Funding for clubs transforms sailing opportunities
by Mark Jardine 26 Jun 2025 14:30 BST
Launching on Saturday during the 2025 Notts County Cooler © David Eberlin
This time of year sees a vast number of events happening in Europe and North America which makes keeping up with posting all the news pretty hard work. It's a good problem to have, and we love hearing about all your events, but it can eat into potential times to go sailing.
Where I sail at Keyhaven on the south coast of the UK is tidal, and with the long days of summer the past few opportunities have been early morning and evening high water times, and I slightly resented that I had to host the latest RYA Participation Webinar at 7pm on Monday evening when it was one of possible opportunities to sail.
During the webinar we heard from a range of UK clubs, walking through their case studies, and then heard from experts in finance who talked us through the opportunities and pitfalls of acquiring funds.
Here's a brief overview of the clubs we heard from and their reasons for needing funding. You can watch the webinar in full here.
Ullswater Yacht Club holds an enviable position on the waterside in the Lake District National Park, and holds many sailing events including the world-famous Lord Birkett Trophy.
Keith Lockey, Treasurer at Ullswater Yacht Club since 2019, outlined how the club took out two 20 year mortgage loans in 2006 and 2013 of a total £680,000 to acquire 5 acres of freehold for the club. The cost of this has added approximately £150 per annum per member to the membership fee, but has secured the club's future, as they don't have to pay rental fees or renew a leasehold.
It was again land that led Christchurch Sailing Club to require finance, and Adrian Dwyer described how their club - which has a thriving fleet of Finns, Scows and cruising yachts amongst others - proceeded. They'd previously acquired the riverbed for 130 moorings in front of the club through a mortgage, which is now fully redeemed, and more recently the opportunity arose to acquire a parcel of land for car parking. The problem was £200,000 needed to be raised in six weeks, so they resorted to 'member loan notes', which paid annual interest and capital at the end of the time. This was highly successful, and was oversubscribed by 200%.
With Christchurch being a popular tourist spot, parking can be difficult at peak times, and this additional space has meant that members can easily access the club when otherwise it may have been both costly and difficult. Finances at the club are tight, and with rising costs recently a couple of other capital expenditure projects have been delayed, but this strategic purchase via a 'soft' loan has been vital for the club's future.
We then heard from Notts County Sailing Club, the biggest club in the Midlands, having access to 130 acres of water, where Ross Ryan described how the club took a 'rejuvenation journey'. The club currently leases the lake and land, and their investment in the club had been low while renegotiating this lease, but thankfully in 2014 they secured a new 30-year lease which allowed them to look to the future and plan strategic development.
In 2017 they expanded the clubhouse facilities, with the aim of building on training and female engagement in sailing. The club had built a cash reserve, but then sought the help of RYA funding advisers to help secure a £75,000 Sport England funding grant. Having gone through this process they subsequently secured another £100,000 in grants from other organisations over the past decade.
The results have been spectacular and the club is now hugely disciplined financially and with their strategic planning, has gender parity in its membership, has thriving junior and youth development programmes, is a Sailability Centre, and has diversified their activities which brings in other sources of income outside the membership base.
What came across from all the clubs featured is that during the financial management processes leading up to a request for funding, opportunities were discussed and implemented as to how the club could make best use of its assets. It almost seemed an oxymoron to me that the club borrowing money was the catalyst for change and growth, turning fortunes around and leading to more people sailing.
We also heard from finance experts, Dom Marshall from Hugh James, Joe Dalton from SALT Finance, and the RYA Funding Adviser Howard Nelson who gave invaluable advice which echoed so much of what the clubs said with reference to financial management and strategic planning.
It was superb to have 193 participants on the webinar, showing the depth of interest in the subject, and I highly recommend watching the recording when it's online shortly.
As it was, it was blowing over 30 knots at Keyhaven on Monday evening so I didn't even miss out on a sail, and the webinar proved to be our best and most useful yet. We've talked to clubs that are thriving, and I had no idea beforehand that the idea of getting a loan could facilitate that.
Clubs are the lifeblood of our sport, and helping spread the word as to how some are succeeding in these webinars is something I'm hugely proud to be a part of. I'd like to also give thanks to Gareth Brookes and Adam Parry at the RYA for the time and effort they put into these.
The financial models for clubs vary depending on where they are in the world, and it was great to chat with the Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club team in Australia last year about how they are growing sailing, particularly in youth participation. The common theme though is how strong management and planning for the future are both critical to success.
In the UK, the RYA are approaching selected financial lenders to explore the opportunity of offering a portfolio of financially sustainable clubs in need of significant capital. This aggregated approach provides a more attractive proposition for a financial lender and makes securing preferential rates of lending more likely. At this stage they are asking for expressions of interest on this form to find out more. There's no obligation and they won't share your details with anyone without your consent.
We will be continuing to build on what we do with our great clubs in the near future on Sail-World.com, YachtsandYachting.com, and our YouTube channel. I take my hat off to all the dedicated volunteers and staff who help to run them. Without their time and commitment the kind of sailing we all enjoy would be nearly impossible.
Mark Jardine
Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com Managing Editor