New ATYC website

I hereby admit that the Commodore memory may have come from when I looked at local sailing clubs, (I have a dingy in the back garden). Have just looked at the web site for the Radcot Cruiser Club and they have this statement on the home page of their web site:

We do not run a Flannels and Blazers type of regime but enjoy our boating as part of a very relaxed but efficient organisation.

A further peek around their website reveals I already know some members who I know are very pleasant people. And certainly not blazer types :-)
 
It's only at special club functions that it is 'asked' but not demanded one wears a Reefer or Blazer. These are few and far between, maybe the annual dinner or some such. The ladies enjoy tarting up for such occasions and who are we to deny them this right by appearing as their consort in an old pair of jeans a paint smattered smock and a bogie hanging from ones nose ;)

Even Royal yacht clubs are no where near as formal as they were when I was a young man.
 
This lack of uniform and braid is going to cause problems. How else are we non clubby's to differentiate between river pikeys looking for a new site and the BCC on a weekend cruise!
 
I don't know what some people actually wear on their boats, but a pair of Beige Chinos and a shirt would be fairly common.

Add a club tie, and an old Blazer, and you're ready for commodores drinks!

How hard is that?

Seriously!?
 
byron said:
It's only at special club functions that it is 'asked' but not demanded one wears a Reefer or Blazer. These are few and far between, maybe the annual dinner or some such. The ladies enjoy tarting up for such occasions and who are we to deny them this right by appearing as their consort in an old pair of jeans a paint smattered smock and a bogie hanging from ones nose ;)

Even Royal yacht clubs are no where near as formal as they were when I was a young man.
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I have the privilege of being a member of a Royal Yacht Club and on joining I mentioned the considerable (I thought) disadvantage of owning a LTTT. That was quicky dismissed by the club secretary as irrelevant - boating is an all inclusive sport, a wide church, all and any boaters are welcome - he said, adding - it might even encourage other members to widen their horizons!

What's wrong with "dressing up" on occasion - cricketers do it for matches and who complains. A little bit of formality, occasionally isn't bad - if that's what you want to do. Parading your boat past the club captain once a year - not to my taste - but why deride it in others? After all during Henley week or at TTBR folks do precisely that and nobody makes a fuss...

Live and let live.

Coming back to the ATYC issue - I do take issue with over gilding the lily. The number of clubs said to be represented is stuffed with clubs that have nothing to do with the non tidal Thames and some clubs are no longer members of ATYC. Not all Thames clubs are represented by ATYC for various reasons

Mr. Shefras has long been involved with boating on the River and well respected in some circles. So why overblow his standing with fudged figures? People why have to deal with him take him as he is.

The sad and inescapable truth is that club membership is declining, boaters just can't be bothered to take part in anything - even joining the TMBA which demands little is somewhat stuck.
BUT it is the silent majority who will make lots of noise when all the lockies are gone and the struggling CaRT get the River dumped on them. Once the lock houses are sold and local knowledge disipated, the River will become as sad as some of the canal system.
 
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No Regrets said:
I don't know what some people actually wear on their boats, but a pair of Beige Chinos and a shirt would be fairly common.

Add a club tie, and an old Blazer, and you're ready for commodores drinks!

How hard is that?

Seriously!?
Click to expand...

The cheapest Blazer I can find, (new), is here:

http://www.clifford-james.co.uk/buy.cfm/mens-jackets-and-coats/mens-navy-blazer/68/yes/49771

Is that the sort of thing or must it have a gold anchor embroidered on the breast pocket? Perhaps with a 'W' too before you say it! I have some beige chinos somewhere from the 1990's but they won't go around my waist anymore. Would my light brown Crag Hoppers suffice? Am now very distressed about the suitability of my footwear. On my little boat I usually wear something like this:

View attachment 30000


I'm sure that wouldn't do. But those 'deck shoe' things all offered by the likes of M&S and Clarkes these days and are more likely to be seen in a golf club or a Pontin's summer holiday camp than a serious boating club. One is reminded of Keeping up appearances when Hyacinth went afloat. Which shoes please?

Boating is far more complex than I had imagined.
 
I can't agree!

Firstly, there are members who buy used blazers from a second hand shop in Henley! Their boats may cost £80k+, but there is no shame in wearing a tried and trusted old blazer!

It's not about snobbery, just like Burgees and Ensigns, it's a tradition, and not a bad one!

I like to have a clean and properly dressed boat, it sets standards, sets Cruiser owners a step or two above the scruffy casual boaters and liveaboards IMHO. As Trueblue rightly said, do we really want things looking so down at heel the whole system falls over?

Deck shoes are comfy and practical, and cost £25 a pair. They go with anything from Jeans to smart casual wear and are good value. Thats not snobbery!
 
No Regrets said:
He's irrelevant now, the ATYC is slowly dying. Whats more important is what the next committee decides to do.

It's a problem all up and down the Thames to a certain degree, as clubs are struggling to keep members and some have already disappeared. The old guard are failing to renew members and committees, and it needs to be reversed or we'll be left with very little in the way of organisation.

New boaters need to be encouraged, rather than dissuaded with old fashioned ways and cliquey closed door practises. I'm not deriding traditions, but modernisation is essential.

The new way of the world involves embracing peoples aspirations, needs and technology. Pomp is not one of them, Transparency and friendliness is.
Click to expand...


Now confused.
 
I clearly stated 'I'm not deriding traditions'

These days, people want to take the easy way out.

Things that have a good reason to exist should survive, until people really can't be bothered (or persuaded, even!) to be involved. Darwins law exists in every bit of our life!

Look at things this way: Deck shoes are comfy and inexpensive (certainly compared to Training shoes, which are foolishly overpriced by comparison!) Blazers are uniform, hence easy to spot fellow boaters in a crowded bar, and a club tie identifies one as being a member of a club, useful in inter-club competitions and meetings.

Thats reason enough to keep them for the time being! :rolleyes:
 
O.K. understood.

I would be far more interested in a boating club which organised a few litter collections per year and wanted groups to tackle broken branches in the water etc though. I expect that's a hot potato because others are supposed to remove the branches / they belong to the land owner and so on. The point I'm trying to make is that I love my boat, the river and already manage to have a fair few tipples with my boating neighbours (hic). A boating club would have more interest to y.t. if it encouraged / empowered group action for good (river related) causes.
 
No Regrets said:
There's nothing stopping you from clearing things up on the riverbank. You don't have to join a club for that! :D
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I know. And I do it already. Do you? But let me aid your understanding. The following example is possibly peculiar to the very rural part of the Thames I use, I don't know, but it may explain better what I was trying to say above:

Upstream of my mooring the river becomes very narrow and fairly shallow. I know from reading and local anecdotes people used to take boats further than they do now because the very upper sections are obstructed by over-hanging / fallen trees. I don't think it would do any harm if I took a saw up there and removed branches from the river and then disposed of them sensibly. But I am wary of that because I'm not sure what the rules are and don't trust a bit of private googling to act as my legal advisor. If a club were to undertake the activity it might be better received by land owners and other interested parties. And so on.
 
If one wants to be really technical.
A Blazer is only worn by Crew the boat owner will wear a Reefer with black buttons.
To put a badge on the Blazer would be an absolute gaffe of the first order.
White trousers should never be worn after 7pm.
White shoes NEVER worn.
I can't find my old rule books from the 60s when I was a member of several prestigious Royal clubs but can remember many of the little quirks that we took for granted but modern boaters disdain.
 
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