Yacht Club Membership Fees

[doug748]

Our comrades in the Motor Boat section are discussing Yacht Clubs and one contributor suggests that the San Diego club manages to do rather well.
It's yearly fees seem to be in the order of 3,000 dollars but the good news is that that includes a set $600 of food or drink - thus making sure that the bar and restaurant are kept busy.

This is the clincher - there is a initiation charge, they don't put your head down the bog but do operate a sliding scale - from nothing if you are under 26 rising, by great big lumps, to $24,000 if you are over 60. :nonchalance:
There must be some serious high rollers there.

My club is 66 quid a year with £20 joining fee. But you do have to pay for your own pies, unless they run out of course.

 

[Poignard]

My yacht club's annual membership fee is, I think, only about £33. But, although it has moorings it does not have a clubhouse. "Our clubhouse is our cockpit".

 

[maby]

I was just looking at the Chichester Yacht Club membership fees before opening this thread... At £450 per annum, it would make a very expensive private pub and restaurant - and I know that that is the only use I would make of it. A pity really - it's a nice site and I would like to join, but I simply can't justify that sort of price for access to a bar.

 

[capnsensible]

My club's yacht club's annual membership fee is, I think, only about £33. But, although it has moorings it does not have a clubhouse. "Our clubhouse is our cockpit".

:encouragement:

 

[Orion Jim]

Our comrades in the Motor Boat section are discussing Yacht Clubs and one contributor suggests that the San Diego club manages to do rather well.
It's yearly fees seem to be in the order of 3,000 dollars but the good news is that that includes a set $600 of food or drink - thus making sure that the bar and restaurant are kept busy.

This is the clincher - there is a initiation charge, they don't put your head down the bog but do operate a sliding scale - from nothing if you are under 26 rising, by great big lumps, to $24,000 if you are over 60. :nonchalance:
There must be some serious high rollers there.

My club is 66 quid a year with £20 joining fee. But you do have to pay for your own pies, unless they run out of course.

A mere pittance to become a member of one of the most prestigious yacht clubs in the world. They hosted three America’s Cup races to name one distinct honor. Membership, as does golf club memberships, opens a lot of doors to the rarified air of the upper echelon of the business community. Consider membership a business investment with the added benefit of being seasick now and then.

 

[johnalison]

Our local sailing association costs £5/year. We have regular meetings and summer events but no premises.

 

[shan]

Yearly fees are very similar to Marina fees..... although the initiation fee sounds a bit ouch.

 

[jamie N]

£120/year, with free tea & coffee though!!

 

[ProDave]

£120/year, with free tea & coffee though!!

Less if you keep your boat elsewhere (or don't even own your own boat) when you only need to be an assocoiate member :encouragement:

 

[Praxinoscope]

As an OAP my £20 annual membership (£30 for members under retirement age) is great value to use the clubhouse and facilities. The club owns the freehold premises in a prime position on the seafront with views over the harbour and sea.
Unfortunately the local council control the moorings.
I used to belong the The Little Ship Club, (did my Ocean YM shorebased there) but as I rarely get to London nowadays I sadly can no longer justify the fees.

 

[Lightwave395]

I've sadly just quit the Island Sailing Club with our renewal arriving at £445. We ate half a dozen very nice meals there last year and that was that. I'd have been happy to be a 'social' member but they don't have those so that's it.

 

[maby]

I've sadly just quit the Island Sailing Club with our renewal arriving at £445. We ate half a dozen very nice meals there last year and that was that. I'd have been happy to be a 'social' member but they don't have those so that's it.

Likewise! But as I've observed in other threads, offering a low cost social membership would probably finish most yacht clubs off - a high proportion of their members would simply switch, slashing their income, and it would attract relatively few new members. I would happily pay £50 per year for access to a private bar, but can't justify £400 or more.

 

[Resolution]

Our comrades in the Motor Boat section are discussing Yacht Clubs and one contributor suggests that the San Diego club manages to do rather well.
It's yearly fees seem to be in the order of 3,000 dollars but the good news is that that includes a set $600 of food or drink - thus making sure that the bar and restaurant are kept busy.

This is the clincher - there is a initiation charge, they don't put your head down the bog but do operate a sliding scale - from nothing if you are under 26 rising, by great big lumps, to $24,000 if you are over 60. :nonchalance:
There must be some serious high rollers there.

My club is 66 quid a year with £20 joining fee. But you do have to pay for your own pies, unless they run out of course.

The whole subject of what does a yacht club offer to its members , and what does it charge for this, is fascinating and complex. Just as sailing boats range from small & low valued up to superyachts worth millions, yacht clubs range from modest to extraordinary. My own UK club is at the posher end of the UK scale (and a reciprocal of the San Diego) and seems to satisfy quite a lot of members that membership is worth paying a chunky subscription each year. It is a fine balance though - when we raised subs by a bit more than inflation recently quite a number of members headed for the exit.
Entry fees have always worried me. Are they there to cover administrative costs of joining or just another way of soaking some innocent enthusiast? Are they an attempt to put an asset value on the club? Many long-established clubs own real estate with a material resale value.

 

[wombat88]

I was just looking at the Chichester Yacht Club membership fees before opening this thread... At £450 per annum, it would make a very expensive private pub and restaurant - and I know that that is the only use I would make of it. A pity really - it's a nice site and I would like to join, but I simply can't justify that sort of price for access to a bar.

Same here, I was a member for a few years but when I gave up racing it just didn't make much sense and very expensive. However, I still go as a visitor arriving by water.

Same applies at a number of the local clubs, visitors arriving in a boat welcome.

Bosham fees reduce by around 50% (I think) for the over 65s...

 

[LadyInBed]

When I got my first boat I joined a club to get a mooring. There were those who went to the bar and those that went sailing, If you don't live on the doorstep then it's hard to do both.
I've never bothered with a club since then.

 

[Cantata]

My club's £50 annual sub has bought me many friendships amongst a very nice sociable bunch of people, all enthusiastic and active sailors.
I went to the San Diego YC once, many years ago. Didn't seem that special.

 

[oldgit]

Some of us suspect that high joining fees are/were merely a way of keeping out the riff raff and not for covering cost of any administration, why anyone should get reduced membership subscriptions , simply for being old, is also a mystery.
Any discounts should be going to youngsters and beginners to encourge them in. ?

 

[Resolution]

Some of us suspect that high joining fees are/were merely a way of keeping out the riff raff and not for covering cost of any administration, why anyone should get reduced membership subscriptions , simply for being old, is also a mystery.
Any discounts should be going to youngsters and beginners to encourage them in. ?

The case for reduced subs for (very) elderly members is that once your active life has diminished to a sad reclusive dribble, keeping up a full rate subscription is an easy expense-cutting target. By offering to discount subs for the elderly many will just keep on paying long after their ability to come and enjoy the club has reduced almost to zero.
Yes, reduced rates for young members is sound sense. In my club, our opening YM rate is only 15% of the full rate.

 

[Walther]

Membership, as does golf club memberships, opens a lot of doors to the rarified air of the upper echelon of the business community. Consider membership a business investment

Most wealthy/influential YC members are open to meeting new sailors, but for the purpose of talking about sailing, not being cadged for employment, investment opportunities, etc.

Business hustlers might well be better off here than at any yacht club.

 

[Walther]

The case for reduced subs for (very) elderly members is that once your active life has diminished to a sad reclusive dribble, keeping up a full rate subscription is an easy expense-cutting target. By offering to discount subs for the elderly many will just keep on paying long after their ability to come and enjoy the club has reduced almost to zero.

Exactly: money for old rope.

Like non-residential members, the majority of elderly members place such little demand upon clubs’ resources that they effectively subsidize regular members.