If you happen to have the wealth of a monarch (but lack self-control), you
could easily spend your net worth on the sport of sailing. But a valid
counterpoint is how smart, eager and creative paupers also go sailing, and they spend almost
nothing for the privilege.
In fact, there is a strong case to be made that sailing is among the least expensive ways to have the most fun, ever
invented.
Consider, for starters, that in 2009 (the most recent data I could find)
Golfer Magazine estimated that the average golfer spends about $3,000 a year on golf. Skiers
spend closer to $3,500 a year, according to data published in the Atlantic in 2012. Hunters
spend, on average, about $3,200 dollars a year, according to the National Shooting Sports
Foundation.
Piecing together publicly available facts from sailing industry sources;
by comparison, each sailor spends half as much as golfers, skiers or hunters. This is based
on a rough estimate that sailing generates about $6 billion in economic impact in the United
States, including boats, gear, services, transportation, soft goods, storage, slips and
moorings, taxes, destination tourism, consumables and charters. If you divide economic
impact by the number of sailors making it—there are about 3.6 million of us—you can estimate
the amount spent by each: $1,667 a year. “Sixteen hundred
dollars,” you say? “That barely buys a new Cal 20 mainsail, including speed stripes and
shipping.”
If the numbers seem implausible, you may be among the sailors who spend
the most (as a group and as a percent of income). Middle and upper-middle class sailboat
owners (mostly baby boomers) represent 40% of all sailors, we do 35% of all of the sailing,
but we spend 54% of the dollars.
We buy most of the newly built and late model boats in the U.S. We occupy
most of the marina space. We make up about 95% of club memberships, we reinvest in sails,
electronics and safety equipment, and we pay insurance, interest, fees and taxes; in total
contributing more than $3.2 billion dollars to annual gross domestic product through our
sailing.
For this opportunity, we spend between $17 and $100 an hour, every hour
that we sail, depending on taste, technique and target.
