Being a relative Newbie to the Footy and not having any preconceived alliances or Commercial Interest I put myself forward more as a member looking for reasons why somebody should “Join the Class”… , even when there aren’t any Footies here in OZ as yet… I’m trying really hard to start something though…
I have a strong Business and Marketing Backgrounds that may or maynot be of some use to the Footy Class…
In 25 words or less can you explain what attracts you to the Footy as a Boat and a Class?
Please no Verbosity (i.e. Long Winder responses that distract from the Intent of the Thread)
K.I.S.S :zbeer: & please no distractions with praise or denogrations. Just trying to get a feel for the Perceptions… :scared:
In 25 words of less what don’t you like about other classes, including the Footy?
Remember Verbosity & K.I.S.S.
From the responses received over the next few days I’ll try to collate the answers and come up with something that reflects the feelings of the Forum, which may be used or considered and why we look at changing the image or improving the Class for the future.
If you want, you can put your negative re the Footy Calss under the second question…
Hopefully there will be some honest negatives about the Footy Class that we can address and move forward… Might even help the Technical Committee in their deliberations.
What I like about Footys: They’re cute, fun to build and sail, and reasonably cheap. I like the freedom of an open class. Lots of designs and radically different looking boats. It’s going to fun finding out if any are faster than others.
What I don’t like about other classes: too big, expensive, and dominated by geriatrics. I’d like to see a class of racing sailboats with more kids than retired adults sailing. The rules of sailing don’t excite me either. What’s wrong with trading a little paint in the corners? It’s not like Footys are going to sink each other. Port/starboard? Who cares? Get out of my way.
There ya go. I didn’t count the words. If it’s over 25, delete the articles.
In 25 words or less can you explain what attracts you to the Footy as a Boat and a Class?
The Footy for me is an addition to the other classes which I sail.(14)
It is low-tech enough to be built from material that I already have.(13) = 27
Sorry John but the word limit is not sufficient to tailor an adequate reply.[COLOR=Black]
Use it or not, you choose…
It [/COLOR][COLOR=Black] allows [/COLOR][COLOR=Black]me to use my imagination and skills.
It is a small commitment in time, money, materials, effort and thought, which gives an disproportionate return on that investment.
In other words…More bang for your bucks.
Fun to sail. Sailable on any water. Fellowship of the FOOTY group. Im bloody good at it.:zbeer:
[/COLOR]
OK Guys yes 25 words might be a problem. Makes you think real hard about what is relevant though… :graduate:
For the older Guys perhaps it should be increased to 50 words… Dot Points is Fine…
Not looking at Market Research other than to help Clear my mind and the Minds of Others about “How the Class is seen by the greater community”
Don’t want to, nor will I ever develop a Boat for resale, take that as Gospel and you can Bank on my word and integrity, which is worth more than a $1m to me. If my fuzzy logic is useful or any of my ideas are worthy feel free to experiment.
Rest easy you budding Barons of the Mylar Cloth. All I ask is credit where credit due.
So therefore to help those wordsmiths a little
In 50 words or less can you explain what attracts and excites you about the Footy as a Boat and a Class?
In 50 words of less what don’t you like about other classes, including the Footy?
Stay Focussed… We need the Input to help determine the Image of the Class…
I was looking to having some fun building something that didn’t exceed 12 inches where ideas could be incorporated - or a maximum cost established for local club activities.
Disappointed that “wordsmiths” took control of the original idea and “dumded it down” by written rules to something that at first glance appeared to be a fun endeavor - perhaps, just to meet an imposed “Class Recognition” requirement.
If a class truly needs rules to “contain” it’s development - can’t anyone come up with a short, sweet set that are basically new - yet incorporate what is truly wanted?
Someone (sorry - can’t remember whom) a while back was pretty upset when the rules appeared “after” his FOOTY was constructed - effectively outlawing his creation. NOT a good way to start a class, and he might be the person to input some views for your considerations. I’m sure a search of FOOTY archives would identify who got caught in this rules write.
i discovered it by chance, and good thing i did. the best thing i like about an r/c boat this size, is the portability…lunch in one hand, the footy in the other, 5min. walk to the pond. it’s perfect.
i don’t really have any neg. views about other classes.
For me, the Footy has relatively less rules, other than it should fit in the box, it’s better suited to be built by people of any age, the smaller size requires radio equipment of lesser cost, and it’s easier to handle and more portable than bigger boats.
Bigger boats fill up your car, require more expensive/specialized radio equipment and even special cases to transport it; Difficult to carry. More difficult for the beginning or average hobbyist to build.
Wasn’t it the Bantam that got caught by the rule changes, but allowed to stay in the class anyway?
Quite simply put these are what have been received by email and the rest can be seen on the posts. Don’t shoot the messenger…
[ol]
[li]Cute
[/li][li]Kids Toy,
[/li][li]Small in Size
[/li][li]Easy Transport
[/li][li]Cheap to Build
[/li][li]Easy to Build
[/li][li]Cheap Electronics
[/li][li]Cheap Boat ?
[/li][li]Can take a pounding
[/li][li]Simple Rules ??
[/li][li]No Geriatric Old Men ??
[/li][li]Class for Kids ??
[/li][li]Less Politics ?
[/li][li] Footy Forums ??
[/li][li]Distraction from other classes
[/li][li]Can’t perform in moderate winds
[/li][li]Too Small
[/li][li]Looks like a Brick
[/li][li]Has no Style
[/li][li]Isn’t a Model Boat
[/li][li]Isn’t a Racing Yacht
[/li][li]Too Many Rules
[/li][li]Rules to Tight
[/li][li]Rule too Loose.
[/li][li] high bickering class just like the IOM.
[/li][li] Can’t be an IOM, Don’t want to be, then try not to act like one
[/li][li]Pretend regattas have no basis in real sailing
[/li][li] Start a club before you pretend you are a class
[/li][li]Don’t want to Babysit Kids on my day off. (My personal Favourite)
[/li][/ol]
Bundled most of it together by category as when you consider one persons view of what was positive you inadvertantly had somebody that listed the same thing as a negative. In fact some did just that and duplicated their reply as Positive & Negative.
The Footy is a contradiction of opinions and perceptions… Image ?? well that’s over to the GURU’s who are driving their view without listening clearly to the multitude. Can’t have growth unless you have involvement.
20 boat seems such a small amount to register a class. With such a large population the class will be difficult to grow while there isn’t the exposure on the water.
It would be extremely difficult to market unless it was designed as it was first intended… And what that is is anybody’s guess…
Unless we can ask the first person who ever contemplated a Racing 12" Boat.
And get inside their head and extract why they decided 12" Yachts was a good Idea… If they were here now I suspect that the Intention may have changed and their view would not be what it has become.
Good intentions always seem to go this way when you try to take your ideas out to the world. They aren’t always nurtured or treated teh way you intended.
As they say, your children can’t grow until you let them stand on their own two feet. Yachts is no different.
Can’t be an IOM, Don’t want to be, then try not to act like one. Have to agree with this one… Close to my heart as is the Babysitting Comments received…
Despite waboats’ other eccentricities, this is not totally without worth. From my understanding, the list in the last post is from e-mails. From the first post in the thread it seems likely that these contributions come from the many guests to this forum - i.e. people who are not interested enough in Footys to register.
Are there any lessons we can usefully draw from this?
(Preferably without fighting or infringing anyone’s copyright: Brett, Bill and I feel as if wee’ve been put through the wringer by recent events:) )
Well… how about some of the positive reasons from those people that build, have, sail, and promote Footys; As if it hasn’t already been said? Try some propaganda of your own (the better kind.)
Sometimes you have to just chase down those loose nuts one at a time, to get all the rattles worked out.
