I am Scott from Toronto and I have managed this website (solo) since 2016. I have launched a gofundme fundraising campaign to cover costs of web hosting for olson30.org for the next 3 years. Read our story below and if you’ve ever used our site for reference, placed a free classified ad and sold your boat to a new owner, or been a member of the Class Association, please consider a donation.
Scott at the helm with Andre Beese, ghosting in the dawn light, approaching Kingston, ON. LYRA Centennial Cup, July 2023.
When I started managing the site there was Olson 30 Class activity here in the forums, on Lake Ontario especially, and the west coast – however it might have seemed then that the writing was on the wall and that the Olson 30 Class had her best days and year behind her. Class events were held on Lake Ontario in 2017, an attempt was made for a 2019 North American Championships but the event fizzled due to many registered boats declining to attend the event, so in 2019 we had 3 Olson 30’s in the PHRF fleet of LYRA 2019.
In 2024 a North American Championship was held at Duluth Yacht Club and was by all accounts a successful event, the Duluth area being home to at least 10 O30’s and the event itself attended by 8. A renaissance for the Olson 30 Class? Perhaps, but maybe fairer to say “it’s still breathing, Captain!” and see what next year brings. DYC is considering a reprise of the 2024 NAC’s for 2025.
The Class Association itself can safely be characterized as on life support, if not dead. I have personally been largely responsible for keeping the life support going, by not pulling the plug on this here website. The most recent National Championships were held in 2016 in Dana Point. The Class last had a meeting in Kingston, ON, in 2017, after the 2017 North American Championships. We (the “Class”) have not collected dues since 2016. We have no elected Officers that I can identify. Our most recent President was Jason Adamson (White Lightning) circa 2016. Our most recent Treasurer was Todd Downey (Blue Star) circa 2016. By any realistic measure, the Olson 30 Class Association is dead.
The user forums of this website were once an active and vital part of our community. Sadly the advent of Facebook Groups seems to have killed our user forum–even though to my mind the user forums here have much more utility than a Facebook Group ever could, largely because we as a community own all the content, and also because the threaded postings of the user forum like ours are much easier to search after the fact, when looking for info from your community hive mind. This isn’t to say the Olson 30 Facebook Group has no utility, it does have utility, but this group has kicked the tar out of our forums and in my opinion this is not a positive development.
BUT THE BOATS THEMSELVES LIVE ON, AND WE LOVE THEM!
And this is why I have kept this website alive. Racing on a Olson 30 is not dead, not by any stretch. Olson 30’s are still actively raced all over North America and any of us who own and race an Olson 30 know that these boats are still competitive, still heaps of fun to sail and to race, and provide one fo the best value propositions for a small racing keelboat of ANY boat you could own. George Olson designed and built a classic, a boat that can still hold her own against much newer, much more costly boats, even 40+ years on. The robust fleet on Lake Ontario has thinned, but these boats are still active, with many of them in the Detroit/Lake St. Clair area. The PNW Olson 30 fleet seems to have disappeared or dispersed. Cal and SoCal fleets are still active but thinning. Olson 30’s continue to populate the Singlehanded Sailing Society events in NorCal, especially the Singlehanded Transpac (SHTP) which has Olson 30’s participating most, if not all years. Nawilliwilli Yacht Club on Kauai is a mini-hotbed of Olson 30’s, many of which have arrived on Kauai at the terminus of the SHTP and been sold on to a new owner instead of being sailed or shipped back to CA after the race.
And so, the point of my missive today: What shall we do with olson30.org? This site costs peanuts to maintain, really, but someone has to cover the cost. I have personally paid for the web hosting (out of my own pocket) since 2019. Hosting fees are currently $120.00US per year, this does not include keeping the domain olson30.org registered. Hosting needs to be paid before April 30, 2025. If I cannot get suitable inertia in the form of a forward-looking plan from our community to cover the cost of 2025 hosting services I may not renew, but this for me is not the desired outcome.
I am looking for input from anyone who cares to share their thoughts on how to proceed, email mailto: webmaster@olson30.org
Forum topic opened for discussion, please share your ideas either with the email above or in the Forum
Scott Lyons
Toronto, April 2025
