Each year someone brings up the question of how to increase the participation at both the local club and National events. This seems to be brought up towards the end of each racing season for all types of racing, from various hydro competitions to sailboats. The real question is how do we bring new members to the hobby? Let's look at who is in the hobby. The ages for the most part are between 40 and 70 years of age. The upper end of the age group built boats from wood kits and their own designs. The younger age group always had items already assembled for them, i.e.. RTR. Most were never shown how to build and assemble models at a young age. So, as I see it, clubs and their members must be teachers and show new members how to build and drive. That means also helping with boat setups and material lists and how-tos. It's always more fun when the competition is hot in a race so we need to help the new members become competitive. That way our clubs will survive and new clubs may even be formed.

The club officers of any club must let the club be run by its members, with all having equal input in how the club is run. Another must is to have a good club competition schedule so flyers can be posted in hobby shops and handed out at hobby shows and races when people drop by to watch. Sometimes all it takes for a watcher to be hooked is putting a boat in their hands after a race is over. We have had many a new member join with just this exercise.

National races or contests have different problems to get people to attend. With the economy the way it is and the cost of plane tickets or fuel to drive to the race being more expensive in recent years, racers have to choose where and how much to spend on racing. One thing I tell the new club members is Do Not hurt the family by spending more up front than they can afford. Family comes first. The most important thing for the National races is for local clubs across the country to host the race. That way there will be races close to just about every racer so no one has to go thousands of miles to get to a National event. The same group of clubs can't always be expected to host the National events. It really limits the number of people that can attend from across the country.
On the flip side of that idea, maybe boating Nationals should be run like the model airplane Nationals. They have a set place for their events and it is the same place each year. That way no one has to wait to see who is hosting the event. All NAMBA events would be in the same place each year. I don't know which way would bring more people to our events but it's something to think about.

The total model boating hobby is small but is growing each year. The new boating hobbyists may not want to race in competition or join a club. They may only want to sport run but we must have a club for them to join in the future. We have 4 members in our club that do not race but like to attend races for the camaraderie and fellowship. This is ok because they will race in the future when their driving skills improve.