When the Laws of Economics Apply Pressure, Yacht Clubs Push Back

by Greg Buscher, Port Ludlow Yacht Club Member

About six months ago, I wrote about the unkind realities faced by yachting and social clubs all over the country, with Puget Sound and the Olympic Peninsula no exceptions.

For local yacht clubs in particular, the challenges are especially steep. Higher living and fuel costs and a dearth of boat slips have an adverse impact on boat ownership resulting in a smaller (and shrinking) pool of prospective new members. Meanwhile, current boat owners tend to be older, often retirees, somewhere along in the inexorable process of aging out of boating and eventually out of club membership altogether. Moreover, there are relatively few young families in our area, and post-Boomers aren’t the “joiners” their grandparents were. Demand for yacht club membership could be compared to a bucket with a hole in it; water is trickling out the bottom with little coming in to refill it. In economic terms, traditional yacht clubs would be called “legacy enterprises” – there was a need for what they sold, which continues on a reduced scale, but here on the peninsula there is no large, untapped boating audience that can be reached to enable yacht club growth and long-term success. Another economics-inspired description of the situation is to say the yacht club “industry” is ripe for consolidation. Maybe it is.

When yacht club growth stalls because new boat-owning members are scarce, two other avenues remain available: consolidation (which may take a number of collaborative forms), and adaptation.

Consolidation is simply two or more existing clubs collaborating to overcome the hurdles they face. By joining forces, they gain strength in numbers, healthier finances, and more active boating and social calendars. And importantly, collaboration among clubs can result in more efficient use of clubhouse facilities.

Adaptation is recognizing that the market has moved and understanding the need to move with it. For example, a yachting and social club with a strong boating agenda, and an attractive and well managed social setting and programs, can tap into a broader pool of potential new members including non-boaters. It is certainly less subject to the vagaries of the boat and moorage markets, and less apt to see members aging out.

Then there is doing both. Let’s face it, opportunities for broad social interaction in an attractive and comfortable fixed base hub, a place “where everybody knows your name”, are limited around here. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a vibrant, growing, and financially healthy yacht and social club that draws in members from a larger slice of the peninsula population? Clubs currently tied to a single bay simply lack the mass and money to stave off the forces of member attrition, adverse consumer economics, and voracious landlords.

But we can take those forces out of play by collaborating and adapting. That is what Port Ludlow and Port Townsend Yacht Clubs are tentatively exploring, starting with a whiffleball picnic and mixer in late September. We’re starting with a “coffee date” to give our members a chance to interact in a fun setting. We’ll have to decide together where it goes from there, but we’re not ready to let the sun go down on our clubhouse(s).

Both PTYC and PLYC (and perhaps another sailing organization) need a new clubhouse, and if created collaboratively, such a clubhouse would not only serve current members; it could become a social magnet and landmark for the whole community. My personal hope continues to be that when the right clubhouse or building site is found, club members and others in the community will come together with the resources and vision to make it happen for everyone’s benefit. It can’t happen soon enough.