You might be a little worried about paying for your expensive regatta schedule. Money doesn’t grow on trees, and it certainly doesn’t grow in boats. If you’re looking to cut back a little maybe you should consider sailing close to home this summer rather than constantly traveling to regattas.

If you’re like the rest of the world you’re thinking about canceling your trips, adventures and events because we’re in the middle of a bleak recession. Your sailing is probably on the bottom of a long list of other priorities and that distant, time consuming and expensive regatta might just have to go.

I would never tell someone that it’s a good idea to pass on sailing but this year it might be smarter to pass on those distant regattas. And that’s ok, because this is the year to sail in your local fleet. The far away regattas will be there forever, the local fleet is right here at your finger tips.

If you are lucky enough to live in a town with a fleet of sailors, go get a season’s pass and set a goal to go sailing a few times a week. Last year, I sailed at a community boating club on the other side of Boston Harbor and became a convert myself. Rather than waiting all week to slog it out in beach traffic, I decided to catch a few hours of sailing close to home. It went like this: meet friends at the dock, enjoy a beverage, sail a few races, go home. The whole summer we were never stuck in traffic, we didn’t feel cheated by the race committee and we were never stranded on the lawn due to postponement. Cell phones and laptops were left on the dock and for a few hours a week we could focus on sailing. The other benefit is if you normally drive you can finally try out your crewing skills in a less competitive environment, and vice versa. By keeping it simple you can get better and have fun.

Most places that I’ve lived have offered an option to go sailing; Boston is crawling with opportunities and New York, New Orleans, Toronto, London, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Stamford all have strong fleets too. I’m sure that any place with water has boats sailing on it, so there is no excuse.

Your sailing won’t suffer all that much because you don’t make it to every regatta on the opposite coast. Your life won’t suffer greatly because you’re not sailing at the premier regatta in Florida that Sailgroove is covering. Leave those things for another year. By sticking close to home you can save yourself some money -which is always a wonderful thing. This is the year to keep it simple.

Bike down to your local spot, put a boat in the water and go sailing. There’s nothing simpler.