barely have two coins to rub together, my boat is 40 years old, my sails are old and used, but when I mention sailing, my co-workers constantly rib me about making "big money".

Also, there seems to be some wierd connection between distance traveled on the water, and wealth. If I tell them that I sail a long distance, the pokes about my perceived wealth increase. I think this is because there is an unconscious mental calcuation between distance traveled and fuel costs, and that the boat must be very large and comfortable to travel so far.

I constantly have to explain that the cost to travel 3 miles or 85 miles is the same, because the wind is free.

A friend of mine recently commented "Sailing is illegal in the United States."
 
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