Dreaming Big

When things were good at Sail America, they were really good.

“When you felt like you had gotten everyone together on an issue and you were moving forward and making progress, it was especially fulfilling,” explained Scot West this summer as he prepared to leave his position as executive director of the sailing industry association.

But while West can offer a long list of accomplishments during his five years at Sail America, he is leaving the association with many challenges ahead. Such may be the nature of a “small trade association with some pretty big dreams.”

“I would love to feel like I had a few more ducks in a row or things were a little more stable on a couple of different projects,” he explained. “But it did start to feel like we were facing the small challenges over and over.”

Sail America generates about $3 million to $3.5 million in revenue each year, producing four annual shows and one every other year and serving about 600 members. West suggested that the association’s biggest obstacle may be spreading itself too thin.

“We need to figure out where we can make a difference and focus on it,” he said.

In the future, West would like to see the association’s smaller shows strengthen, or if they can’t strengthen, consolidate. While there are fewer companies making a living in the sailing industry today than there were 15 years ago when Sail America was launched and fewer boats on display at its shows this year than there were last year, West said it should be possible to reach 1,000 members.

If Sail America could boost its number of exhibitors, the shows, the association and its members would be more successful, which ultimately would allow Sail America to dedicate more resources to promoting sailing.

Part of Sail America’s future success in increasing participation in sailing is tied to its involvement in the industry’s Grow Boating Initiative, West stated.

“Whoever warms this seat needs to remain focused on raising sailing’s profile within that program,” he said.

That person is former chief of the Office of Recreational Boating Safety Scott Evans. He enters the Sail America position following a 26-year career in the Coast Guard.

Evans will have at his disposal the Discover Sailing campaign, which includes a fulfillment program the association can use to process the leads generated by Grow Boating, so Sail America is well set-up to introduce newcomers to sailing.

Currently, Discover Sailing does a “great job of wetting the whistle” of potential participants in sailing, but the association still hasn’t figured out how to get them off the couch and down to the dock. West is convinced that by partnering with groups such as US Sailing, the American Sailing Association and Community Sailing, Sail America could do a better job of getting people on the water. After all, sailing is one of the most aspirational forms of boating, according to West.

“We just have to figure out how to make the most of it,” he concluded.