Here in the UK, we have several clubs that organise cruises for boat owners and those without boats - a bit like a crewing agency but run in a club environment. For example, I belong to one called Ashdown Sailing Club but there are dozens all round the UK
www.ashdownsailingclub.co.uk/
I wondered if there is anything similar, particularly in the Sydney area.
Thanks
Ian
Hi Ian
I am not aware of any club such as the one you refer to in the U K but it sounds like a good idea for the person that owns a yacht but has no regular crew and I know a few people who are in this situation.
I dont know about Sydney but most yacht clubs in Queensland run either wednesday afternoon or saturday afternoon social sailing or social kinda racing and non boat owners are more than welcome to come along. Its a way of getting non boat owners on the water and interested in sailing.
Contact the yacht clubs in your area, I am sure they will put you on the right track.
I know the yacht club on the Eastern side of the Spit in Mosman - the name of it escapes me right now - has a very active sailing community on a wednesday night. No doubt there would be some people looking for crew, or if not just go down and make some friends. Can't hurt!
Ben, that would be Middle Harbour Yacht Club, and yes, I believe they do have an unofficial register of interested non-boat owners who get a ride on someone's boat for the twilights.
Michael
Hi Ian
Michael & Ben are right, Middle Harbour Yacht Club, just south of the spit bridge in Sydney, do have a register for crew looking for boats - in fact it is an official register, and you can phone the club and get on it. Then those of us who own a boat, can pick up spare crew when we need them.
In fact I own a boat moored at MHYC, it's a Sydney 32 called Jester (GBR 32), and we're looking for some more crew at the moment, for next seasons racing. We've not been sailing Jester a lot recently, as we chartered an Sb3 so we could do a little training before we went over to do the Worlds, which were in the UK this year. That's now over and we're back, and looking to get Jester out again in the spring.
So if you (or anyone else reading this post) is interested in racing then drop me a line, telling me how much experience you have.
MHYC race on a Wednesday afternoon (we don't sail that series), Thursday evening during day light savings (which we do) and most Saturdays (we will enter the point score series, which is about 3 races a month).
Good luck finding a boat.
cheers
Dave
