"The members won’t accept it.” Or will they?

 “It’s time for change” is a popular rallying cry among politicians as it goes down well with voters. I find this odd because mostly people don’t like change – they like what they know. And that’s why we hear from time to time when talking about eTally that “the members won’t accept it”. 

But in these different times many assumptions about what people will or will not accept have been shown to be mistaken. Just look at the enormous growth in online bookings, online shopping and, most interestingly, online meetings. Who would have thought just a few months ago how readily people would take to Zooming and WhatsApping. 

And so it is with eTally. When told this is the way it is going to be, sailors find that they can tap an app on their phones as easily, if not much more so, than signing a sheet of paper on a notice board. At least two clubs have reported 95% compliance. And the remaining 5%? The SailEvent Race Team app is the place to tick them off. 

Once you’ve got sailors eTallying then their club knows what’s happening. Everything from showing the race officer who to expect on the start line to reporting for NHS Test and Trace. 

We sailors are a conservative bunch, after all we rely on a means of propulsion which everyone else abandoned as soon as there was a viable alternative, but experience with eTally proves that even old-timers can adapt. And of course for the younger generation the phone is all.