Writing this column has been a real eye-opener for a dyed-in-the-wool racer like me. It's easy to think that because you surround yourself with other racing fanatics all the time, that's what everyone else is doing too. But the feedback I have been getting suggests otherwise, and in fact the RYA's own figures bear this out. The racing fraternity, which gets the lion's share of media coverage in this and other magazines, make up only a fraction of those who muck about in boats on the weekend. There are people out there going sailing just for the sheer pleasure of it. What a revelation!

Here's an extract from Martin Harrison, a 56-year-old Laser sailor. "I've only been sailing for seven weeks, so what would I know? But my seven weeks have been in Grenada, Antigua, Turkey, Corsica and Greece. I live a stone's throw from Lakes Vrnwy and Bala but wouldn't dream of sailing on or at either.

"It's possible that I'm typical of thousands who take their holidays with Mark Warner, Neilson or Sunsail. I love Lasers. I count the days between my week's sailing every three months. Your article seems to assume that I'd want to go from learning straight into racing. Your own analogy (golf) surely suggests you've missed a trick [referring to Rolltacks, 14 February]. Most golfers want to turn up at their club, play a round with a couple of mates and have a beer afterwards. That's exactly how I love to sail, and it's what these holiday companies encourage me to do. The RYA doesn't.

"I cruised through my Level 1 and 2 in a week or so . . . but then what? Level 3 is all about racing. There it is again, that assumption. Level 2 is the equivalent of sitting my 11 plus."

I'm sure Martin does represent a silent majority who treat sailing like skiing or scuba diving, an activity to do once or twice a year in a really nice hot place. In fact the RYA's David Ritchie tells me there are about 100,000 people a year who go on overseas RYA sailing courses each year. A hundred thousand new prospects every year for us to attract into our sport.

But how do we convince the Martins of this world to come sailing in this country? I know where he's coming from, because whilst I've had some fantastic experiences scuba diving off the Great Barrier Reef or the Caribbean, I wouldn't dream of putting on a 6mm wetsuit and diving into a freezing cold gravel pit in this country. Whereas I'm sufficiently into my sailing that I'm prepared to make those compromises. Many of us will go sailing, come hell or high water. But how do we get a fair-weather sailor like Martin to do the same? Apart from speeding up the global warming process, I can't really see a solution to that one.

But perhaps we can find a way of appealing to the non-racing fraternity. In fact, if classes don't start addressing this issue then they will really start to suffer, if Rob Eastwood's warning is anything to go by. He was addressing an issue I raised about the popularity of sailing weeks like Abersoch and Salcombe. "The reason Salcombe Week is so popular is that it, and other weeks like it, are fun. Close racing in nice surroundings with good socials, and, most important, no two-hour sail to the start line!

"At last year's RS champs, the 400s often sailed an hour or more to their start. If we in the 300s had done that, it would've been the first and last time I'd have turned up. This is the most commonly cited reason I've heard for not going to champs - it's fine for the good guys, but for the vast majority of the fleet, it takes all the pleasure out of it."

Perhaps there is something to be said for organising cruising days. The RYA has just announced its first ever RYA Sail Cruise for yachts over 25 feet, and it is a week-long jaunt across the Channel to Cherbourg, Alderney and Guernsey. Interest has been quite high, and it could be that the RYA has tapped into an idea that might be applicable to dinghy sailing too. In fact, a search on the web reveals that there is a Dinghy Cruising Association out there, whose unofficial motto is "for dinghy sailing individuals who don't want to be organised", so if this appeals why not get in touch with them via their website at www.dca.uk.com? They organise - loosely organise, they stress - dinghy sailing rallies around the country. It looks like an interesting organisation, it's just a shame they don't bother telling more people about themselves.

I guess all these things come down to time and money, a subject I've touched on before when comparing the professionally-run manufacturers' classes with the amateur-run traditional classes. Julian Bridges from the Flying Dutchman Class Association has an excellent suggestion. "One idea brewing gently in my rapidly greying head, is the need for all of us in conventional performance world to begin combining events, a la the RS guys. Walk in off the street with 100 competitors - FD, 505, Osprey, Hornet, Javelin etc - and venues as good as Mounts Bay could pay attention."

Now that's an idea really worth thinking about. If enough classes were to pool their resources, not only would they have the clout to secure some of the most desirable venues, of which Mounts Bay is clearly one, but perhaps they could afford to pay a part-time or even full-time administrator/ marketeer to represent their collective cause. This is what the RS organisation has done so well, employing the likes of Peter Vincent and Heather Chipperfield to create something more than an association, almost a community in its own right.

Julian's idea is a rare example of someone thinking about how to grow the cake for everyone rather than fighting over the cup cake between each other. I really think he is on to something here. If any other class associations are interested in this idea of banding together, then I'd be happy to hear from you and pass on your details to others. Perhaps there are the makings of a new organisation here that could really help promote the more traditional end of the sport.

Sam Mettam is one of those sailors with a foot in both the modern and traditional camps, and he makes a point in response to something that Iain Percy raised in his recent Y&Y interview, about the expense of getting involved in sailing. "Perhaps this is where the more traditional classes should be pushing themselves forwards. In many classes you can pick up a decent club boat for £400-£1000; this amount of money in a Miracle or a Firefly may even enable you to win the Nationals.

"Maybe the traditional classes have taken a backseat in terms of publicity; whilst the large manufacturers have been able to invest in advertising, showing off an exciting image of the sport, older classes may have been left being perceived as less fun to sail.  I sail both an RS200 and a Miracle, and for the pure fun of sailing, I prefer the Miracle. At the Bloody Mary this year we planed pretty much the whole way round the course (upwind and down), and you would have had to have done quite a lot to wipe the smiles off the faces of myself and Geoff (my crew)." It should also be pointed out that Sam and Geoff finished 7th overall, a staggering result in a hiking boat for what was undoubtedly a day that favoured the fast asymmetrics.

He concludes: "For people coming into the sport traditional classes offer good club racing on a limited budget; they have class associations with the infrastructure to provide training, bringing people up to the next level. They can also build confidence by being more stable platforms, but most importantly, they provide a lot of fun. Perhaps if we could promote this low budget argument, we could broaden the appeal of sailing and take advantage of the publicity the likes of Ellen MacArthur, Ben Ainslie and Iain Percy are generating."

I agree with Sam on just about every point except his comment about the infrastructure of the class associations. There are some great examples of class infrastructure, such as the largely parent-run Optimist and Cadet classes, but there are some very poor ones too. However, Sam is certainly right to point out the selling point of just how cheap it can be to go sailing in these classes, and when you combine that marketing message with Julian's idea of collaboration between classes, then you have the makings of a very strong package.

Perhaps a combined classes organisation would also have the financial clout to afford a stand at the London Boat Show when it moves to its new docklands premises at ExCeL next January. Certainly, visitors to the recent Earl's Court Boat Show would have been under the impression that dinghy sailing was dominated by the big three manufacturers, because they were the only ones who could stump up the cash to exhibit there. It would be nice to be able to represent the true breadth of the sport by displaying some cheaper boats of more traditional design.

Of course, the breadth of dinghy sailing is much better represented at Sailboat at Alexandra Palace. Personally, I love this show because it is a chance to catch up with tons of people that you don't see for the rest of the year, and it is a great swap shop for ideas between clubs, associations and people in the trade. To that extent it is a great success. But is it offering a shop window to newcomers to the sport? I'm not so sure on that one. I think it must come across as a very confusing and quite cliquey show from that point of view. There ought to be a big sign up at the entrance, saying: "New to sailing? Step this way." And people get a gentle introduction to the sport from someone with no commercial axe to grind.

At least the RYA website is moving in the right direction. A month ago, there was no obvious jump-in point for a newcomer. Now, there is a ‘Want To Learn?' button sited in a prominent position on the home page. We've got to make it easy for people to find out about sailing, and even a little change like that is a step in the right direction.

Thanks, by the way, to all those of you who have responded to my request about personal handicap systems. Judging by the deluge of emails I have received on this subject, it is already a thriving concept. I was going to report back in Rolltacks, but I have decided to hold this material back until later in the year when I will give it the proper treatment in a full-length article about the subject.

In the meantime, if you'd like to get back to me about the subjects raised this week, please send me an email. To recap:

  1. What alternatives to racing are out there?
  2. What do you like/dislike about the typical national championship format?
  3. Is a combined class association viable for some of the traditional classes?

Please keep the feedback rolling in. To borrow the words of a BBC children's programme, we can't promise to reply to all your letters, but we do read every one.