Port Ludlow Yacht Club

by Greg Buscher, PLYC Communications Manager

A yacht club is a community of people with a shared love of the ocean. But what keeps them together isn’t just boating. It takes much more than that. Yacht clubs up and down the coast are looking for those ingredients because without them, the odds are stacked against still being here ten years from now.

The challenges are numerous. Compared to a couple decades ago, clubs of all kinds are less popular, higher living costs have put boating and yacht club membership out of reach for many families, boat slips are scarce as hen’s teeth, older members age out, younger families are few and far between in Port Ludlow, and post-Boomer generations just aren’t “joiners” like their predecessors. Adding to those trends, in our area the population is basically flat but our median age isgrowing (65+ now, 1.5x the state average), boat ownership has declined sharply (25 years ago 80 percent of Port Ludlow Yacht Club (PLYC) members owned a boat; today it is 50 percent), and the sail racing that formed the nucleus of many yacht clubs is no longer the reliable generator of new members it once was. Kids learn to sail, they grow up, get jobs, and leave the club due to cost or to pursue other recreational opportunities, which abound.

Speaking of cost, dues and joining fees are rising, albeit slowly, driven partly by inflation, but mainly by occupancy costs. Yacht clubs tend to be near salt water, so as buildings age, they require significant repairs and maintenance, sometimes beyond what clubs can afford. If that wasn’t enough, keeping a building or land lease in a marina has become devilishly difficult. The value of land most yacht clubs sit on has gone nowhere but up, leading some marinas to non-renew clubhouse leases in favor of more profitable residential development.

Port Ludlow Yacht Club is not immune to these forces. The impacts on our club are already apparent: membership numbers are smaller, fewer members own boats, and even fewer still race.

Yacht club leaders and members need to recognize that today’s yacht club is not the one they may have grown up in or belonged to in years past. That means adopting new ways to stay relevant and solvent. Yacht clubs need operating models that generate reliable revenue and emphasize social fun, while maintaining the foundation boating aspect of being a yacht club.

I said earlier that boating by itself is not what keeps a yacht club afloat. An extensive calendar of boating activities is fundamental to being a yacht club, and a yacht club with a strong social component needs a clubhouse; but beyond those basics, I believe people in our area join and stay active for the camaraderie of cruising, for the vibrant social network, for fun at the Wreck Room with other members, a sense of community, the right amount and kinds of events, a welcoming and inclusive culture, good food and drink, and affordable dues and joining fees.

PLYC checks all those boxes! But the Wreck Room is on borrowed time. We hope to enjoy it for many more years, but its day will surely come. PLYC needs a new clubhouse, and we believe it would not only serve members, but it would also be an attractive social hub and landmark for the whole community. The expectation is that when the right clubhouse opportunity is found, PLYC members and others in the community will join together to make it happen for everyone’s benefit.

Meanwhile, as always, Port Ludlow Yacht Club is welcoming new members – no boat needed. To check us out, email commodore360@PLYC.us – we’ll be happy to host you to a social evening in the venerable “old” Wreck Room!