Stavanger, Thursday
To promote, or not to promote...
Hum, I was supposed to shut up here for a while, but this matter is interesting.
Why on earth should we promote our rigs? Just as I dislike missionaries, both religious and anti-religious, I see no reason why we should actively promote the JR. Most people are happy with their boats and rigs. Why then tell them that they should stop being happy with what they have? I certainly think that the JR is the best cruising rig I have sailed with, so far. Still I don’t want to be a JR pusher (or lifestyle pusher, in general). Only when people contact me because they struggle with their pointy or gaff rig, do I show them how I do it, and possibly take them for a demo sail. That has happened many times. In some cases, I rather show them work-saving fixes to their existing rigs.
I think the best way of promoting the JR is the soft method: Annie Hill’s books are good. They are mostly about the art and adventures of voyaging, and the JR is just a natural tool in the background. Same with Roger Taylor and his Mingmings. His JRs are more like little stories inside the big stories, those about his voyages.
In contrast, when our “50 good reasons for JR” recently were presented in a boat design forum, they were not well received. I can understand that. Many of those 50 reasons were not that serious, and besides, who are we to come dropping in from nowhere and tell quite competent people that we have seen the light and that they would be better off if following us? That is not enthusiasm - that is arrogance.
Get me right, I definitely don’t mind that people converts their sailboats to JR. When people ask me about the JR, I surely speak well about it, but I have found that taking them for a sail will do much more than any preaches.
Sooo, again, if you want to promote the JR, do it softly, please, or it may easily have the opposite effect of what you hoped for.
Arne