Free sailboats are the secret

by John Arndt, Latitude 38
American Magic, the US challenger for the 36th and 37th America’s Cup, and Nautor Swan recently announced a partnership aimed at energizing sailing in America. We’re skeptical. We’re reminded that the peak growth of participation in sailing was in the ’60s and ’70s.

Building with fiberglass was hitting its stride, and people had real, two-day weekends when they didn’t look at emails and devices. They went outdoors and played. Sailboats were small, affordable, and even free! We discovered this when looking up information on our family’s first boat — a Styrofoam Snark. We found the following ad (click here) from a 1960s edition of the San Francisco Chronicle.

We know a Styrofoam Snark would be lucky to last five minutes on the Cityfront before it became flotsam drifting up onto the Emeryville shoreline, but if you took it to Lake Merritt with your family, the kids could have a blast. And you could take photos of them to show your friends, with your Kodak film camera. – Full report