The original concept of The Scoot seems to have come and gone without activity, which is a shame. There were a lot of reasons. Bad economy. Personal commitments. Perhaps a too tight time frame. A severe disinclination for anyone to tell anyone else what to do. A lack of focus. Geographic diversity. Essentially no real organization (outside of a generalized idea and a non-specific webpage). Inertia. The "one race" concept of the semi-organized Jester Challenge just wasn't ready for prime time here in the USA. Maybe in the future...
As one of the instigators of the original idea, I have a thought regards a reconceptualization.
Instead of going with the "one race" plan (which stinks of the possibility of having rules), or the "do whatever you want" plan (which, by removing deadlines and details removed the advantages of a deadline and may have significantly contributed to the neutering of the original idea), I think perhaps a series of Scoot Challenges would meet with more success.
One example that works well for me in the Chesapeake: a circumnavigation of the
DelMarVa Peninsula. Or perhaps a variation on the
Single Handed Sailing Societies Long Pac. How about an "out across the Gulf Stream and Back" challenge. The original Scoot Challenge would certainly qualify. For the west coast folks, maybe a trip to Catalina Island or something. A Great Lakes crossing? Offshore to Bermuda. I'm sure there are many more ideas.
The idea being that any challenge needs to be just that...a Challenge. Something that will provide tests of seamanship and seaworthiness. Something that will bring participants outside their comfort zone. Something where smaller challenges can escalate into bigger challenges. Also something where there is a clear understanding of success. A day trip across the bay to Bob's Crab Shack wouldn't count, as there is nothing challenging about it (the plan, I mean ... even the most innocuous sail sometimes ends up throwing unexpected challenges in our path).
I see no reason why any of this would have to be done in company (although I hope to eventually do the Original Scoot in company at a future date), and could be taken up whenever someone feels up to it. A nice advantage is that folks could choose the kind of challenge that is practical and appealing to their own situation.
I foresee an "unofficial" nomination process (after all, everyone is always free to do what they want in the end) where a Challenge can be proposed and discussed. Obviously, there won't be any official "approval" of any such Challenge, and it is probably best if the originating Challenger sets the rules in the end. It would be cool if there was someplace where people could self report a successful completion of a challenge (right HERE is one idea, with perhaps a master list somewhere if someone wanted to volunteer to maintain it).
Maybe we can have unofficial (and likely virtual) Merit Badges or something.
There is no practical point to all of this outside of giving SailFarers encouragement to get out of their comfort zones and test and improve their seamanship.
Just an idea.
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