Bewl Valley

I'd tend to agree with Matt given what I see at local clubs. There has definitely been a shift away from travellers circuits and members seem to want more social sailing rather than racing, with chilled out evenings with the kids splashing around in oppies and toppers, the odd die hard out practising his manoeuvres while the rest have a cheeky beer and a BBQ. It's not my bag being a through and through dinghy racer but it seems popular, and as I get older and my kids grow up it does appeal more!

I am intrigued by the idea of a sailing club with a pool. What's wrong with the lake/sea?

Gosh, which club has a pool?

I think that the problem with many sailing clubs model is that the subs are set at a level to achieve breakeven or a marginal profit.  Also your typical racing dinghy sailor is an optimist.  And we all want our clubs to be inclusive and not to see potential competitors leave the club due to high subs.  This all conspires to leave clubs very exposed to any variance to forecast income or expenditure.  In the case of Bewl, at the rent level (let alone rates) I am amazed they have survived so long.

Like Jim, I know of very few people able to spend 10k or more on a boat. If I look at the two clubs I'm involved with there are only 4 or 5 brand new boats across some 600 memberships And those boats were around 6k. I would say most boats in the dinghy compound and out on the water are in the £500-2500 range. Both clubs have pretty stable membership numbers and membership fees sub £100 and a good deal of volunteer members organising training, socials, maintenance etc.
I have family members who are or have been members of clubs in the mould of what Limey recommends and interestingly all of those clubs have in recent years lost members and become increasingly about supplying the local well off retirees with somewhere to dine. The soul has been ripped out of them and the few remaining boats littering the shore are simply a reminder of what the club used to be about.
There are alternatives to the commercialisation of leisure time and they offer a far more rewarding and enjoyable experience.

Edited by craiggo - 24 Jun 15 at 10:24pm

Theres no reason why young sailors can't be subsidised . Find it amazing that people will happily pay 10 - 15+ K for a new dinghy and then begrudge a fraction of that to have somewhere nice to sail. 10 pounds a week for membership  and boat space is excessive ; really !!!!!!! I think you only have to look at the average weekly attendance at most sailing clubs to see it aint working at the moment. Carry on and Bewl will be the first of many