Yacht Club Suggestions

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double-dutch

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I'm looking for a yacht club on the South Coast (Solent?) which owns Yachts :-) Does such a thing exist? Basically I would like to become a member of something where I can both socialize but also hook up with members to go sailing. All the clubs I've looked at so far don't really offer that.

Thoughts?
 
Scala said:
Could try Flexisail or Latitude. Not a club in the sense you mean, but might give you what you want. Some friends of mine are Flexisailers, works very well for them.
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Thanks Scala - I considered both but run into another issue. I'm on my own.... So could afford the Flexisail membership but have to do everything single handed and that's not doable. FlexiSail also does a scheme called FlexiCrew which I'm going to try next year but looking for other options as well.
 
Thanks Tom - do you have any suggestions? It's difficult to find out which are the most sucessfull ones in this without visitting / speaking to them all.
 
I don't know the area but might be worth getting in touch with your closest ones and go and have a look. I went to look at a boat in one club and came away saying I would never join a club, then I went to look at my current boat, bought it and kept it there as they were such a welcoming club.

It may also depend on what sort of sailing you want to do, some of the bigger RYA training clubs can be quite strict and professional, some of the smaller ones are more laid back. Give a few a call and pop down to see what they're like.
 
Look into the CA crewing service. Info. on www.theca.org.uk. This may give you introductions to boats in more than one location. Otherwise, certainly in the Midlands, there are clubs that specialise in charter and training e.g. Bromsgrove Boaters or Heart of England Offshore Cruising Association. I should imagine similar groups exist in the so called “Home Counties”.
 
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I think "The " most successful is difficult to judge as I suspect that many people will have limited experience. In the end it comes down to you and a boat owner in the club hitting it off sufficiently to be invited back. I know that RAFYC do have a new members rally to encourage the meeting of boatless crew with crewless boat owners and encourage contact via a crew list. Is it Better than other clubs???


Might be worth being more specific about what sort of sailing you want to do. If you want to do inshore racing then something like Royal Southern or warsash might be better
 
Really great suggestions here. Thank you all.

Jac about "what type of sailing do you want to do". I'm not really into racing. For me sailing is a relaxing day or two on the water and I've had many of those on the Solent. Don't mind what the weather is like and like to do and learn stuff. Did 2 weeks in Greece earlyer this year one of which was my first bareboat charter. Hopping from beautiful island to beautiful island and probably the best week I've ever had in my live. Shame I still have to work for a living and can't do that every week.

Most of the sailing I have done is day sailing as (I hate to admit it....) I've become acustom to living in relative luxery and slumming it out with 10 people in a tight cockpit is not really my thing. I prefer to pay a bit more and get my own on-suite solo cabin. That's one of the reasons I have never done a channel crossing, which in the right circumstances I would love to add to my sailing CV.
 
Once you get into it

You can hunt for RYA affiliated clubs that may not have yachts but are devoted to charter weekends, and longer with approved skippers and a process that means safety is factored in. A few in the Midlands including Bromsgrove Boaters I can vouch for.
 
Not really the Solent area, but I can recommend Castle Cove Sailing Club - http://www.ccsc.org.uk/
Based in Portland Harbour the club caters for both dinghies and keelboats, and there are members who race, members who cruise and some do a bit of both!
A down to earth self help club with members from all walks of life and financial budgets.

Approximately 40 keelboats moored in the harbour, belonging to club members. Frequently members need additional crew etc which is a good way to get started and meet and socialise with other members.
 
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I believe there's Ashdown Sailing Club that welcomes people with and without boats. Copied & pasted from their website:

[SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1][SIZE=-1]Ashdown Sailing Club is a friendly club with members ranging from very experienced sailors, to novices who have never set foot on a boat before.

The club puts crew and boat owners together on club cruises and rallies, both in the Solent area and further afield.

Broadly speaking, new members would fit into one of 3 categories:

Novice or little experience
If you have no experience at all of sailing you can learn the ropes in a relaxed environment.

Boat owner (experienced or not)
If you own a boat you get to enjoy the company of other like minded sailors. If you wish you can be put in touch with members to join you on cruises as crew. If you wish to sail with your own crew, that's fine.

Experienced sailor
If you can sail but don't own a boat ASC provides sailing opportunities on the south coast and overseas without the costs of chartering.

Ashdown Sailing Club creates an environment for sharing sailing skills and know-how in a fun and supportive way.

The costs for all are minimal, and every member builds up useful sailing contacts. Membership is only twenty pounds per year with no joining fee. When sailing, food, drink and mooring costs are split. [/SIZE][/SIZE][/SIZE]
 
I'm not a member but you might want to look at Epsom yacht club which notwithstanding its location might have crewing arrangements. Clearly a number of corporates have sailing clubs for staff as do professional bodies which offer chances for crewing but obviously these are dependent on your current job etc. There are yacht clubs which own club boats but not aware of any which own yachts apart from those like John Lewis or some banks (do they still have bank staff yacht clubs though?) etc plus the various forces boats .
 
If you are in the Civil Service (very loosely, e.g. includes NHS, Police, ex-employees, or even your partner) then the Civil Service Sailing Association (http://cs-sailing.org.uk) owns three or four yachts which are organised on a charter basis to allow all members to participate in either training, racing or cruises. You will however have to pay to participate. It is in part south coast based - used to be at Gosport.

Joining a normal yacht club on spec and then offering your services as crew is a gamble. All clubs support crew-lists, but many are not good at actually ensuring it happens. Then you have to be pushy, e.g. showing up on the dock just before a race hoping someone has a spare place. A bit off-putting if you are not experienced.
 
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