The younger generation

I am new to sailing and have recently started posting here. I bought an Ericson 27 that is in need of some TLC and am having the best time getting into the whole sailing scene.
One thing I find disturbing is the lack of younger people (I am 31) who are interested in sailing. Most of my friends don't have any interest, or they think they wouldn't want to "work" to head on the water. They would prefer to motor out, drink, fish and then head home. Though I do enjoy the beers/fishing I find sailing to be a hobby that is full of rewards!
I went down to a yacht club recently to see about being around like-minded individuals. Though I did enjoy the group I didn't seem to see anyone even remotely near my age. There were a few "grandchildren" running around but besides that it only seemed to be retirees and some live-aboard types. Like I said I enjoyed their company and don't have any age bias but I was disappointed that there weren't more people around mine own age. My wife and I have just had a baby and we are going to get her started young and hopefully we can pass on the passion...
I am thinking there ought to be more of an effort to get more people interested in sailing. Maybe have discover sailing days for the 20-30 something groups. If nothing else I am planning to share what I find with my friends and hopefully get more of us on the water!

Issue with sampling?

I have the same observation regarding YCs (are you in Brisbane by any chance?) - very few younger people there... However, note that most younger people are out there sailing while mature crowd heads to YC. A few YCs realize that and make arrangements to attract working professionals of less-then-"C" level. Sailing clubs, rather then YCs, have better luck in this area - such as Modern Sailing, Tradewinds, etc.

So - yes, at 31 (or 41, to that matter) you will find few peers in YCs. But then - are you out there to sail or to search for peers ? That's why most skippers actively search for crew and then go to great lengths to retain them - including free sandwiches, beer, t-shirts, etc . Crew of youngsters is a very hot commodity for any racer these days. Most youngsters prefer Facebook and Zynga to fresh wind in their faces...

Regards,
Stan

sailing school

I started my sailing through a few classes at a sailing school (OCSC in Berkeley) before I bought my first boat. The school has hundreds of students under 40 go through there every year, and most of them continue to charter the school's boats. I, on the other hand, chose to get my own boat so as to get a broader education in boat maintenance, repair, etc...., with the eventual goal of cruising and becoming knowledgeable enough to be as self-sufficient as possible. The trade-off, of course, has been being around people of my own age group (I'm 38), and of course, finding crew. The school puts on monthly BBQ's for its members, and hosts many other sailing events....they have quite a community over there. I go occassionally to meet/find crew.

My former slip neighbor at my marina is the membership director for my local yacht club. He asked me to join a few times, but I found exactly what you describe, which gave me some hesitation in joining. As Stan mentioned, you might try becoming affiliated with a sailing school or club. The people you'll meet are generally very enthusiastic to get out on the water and handle the boat, and are generally in the 20's -40's range.

WOW! Sounds spot on to our issues. I am 31, my wife is 28. We have a 23 month old daughter and a 4 month old daughter. We love sailing, but find that all of our marina friends are old enough to be our parents or older by 15 years. Most of our friends think its cool to sail, but either don't have the free cash for a boat investment/or don't think its so cool to pursue it!

On a side note, we all spent the night on our boat for the first time last Friday night. Went good for the most part and we had a blast. We too are wanting to raise our girls sailing.

Good luck!

Way to go Justin!

We have one girl, now 6 yr old. She had her first sail at 5 weeks . She is our test case for the yacht clubs. When she starts to run around, she is either welcome (good club), tolerated (ok, whatever) or frowned upon (see ya! not coming again). On that scale, best clubs so far are Corinthian in Tiburon - they actually had a lady coming in reading to kids! - and Loch Lomond in San Rafael where she got into water-gun fight with bartender! Benicia yach club has a dedicated kids room full of toys. After a long sail it's a bliss to get kids away from you and just have a quet beer/wine...

While we cannot change the perception of "current" younger generation about sailing, and cannot change a perception of a portion of current "older generation" that youngsters "do not belong", we are growing the "next" younger generation ourselves!

BTW, one more thing - you have a much better chance to see younger people in the club after a race than any other time. So pop in any YC club right after a beer can or midwinters and you can meet a ton of younger people who otherwise would not come to the club.

Unfortunately, I cannot afford the membership in Corinthian or GGYC... And even if I could it's pretty hard to get in. But - such is life!

Regards,
Stan

Another Thought

You may also want to check out any Coast Guard Auxiliary or Power Squadron sailing classes in the area. You might run into younger folks just getting into sailing like yourself.

Good advice all. I am stoked to sail with any aged sailor. Especially since with age comes experience!
I hope to just kindle the spark in others of all ages...