Over the winter I had a chance to visit 43 yacht clubs, often while lecturing.
At every stop, talking with flag officers, junior sailors, managers,
and active volunteers, I was struck by two things. First, how much
everyone involved with a club aims to run their clubs better and,
second, their deep curiosity about what other clubs around the country
are doing to handle tough issues. What issues? Aging membership,
declining participation on the water, growing regulatory restrictions,
budget deficits,
rising insurance premiums, the need to
upgrade facilities, and policy questions like reciprocity or
governance. It's enough to make your head spin; however, I was
heartened to see many clubs taking on these and other projects with
success.
In a speech at the International Sailing Summit last
fall, retiring ISAF President Paul Henderson observed that too many
clubs are run by "knife and fork" managers who don't understand that
the needs of yacht club members extend beyond the dining room.
Henderson's point is valid, anda club's board of directors must
regularly review the club's purpose.
Their objective should be
to make a yacht club essential to its membership and surrounding
community. If your club hasn't evaluated itself against this criteria,
a questionnaire is a helpful first step. Interviews of different
constituents will give further guidance.
Next, your club
should develop a long range plan through a process with broad input.
Town hall style meetings will help your LRP committee develop a point
of view consistent with what members want, and an inclusive process
will also make selling the final plan easier.
After a mission
statement is written and long-term goals are defined, the next stage is
to list, in order, your club's priorities. At this point the LRP
committee and finance officers should research the rough cost of these
projects.
The final plan needs to be presented thoughtfully to
build momentum, keeping in mind that many members are passionate about
their clubs. Many consider the club to be an extension of their family
and home—so expect feedback and be ready to modify the plan as ideas
surface. Once you have support from the members who care most, success
is more likely.
In working with the clubs to which I belong,
I've seen that this planning process is important and takes time, but
it's not the hardest part. What's really needed, as well, is critical
thinking about your club's role in sailing and where you should focus
the club's resources so it remains vital and growing.
One of the more thoughtful sailors on the East Coast is David Elwell, a past commodore of American YC, in Rye, N.Y.,
and current rear commodore of the New York YC. Elwell says, "A yacht
club needs to interact with its community. Public access is important.
An example we've emphasized is cooperation with Sail Newport [a public
sailing facility in Newport, R.I.], working together on major events
and promoting sailing."
After spending considerable time in
New Zealand during the last two America's Cups, Elwell says, "New
Zealand does this exceedingly well. Sailing is not elitist there; it's
a public-access sport. We can learn from their example."
Besides helping with the public-access side, clubs should look at their
membership policies. Elwell says, "We need to create cost-efficient
ways to get on the water. Inexpensive junior memberships are a good way
to get young people involved."
Young people often disappear
after college for 10 to 15 years. A club-owned fleet allows sailing to
take place during periods of a few hours or less. Clubs should work
hard to keep this core age group involved, keeping dues low, promoting
junior member social activities, and finding innovative ways to get
them on the water. Elwell points to the Larchmont YC's fleet of JY 15s,
which form the basis for a popular program of instruction and informal
racing that attract many young people.
Here are other examples of programs and improvements that leaders across the country have put in motion:
Many clubs host high-school sailing teams, which are full of potential
future members. In some cases, having teams on site makes it possible
to retain sailing instructors on an annual basis to run youth programs.
In fact several clubs have hired full-time employees to manage race
programs for all members. Their job isn't to take the place of race
committees, but to coordinate activities while providing the energy,
expertise, and consistency to develop and improve programs year to year.
A major question at many clubs is whether to upgrade or expand the
facilities. I encouraged every club to make this a priority when I
wrote about it last ("Taking on the Big Club Project," Sept. '03—see
www.sailingworld.com) Waterfront property is precious and should be
utilized to the maximum extent. Clubs should take on these projects
sooner rather than later—every club I've seen improve its facilities is
now thriving.
At the same time, keep tradition in mind. Many
clubs are more than 100 years old and there's something special about
preserving old clubhouses, while updating them to be safe, comfortable,
and efficient to run. Special attention should be paid to improving
docks, floats, and moorings.
Don't forget that good communication brings people together. Every club should publish a regularly scheduled newsletter.
It's worth the money to hire an editor to collect information and
produce a periodical. Ask members to write articles and print lots of
results (people like to see their name in print). And don't forget to
run plenty of pictures.
Likewise, websites should be of high
quality and regularly updated. Let anyone log on to the site to read
about the club's mission, history, events, and race results. E-mails
are an efficient way to promote happenings. Reminders are appreciated.
I've been intrigued to find several clubs with significant libraries.
The San Diego YC, Newport Harbor YC, and New York YC have among the
best. You can build inventory by asking members to donate books and
magazines. Race results, club records, contemporary readings, and
reference books should be included.
To be essential, clubs
need to take leadership roles. One way is to create a signature regatta
that builds pride and stature. An example is the Long Beach YC, in
Calif., which hosts the Congressional Cup. Not only is this event one
of the most important, longest-running match-race regattas in the
world, it also pulls together more than 250 member volunteers.
Clubs should also consider being leaders in reaching out to the
community to gain water access, participating in meaningful fundraising
events, developing handicap rules, and supporting American
participation at international events like the Olympic Games. Working
with their regional sailing associations and US SAILING, clubs should
help manage and build the sport, sharing ideas and views with other
clubs. As a side benefit, the more the members of a yacht club reach
out to help others through these associations, the more they'll learn
of other clubs' experiences and the better equipped they'll be to
tackle their own complicated issues. This is all a lot of work for
mostly volunteer organizations, but in the long run your local sailing
activity will be far better off, and the alternative for your club—as
long as the club patrons can support it—is a restaurant with dusty
trophies and a water view.
