What’s the average age of racers at everyone’s pond, lake, ocean

Talking to a fellow club member yesterday, kids racing came up in discussion. In it, we talked about the money and the speed. I belong to 2 clubs within an hour of each other. 1 has 0 kids racing as it’s mostly big gas and the other has 1 minor. It’s at a park so kids do come watch every so often. Both really have no kids racing with the exception of 1. I went to my first district race, 2 kids racing . How do we get some younger blood in there that can progress into faster classes?

We still race stock sv27’s but even that once you get boat(they’re becoming far and few) radio,batteries, and charger is a few hundred dollars. P spec, it’s even more expensive and faster yet. In talking with this fellow racer, I came up with $200 rtr limit, self righting, bone stock, maybe even a age restriction. Atomic, proboat, and HK each have one, all 3 cell, sub 20” and brushless. About 0 maintenance, crashing is not so intimidating and it’s a lot easier to get parents to dish out a $100 vs. $400-$1000. Maybe the club could provide 4 of them, I don’t know.

I’ve hit guys up selling race boats online in the area. Hey, we’re racing on sundays. I’ve been to several offshore races this year and mike is out there showing promarine boats off,even had demo day at cocoa beach race, thank you. I just wanna know what others are doing across the country to promote the hobby.if you have some form of less expensive kids racing, please share. I believe the more the merrier and bring the competition. Maybe, my x generation is the last of it, I don’t know. Look forward to the comments or ideas.

Same problem everywhere, and no silver bullet answer I'm afraid.
As far as kids go, getting them interested can be real tough. as a kid I was one who had a keen interest in model boats and would build my own from scratch. 35+ years later I still enjoy building and racing. There are few kids today that will do that sadly, and in our consumer driven, I want it now world, most just want to take some thing out of a box and be the winner! For the ones that are interested, they need parents that will support them in the hobby, and with all the other things that is out there it is a hard road that one.
Building club membership can be really tough but you have to continue to run regularly, talking to those who come visit/watch and I think try and build a good club culture that is friendly and inclusive.:welcome: Any model displays or events where you can have a club display can be a good way to up the profile.
It can be tough also, especially when it comes to racing, there are always those who will spend a lot of money and take model boats a bit too seriously! There is always some natural attrition with membership as peoples lives change, families, jobs, change of interest etc.
Die hard model boaters are quite rare, take some pictures of them when you see them in the wild!
You could be right, maybe us gen x'ers are about the last, but let's hope not!

No , no silver bullet answer. Not saying anyone or any club is doing a bad job Either. Looking for ideas or success that has helped. I did get out Namba hand book and looked up self righting rules. Found eco class which I believe is very outdated and until today, I hadn’t heard of it at all. I’m not sure what impba is doing. Maybe someone can point that out. What you said, I pretty much assumed. It’s sad. Instant gratification, less family, and lack of wanting to learn. Thanks Peter, I appreciate you commenting and thoughts.

I know, I live on Smith Mountain Lake, VA.It has over 500 miles of shoreline including many secluded creeks and coves. It covers 3 counties and it's residents are mostly wealthy retirees. The "kids" are running their personal water craft and their wake boats all summer but no R/C Boat clubs. There are striped bass clubs, and fishing tournaments and a 4-H Club and a State park. I guess if there's ever going to be a R/C Boat club I'm going to have to start it myself. -Ken-