Yacht clubs in southern england that own their own boats

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rohantn
YF Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:00 pm

Yacht clubs in southern england that own their own boats

Post by rohantn »

Hi,

I was thinking of taking up sailing / yachting as a hobby.

The initial training courses doesn't seem too expensive.
However, I am trying to ascertain the ongoing costs of sailing, as a hobby. As far as dinghy sailing is concerned, the costs don't seem very prohibhitive.

However costs of yachting seem quite high to charter a yacht.

However there seems to be the option of yachting clubs which one can join, even if one doesn't own a yacht. However as far as I can make out, these clubs don't seem to own their own yachts. If you don't own an yacht, you need to find a member at the club who owns a yacht and would let you crew in their yacht. This seems quite an uncertain / dicey option.

Is anyone here a member of a yacting club, who can advice how probable it is that non-owner members get to do some yacht sailing?
Also does any one know of any yacht clubs that own their own yachts, which they rent out to the members, perhaps at a lower cost than chartering a yacht from a commercial company?

Any advice will be highly appreciated...

Thanks,
Jeff
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Post by Jeff »

Hi again.

Get down to your local yacht club and have a natter with them. A lot of clubs that do regular racing have yacht owners that are always on the lookout for extra crew. Stick a note on the noticeboard describing your skill-set and stick your email/phone number on it.

I'm not 100% clear if you're wanting to get into dinghy sailing or yacht sailing, cruising or racing?

Dinghy sailing doesn't need to be done through a club particularly, though I'm sure it's nice to have access to parking, launching and show facilities. But you could just as easily buy a used "Optimist" or "Mirror" (or something) on eBay, stick it on the roof of the car (or trailer) and just head to your nearest lake or sea access point, and get going.

The cheapest way by far to do a lot of sailing and spend a lot of time on a "yacht" as opposed to a dinghy, is to buy a medium sized one and live on it. That's what we've done. Cheaper than living in a house, and far more fun.

Where are you based? Someone might be able to be more specific.

Let us know how you get on!
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