Strength In Numbers: Small boat racing in Australia 2023-24 - Letting the data tell the story

Executive Summary by  Alex Morton (Albert Park Yacht Club - Hobsons Bay Yacht Club)

The Current State of Sailing in Australia
Australian small boat racing is a vibrant community sport with 211 clubs actively running racing programs, 82 active class associations and over 9,200 boats competing. This represents remarkable grassroots engagement, with nearly twice as many clubs running small boat racing compared to keelboat racing.
However, beneath these encouraging headline numbers, the data reveals significant strategic opportunities that could strengthen our sport's future. This comprehensive analysis of the 2023-24 season provides the sailing community with evidence-based insights to guide decision-making at club, class, and national levels.

Key Insights
Concentration and Opportunity: Three classes—ILCA, Optimist, and Sabre—account for 34% of all racing boats in Australia (1 in 5 small boats racing in Australia is an ILCA). At total of 33 classes account for 78% of the national fleet. While this concentration provides stability, it also reveals opportunities for strategic focus and resource coordination that could benefit the entire sailing community.
Geographic Diversity: Each state has its own sailing identity. For example, Sabres dominate in Tasmania but don’t crack the top 10 in New South Wales. These regional differences aren’t a problem—they’re a strength. Understanding them opens the door to more targeted development and collaboration across states.
Class Association Strength: Only 10 classes are sailed in all six states, and just 20 are raced at more than 20 clubs. These classes have proven their ability to sustain broad participation. Conversely there is a long tail of classes with few boats or no class association. For sailors choosing a boat or clubs planning fleet development, this provides valuable guidance.
Pathway Opportunities: There’s a disconnect between Olympic classes and grassroots participation. Rather than seeing this as a gap, we can view it as an opportunity to rethink how we develop sailing talent—by building pathways within strong existing class communities, not just through elite-focused transitions.

What This Means for Our Community
Sailing in Australia has long been shaped by stories and tradition. Now, for the first time, we have the data to match – we can let the data tell the story of what grass roots sailing looks like in Australia outside the high-performance bubble. Whether you're a club deciding which fleets to grow, a class association planning your next move, or a sailor choosing your next boat—this report gives you the evidence to make informed, strategic choices.
The data shows that our sport has strong foundations. But it also highlights where better coordination, smarter resource sharing, and more focused development could benefit everyone.
This report doesn’t tell you what to do. It invites you to ask:
What can we do – together – with what we now know?
Let’s use this evidence to have better conversations, make better decisions, and build a robust future for sailing in Australia – having numbers makes us stronger.

Over the last 15 months I've gathered data on small boat racing in Australia during the 2023/24 season and completed the most comprehensive analysis of Australian sailing participation ever done.

You can access the report here: Strength in Numbers report 2023-24.pdf and the Executive Summary is included below.

This research has been conducted independently of Australian Sailing 

This report is designed to stimulate conversation within the sailing community - I hope you find the evidence-based insights useful to guide decision making.

For questions or discussions my email is alex@mortonmail.com

Regards

Alex Morton

Albert Park Yacht Club, Hobsons Bay Yacht Club, International Mirror Class Association of Australia, 125 Association of Victoria