Sailing clubs in lockdown..

[jordanbasset]

Why not just ask the committee members why they have decided to act as they have?

 

[TernVI]

Both my clubs have kept the bar, clubrooms and changing rooms closed.
They are offering limited racing.
We can go for a drink at a pub, we can get food at a cafe.
The unique thing the clubs offer is racing and they are doing that as safely as possible.
One of the clubs polled the members (in June IIRC) about opening the bar and got a fairly negative response.
AIUI, later rules and interpretation from the RYA were not favourable to opening the bar etc.

Both clubs have been good with members keeping in touch online and offering support of various kinds.
Membership year has been extended, this year's fees good to mid next year, so hopefully we won't lose too many members.

 

[RivalRedwing]

Looking like a thread that is fast becoming one to be put on the C19 forum....

 

[doug748]

"Is the club house open?
Is the bar open?
Are changing rooms open?
If the club used to do food, is it still available?
If so, is it a proper sit down meal Etc or take away sandwiches?"


My club is open for ale and food, doing a good trade. Full menu, meals and snacks. Careful eye kept on numbers, entry and exit doors etc. Strict queuing at the bar which is now fully enclosed. No guests, list of names taken.

Don't know about the showers but I expect they may be open for the dinghy sailors.

.

 

[Newboy6458]

I’m a member at two sailing clubs and one gliding club.
The gliding club is the most frit. A nice bar and kitchen as well as a caravan on the airfield with full kitchen facilities. No club organised catering or drinking of any form whatsoever.
Of the two sailing clubs one much more timid than the other. Committee members at the door to ensure Covid compliance. Card purchases only for drinks, limited opening hours. Cash purchase only for contract catering as they can’t afford the card fees.
The club with the most elderly membership population treats you like grown ups and head and shoulders most pragmatic.
Not a common interpretation of the rules between them. Crazy

 

[dom]

Seems some golf clubs are offering a service.

What is it that you would like, surely not for a club to act carelessly or illegally?

Perhaps your club simply doesn’t have the means to apply the relevant regs in a commercial way?

Bearing in mind that infecting others with a potentially lethal virus is nobody’s right

 

[steveeasy]

Perhaps it's in the best interest of their members and staff. Makes sense to me not to open.
Steveeasy

 

[Tomahawk]

It is not in the best interests of members for the second ciao side club to not function. There is no point in it being a club if it is effectively closed to members using the facilities they pay for through membership fees.

It’s not a matter of acting illegally or recklessly, but rather copying good practice being applied by pubs and restaurants and providing a service instead of no service.

 

[xyachtdave]

Both the clubs I'm a member of have reopened the bar and galley with a queuing system, have less tables with larger spacings and the limited menus mentioned above.

The larger social gatherings are all cancelled for the foreseeable future, cruising not really effected as mostly family crews, racing very quiet on the Medway, more going on in the Orwell.

Everyone appears to be making the best of a bad lot, no complaints from me and certainly nothing going on that obviously flouts the ever changing guidelines.

 

[Black Sheep]

But FFS, we are offshore yachtsmen. We dance with the widowmaker every time we cast off and leave the harbour. . Yet we are still alive after sailing for 40 plus years.. That says something about keeping ourselves safe in a dangerous environment.

No it doesn't.

And specifically it says absolutely nothing about your ability to assess and deal with risks of infectious diseases.

I'm a little fed up of yachting exceptionalism

 

[duncan99210]

If you don’t like the way the club is working, then either get on the committee at the next opportunity and change things or leave. It’s one of my pet peeves as a pilot gig club secretary that the committee put in a lot effort sorting things out and then get nothing but whinges from folks who couldn’t be bothered to do any of the work....
The rules for social venues are constantly changing: the latest dictat is that we now have a duty in law (as opposed to guidance) to collect names and retain for 21 days. Oh, instead we can now get a customised poster from the NHS which customers can scan with their NHS track and trace app - but that’s not up and running just yet. And just reading the guidance and law online is painful as it’s so badly written you have trouble working out if the rules apply to you or not.....
I can quite understand any committee saying we’re taking the easy way out. No bar, no catering, it’s just not worth the hassle and investment. And then along will come a change in the rules and all the investment in time and money will sit there for another few months gathering cobwebs.
Well done to the clubs who’ve reopened but I do understand those who have not.

 

[dunedin]

Is the club preventing you from going sailing? If not, why not go sailing and relax. Buying beers and meals out are luxuries, and can be done elsewhere or at another time.
And as Duncan says, if you can manage the club better apply to join the committee and do so. They are generally run entirely by members for members.

 

[Birdseye]

I wouldn't be in a club that would have me as a member. ??

Never heard that before!

Two clubs. One is a pretty basic " working man's "club where the rules are totally ignored in reality. Food is school dinner standard at best and it depends on one member who is caring for a sick husband at the moment so nothing on offer. The other club is more middle class with employees and a commodore who is ex public sector so we have an endless diet of rules and changes by email. The bar is open now but table service. Food is on offer in a limited way and pretty basic. Toilets are open part time as are showers. Most members pretty casual about masks distancing etc but some are very nervous.

Likely this reflects the UK as a whole. Unclear rules, people doing their own thing, poor organisation, ineffectual response. Same way we do most things.

 

[Tomahawk]

If you don’t like the way the club is working, then either get on the committee at the next opportunity and change things or leave. It’s one of my pet peeves as a pilot gig club secretary that the committee put in a lot effort sorting things out and then get nothing but whinges from folks who couldn’t be bothered to do any of the work....
The rules for social venues are constantly changing: the latest dictat is that we now have a duty in law (as opposed to guidance) to collect names and retain for 21 days. Oh, instead we can now get a customised poster from the NHS which customers can scan with their NHS track and trace app - but that’s not up and running just yet. And just reading the guidance and law online is painful as it’s so badly written you have trouble working out if the rules apply to you or not.....
I can quite understand any committee saying we’re taking the easy way out. No bar, no catering, it’s just not worth the hassle and investment. And then along will come a change in the rules and all the investment in time and money will sit there for another few months gathering cobwebs.
Well done to the clubs who’ve reopened but I do understand those who have not.

Can you provide a reference to that one?

As to the committee taking the easy way out.. I suggest it somewhat dismisses the reason for having a club in the first instance.

 

[duncan99210]

As to the committee taking the easy way out.. I suggest it somewhat dismisses the reason for having a club in the first instance

So if you don’t like it then join the committee and change things. I get really brassed off with folks who take the attitude that “the committee should fix this” and don’t get off their bums and do some of the work.
As to the track and trace, have a deep and entertaining read of the government websites. As per joining the committee I can’t be bothered to do the work you seem to think others should be doing for you.

 

[RobbieW]

Can you provide a reference to that one?...

Heres a starter for ten...
Restaurants, pubs, bars and takeaway services - Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19) - Guidance - GOV.UK

Another aspect of the decision on whether to open is the number of staff or volunteers now required to operate a service. My club are operating as table service only for bar/food, we have 2-3 x the people to do that and be 'Covid-Secure' than we used to. The question is really how much is that costing and how long can we continue doing it. Many of the fixed costs of operating the site are the same whether the club is open or not and it is that that the members are paying for with thier subs. Bar and food service needs to operate at least at break even and hopefully contribute some profit.

We opened the toilets, but not the showers, for members in mid May as well as operating a launch service with distancing in place. We opened the bar on July 4th and added food a bit later.

 

[chewi]

Heres a starter for ten...
Restaurants, pubs, bars and takeaway services - Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19) - Guidance - GOV.UK

Another aspect of the decision on whether to open is the number of staff or volunteers now required to operate a service. My club are operating as table service only for bar/food, we have 2-3 x the people to do that and be 'Covid-Secure' than we used to. The question is really how much is that costing and how long can we continue doing it. Many of the fixed costs of operating the site are the same whether the club is open or not and it is that that the members are paying for with thier subs. Bar and food service needs to operate at least at break even and hopefully contribute some profit.

We opened the toilets, but not the showers, for members in mid May as well as operating a launch service with distancing in place. We opened the bar on July 4th and added food a bit later.

same here. We have no employees, so we need volunteers to do all club work and could not really oblige the old volunteer list to continue, so we opened up teh lounge under limitations with new volunteers. We have had 2 weekly covid meetiings on zoom to deal with the latest changes and risk assessments ad nauseum. We have a volunteer barman and now a volunteer supervisor to check the members stick to our covid rules to protect the committee and the members from those who dont care or are more interested in their members rights than the safety concerns. Our T's and C's and rules were not written with a pandemic in mind so most of our members are sympathetic to the limitations. Tomahawk would not be getting any support if he were in my club, and I am one the most vocal in trying to get open.

 

[doug748]

Yes, all clubs are different and it is difficult for the smaller operations which rely heavily on volunteers

Further to my post 24 I should point out that out that the 7 day bar and food service is possible because we have a full time steward, a large non sailing membership and the food operation is a privately run franchise. There is therefore both motivation and manpower available to get things up and going.

.

 

[st599]

Don't know about the showers but I expect they may be open for the dinghy sailors.

I'm not sure our committee would go against the guidelines in that way.

Indoor facilities, apart from toilets and through-ways, should be kept closed.

Guidance for providers of outdoor facilities on the phased return of sport and recreation in England

 

[LONG_KEELER]

I'm finding that eating outside is the way to go at the moment. In fact, I seem to be enjoying it more than I used to when we dined inside. In recent years , there seems to be a trend toward idealizing victimhood .