RS200 Nationals - Clubs

How come you weren't there, Tom?

Originally posted by jaydub How come you weren't there, Tom?

Hardly harmless banter if they have filled in official documents.

Originally posted by ian.r.mcdonald I don't think that entering from a club that doesn't sail dinghies or even doesn't exist is acceptable

Perhaps a bit strong. There are two threads to this.

The first is that in RRS the entry is required to be from a member of an affiliated club or National Authority. That is not up for dispute and there are very sound reasons for the rule. I'm not sure the club in question actually must be mentioned on the entry form, but its probably good manners to do so. There's certainly no requirement that the club should sail dinghies in the RRS. If a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron wants to race in a Laser Open meeting at my club they'd be very welcome.

The second is putting down a club name for a team prize. If the club is a real club, and the people putting down the name are not members then firstly its traditionally been considered a serious breach of good manners to claim membership of a club when you are not a member, and secondly its a false statement on an official form. That must be misconduct territory.
However if a bunch of sailors decide they are going to form "Junction 9 on the M25 Sailing Club" with membership restricted to themselves and no membership fees, then why not? They need to be members of affiliated clubs as well in order to enter, but I see nothing in the RRS about how long a club is supposed to have been in existence, or that it should have bricks and mortar. Mercury Bay Boating Club famously didn't have any premises when they challenged for the America's Cup! It might be that a Notice of Race or SIs puts limits on this but I glanced at an old RS200 Champs SIs and saw nothing like that.