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2010 Disabled Sailors Survey

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Thank you for participating in this Adaptive Sailing Survey.

The event chairs of the Robie Pierce One-Design Regatta, the C. Thomas Clagett Jr. and the North American Challenge Cup wish to make their events the best they can be. They need your valued feedback.

Please note that you are invited to join the Adaptive Sailors Advisory Panel at the end of the survey, and, as noted in the e-vite, all individual responses will be held in strict confidence.

Non-sailors: if a question does not apply directly to you, feel free to skip it.
1.Please check all the ways you are involved with adaptive sailing:
2.In which U.S. state, Canadian province or other country do you currently live?
3.What adaptive sailing regattas were you part of over the past 3 years?
4.Using a scale where 10 is High Independent Mobility and 1 is Not At All Independently Mobile, please rate your level of mobility as it relates to attending and participating in regattas for sailors with disabilities. (Note: this scale is note related to any IFDS classification number.)
5.Again using a 10 point scale, please rate your skill as a sailor relative to other sailors with disabilities. Rate yourself 10 if you are among the top sailors or progressivly to a 1 rating for someone just beginning to sail.
6.When racing, what position do you normally fill in the boat?
7.Please indicate how many years you have been participating in sailing/regattas for sailors with disabilities.
8.Did you sail before your became disabled?
9.Please indicate the classes of boats you have sailed in regattas for sailors with disabilities.
10.Are you a member of US SAILING or your country's National Governing Authority?
11.How important in your decision to attend a regatta is each of the following components of a regatta? When rating each of these elements, consider a 3 rating as an acceptable standard expectation for any aspect of a regatta. Only give 1s and 2s to factors that really influence your decision to attend and 4’s and 5’s to those factors that make you question your participation.
1 Ext. impt.
2 Very impt.
3 Important
4 Not very impt.
5 Not at all impt.
6 No opinion
Entry fees are reasonable, providing good value for what I’m paying
Damage deposits are reasonable
My costs to travel to the regatta
My local transportation costs once at the regatta
My hotel/lodging costs
Food & beverage costs once at the regatta
Costs of transporting my boat to the regatta
Boats are supplied free of charge
My previous experience with / awareness of the host club/venue
Accessibility of the host club/venue
My concerns about the general safety of the regatta
Time of year of the regatta
The competition: I believe I have a chance to win
The competition: participating is more important than winning
I know the people I’ll be sailing against
There will be coaching/clinics to help improve my performance
The social aspects of the regatta are more casual
The social aspects of the regatta are more formal
12.Are there any other regatta selection criteria we have overlooked?
13.How far will you travel to participate in a credible disabled regatta?
14.How important is it that the regatta be able to provide you a boat to race?
15.Do you have a preference for weekday vs. weekend regattas?:
16.Please indicate your optimum duration for a disabled sailing regatta (only count actual racing days, not including a registration/clinic days).
17.What do you consider to be a reasonable entry fee for a major adaptive sailing regatta?
18.Please rate your overall “regatta experience” at the following regattas compared to the entry fee charged.
Exceptional
Very good
Good
Fair
Poor
Didn’t participate
The Mobility Cup - $195 (Canadian)
Robie Pierce One-Design Regatta - $125 per person
North American Challenge Cup - $100 per person
Clagett Memorial Regatta - $100 per person
US Disabled Sailing Championship - $125
19.Please rate your overall experience at the following regattas in terms of your total costs to participate (entry fees, lodging, transportation, time away from home/office, etc.).
Exceptional
Very good
Good
Fair
Poor
Didn’t participate
Robie Pierce One-Design Regatta - $100 per person
North American Challenge Cup - $100 per person
Clagett Memorial Regatta - ~$100 per person
The Mobility Cup - $195 per boat (Canadian)
US Disabled Sailing Championship - $125 per person
In some regattas, i.e., the Robie and the NACC, the use of borrowed boats require an AB in the boat.

The role of an AB is a blend of safety observer as well as to assist in boat handling when a sailor’s disability prevents a task from being accomplished. As such, most ABs are racers themselves and, in occasions, have found it difficult not to offer advice on tactics or boat handling techniques or to avoid offering such advice if asked for it. Despite Sailing Instructions specifying limitations on what AB’s are allowed to do, the level of AB contributions varies by team and is difficult to police. One point-of-view would say “Let the ABs be an active part of the crew” while others would prefer a strict no-advice/ limited boat handling participation approach.
20.When a regatta requires me to sail with an AB I usually:
21.In regattas such as the Robie Pierce, ABs are required. Is it your opinion that:
22.Please indicate the level of participation you believe is appropriate for an AB during a race (these criteria do not apply to blind crews where the AB is must play a more active role):
23.How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statement: Regattas for sailors with disabilities should be opened-up to allow participation by fully able bodied teams.
24.As of today, do you plan on participating in the following regattas?
Yes
No
Don't know
2011 Mobility Cup (September)
2010 US Disabled Sailing Championship (December)
2011 Robie Pierce One-Design Regatta (May)
2011 North American Challenge Cup (July/August)
2011 Clagett (August)
2011 US Disabled Sailing Championship (Larchmont, September)
25.If a trophy were created to represent the best combined performance in the Robie, Clagett and NACC, would you be more likely to sail all three regattas?
26.Consider this final question an open mike to the organizers of regattas for disabled sailors. What would you tell them to make the regattas better, more valuable, more meaningful experiences for you? And, blue skying, what else would you like to see happen to disabled sailing that would move the sport ahead in this country and abroad?
27.As part of our ongoing effort to advance the sport of adaptive sailing and help us address questions that may arise, we are creating an Adaptive Sailing Advisory Panel. If you would like to be part of this panel, please provide the following information: