The curious case of RHYC and the pirate flag.

[Saguday]

Are you well travelled?

Since you obviously don't know me I'm not even going to bother responding to that

Shame on you as a visitor for not respecting the rules of the host club.

Where in my post did it say we didn't respect the rules? There is no shame in commenting on a rule which caused inconvenience for visitors as there was no wet bar and no alternative provision for food and drink. Not the way I would have done it.

It's not as if this rule is rare.

It is in the 21st Century, although perhaps not in the clubs where blazers are still popular.

I suppose if you were playing cricket you would wear your studs in the clubhouse!

I would if the host club had made no other provision for it's visitors refreshment. The host also has a duty of care, or at least courtesy.

 

[xyachtdave]

Occasionally I think about joining a yacht club. Grateful for the above post, another year's subs saved. I really admire what RHYC achieved in their clubhouse rebuild but a marina is a place without a membership committee and I like that.

I'd be willing to bet most yacht clubs in the country would love to have you as a member due to falling membership numbers, don't be put off be these old fools blithering on about wearing the wrong trousers, join, get yourself on the committee and suggest a few rule changes!

Or at least wind them up a bit

 

[Charlotte Anne]

Lazy Kipper, I think I save a much as our family membership by being there.

1. Cheap swinging mooring - would be a bigger saving if we could get into the club marina (relative to other marinas not my mooring!).
2. Good pub food for significantly less than pub prices.
3. Cheap junior sailing with rescue boats/ qualified instructors & coaches.

Our problem is we are at the club so much we never have time to use the yacht!

And I even like a decent proportion of the members.....

 

[mrming]

Being an ex-Commode of a sailing club where everyone could go everywhere and we didn't bother with all this stuff I remember being quite taken aback when entering the clubhouse of a certain south coast yacht club after coming ashore between races, and with a very short time to grab food and drink, to be told "Oilies are not allowed in the bar". Oilies FFS, we were all each wearing hundreds of quids worth of Henri Lloyd/Dougie Gill's finest and weren't even wet. Heaven forfend the people in their blazers and suits in the yacht club restaurant should have their eyes injured by the sight of actual sailors using the club facilities. Not for me all that b*ll*x.

I know a very down to earth club which has this rule. It's because all their upholstery got ruined / smelly from people sitting in wet gear and it cost a small fortune to re-do. Fair enough your gear wasn't wet but you can see how it's easier just not to allow it than to have the argument every time. Not saying this was the reason at the South coast club you visited, but sometimes the ocassional rule is actually for a practical reason.

 

[nigelmercier]

... WDMTGTS is incidentally a superb read - even for adults. A good story, and crammed full of local knowledge and seamanship. It got me hooked on sailing as a twelve year old and I'm still at it over forty years later.

I was pleased to find it's available for a Kindle: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0057WTFFM/dolcetto-21

 

[Koeketiene]

I know a very down to earth club which has this rule. It's because all their upholstery got ruined / smelly from people sitting in wet gear and it cost a small fortune to re-do.

Which is more inappropriate in a YC bar? Oilies or upholstery?

 

[mrming]

Which is more inappropriate in a YC bar? Oilies or upholstery?

So they should switch to plastic chairs instead of comfy seats? Okay I'll suggest that...

 

[Koeketiene]

So they should switch to plastic chairs instead of comfy seats? Okay I'll suggest that...

Why not?
A YC should be about sailing: first and foremost.
A YC should not just be somewhere OAPs gather for a bit of posh nosh in a boaty setting.

 

[mrming]

Why not?
A YC should be about sailing: first and foremost.
A YC should not just be somewhere OAPs gather for a bit of posh nosh in a boaty setting.

In my experience there are 2 priorities.

1) Sailing
2) Drinking

When drinking it's nice to have a padded seat. I agree that posh nosh should not be a priority.

 

[Otter]

Lazy Kipper, I think I save a much as our family membership by being there.

1. Cheap swinging mooring - would be a bigger saving if we could get into the club marina (relative to other marinas not my mooring!).
2. Good pub food for significantly less than pub prices.
3. Cheap junior sailing with rescue boats/ qualified instructors & coaches.

Our problem is we are at the club so much we never have time to use the yacht!

And I even like a decent proportion of the members.....

Agreed Charlotte, I think RHYC is great and it's the sort of club I learned to sail in. The get-up-and-go way they built the clubhouse is admirable. Next door is a big marina with the profits disappearing off to a corporate HQ, all the income from RHYC stays there for the benefit of members.

Sadly I can't join, very young children mean we need a pontoon berth, but there is understandably a long waiting list at RHYC. I should have joined before we had children! I know people do use a swinging mooring with little ones but not for us with a 3 and a 7 year old. Otherwise we'd be there and the nippers in the training classes and us enjoying the food and.... darn it, it does sound good.

 

[Charlotte Anne]

Fred D in action but:

We bought our yacht when our two must have been 5 & 7. To begin with I often went out to the mooring on my own (our boat is only 26ft so relatively easy to do this alone) and met the family on the club hammerhead. Quickly it changed so one of the boys would come with me and helm the boat back from the mooring while i put the fenders out. Now they both want to learn to bring the boat alongside but it will have to wait until the hammerhead is empty and i can see that Geoff is not around! Without the hammerhead to load & unload the clobber it would not work for us.

 

[pmagowan]

Why do yacht clubs not simply have a rule that trumps all others; 'Never make a visiting sailor or his guests feel uncomfortable or unwelcome'.

 

[Sixpence]

Why do yacht clubs not simply have a rule that trumps all others; 'Never make a visiting sailor or his guests feel uncomfortable or unwelcome'.

I prefer the East Coast Forum rule book

 

[nortada]

An interesting set of views.

For me it is simple.

A club is first & foremost for its members. Be that sailing, drinking or just snobbery.

When we enter their domain we abide by their traditions & rules. If we don't like it we don't go back. Our choice.

What we do not have is the right to demand/expect them to accommodate our point of view

 

[Saguday]

I know a very down to earth club which has this rule. It's because all their upholstery got ruined / smelly from people sitting in wet gear and it cost a small fortune to re-do. Fair enough your gear wasn't wet but you can see how it's easier just not to allow it than to have the argument every time. Not saying this was the reason at the South coast club you visited, but sometimes the ocassional rule is actually for a practical reason.

We didn't want to sit down on the posh upholstery (wouldn't have if we were all wet and foetid anyway) but we weren't even allowed go in to order at the bar and then stand outside and consume. I am completely fine with rules that protect a clubs property and dignity but if you're going to put yourself out to host a local championship or other event and you have such rules the club *must* make other provision, otherwise people will exercise their right not to go back again. Like we did.

The only times I've really come across this sort of thing is in old yacht clubs when they host a dinghy racing event and I'm afraid in this very small number of cases I'm sure there is an element of snobbery involved. Such clubs may well be entitled to such snobbery but contrariwise they are certainly not entitled to my money and patronage in future.

 

[Saguday]

When we enter their domain we abide by their traditions & rules. If we don't like it we don't go back. Our choice.

Correct. And in a fiscally-tight market and declining club membership this fact needs to be noted.

(QUOTE]What we do not have is the right to demand/expect them to accommodate our point of view[/QUOTE]

Then they lose goodwill, then custom and then income and are on a sure path to self-destruction. Their choice. Still, as long as their club traditions are maintained...

 

[nortada]

Correct. And in a fiscally-tight market and declining club membership this fact needs to be noted.

(QUOTE]What we do not have is the right to demand/expect them to accommodate our point of view

Then they lose goodwill, then custom and then income and are on a sure path to self-destruction. Their choice. Still, as long as their club traditions are maintained...[/QUOTE]

Blazers go down with the ship!

 

[theoldsalt]

We didn't want to sit down on the posh upholstery (wouldn't have if we were all wet and foetid anyway) but we weren't even allowed go in to order at the bar and then stand outside and consume. I am completely fine with rules that protect a clubs property and dignity but if you're going to put yourself out to host a local championship or other event and you have such rules the club *must* make other provision, otherwise people will exercise their right not to go back again. Like we did.

The only times I've really come across this sort of thing is in old yacht clubs when they host a dinghy racing event and I'm afraid in this very small number of cases I'm sure there is an element of snobbery involved. Such clubs may well be entitled to such snobbery but contrariwise they are certainly not entitled to my money and patronage in future.

Oh, come on people. Is it that difficult to remove wet weather gear and hang it up - perhaps in the changing room - when entering a clubhouse.
You would probably remove wet weather gear when going aboard a friend's boat for a social evening - wouldn't you ?

 

[Saguday]

In the middle of a championship, between races, yes.

 

[Koeketiene]

Blazers go down with the ship!

As they are entitled to.
But they should not expect any sympathy from me when they do.