The Royal Canadian Yacht Club organized remote-control sailboat races in the swimming pool of its midtown winter clubhouse to keep members engaged during the wintry off-season.
How do you keep a group of Canadian sailors entertained during the winter, when the lakes and bays have all frozen over?
Find a way to move their favorite hobby indoors.
During this winter’s coldest months, when it was impossible to navigate boats through the frozen waters of Toronto Harbour, the Royal Canadian Yacht Club organized remote-control sailboat races in the swimming pool of its midtown winter clubhouse.
The program’s goals were two-fold, says General Manager and CEO David Brightling. “I wanted to reinforce the role of the City Clubhouse as a winter home for sailors,” he says. The races were also designed to help members maintain and even improve their sailing skills.
Brightling got the idea from a club he managed in Singapore. “We were trying to introduce sailing into a culture where interest in the sport was not very deep,” he says about that experience. To get people engaged with the sport, the club bought some remote-controlled sailboats and encouraged members to practice with them in the marina.
When he took the helm at Royal Canadian YC, Brightling wanted to adapt the idea for a local audience. He asked his sailing office staff what they thought about racing toy sailboats around the pool. “I must admit, I think they thought I was nuts,” he chuckles.
Still, the staff went ahead and developed the idea. They searched online to find a remote-controlled sailboat model that could be purchased for around $240 Canadian. Brightling felt it was important that all the boats be the same model, so no one felt at a disadvantage (when life-sized sailboats race, a handicapping system compensates for any differences in the vessels). The club bought industrial-sized fans to create wind and designed a course for the pool.
Club staff announced what they were doing and invited members to try out the boats. Several people purchased them; others bought the crafts but donated them back to the club so they could be “leased” to people. In total, 65 boats were sold.
Brightling expected only a handful of people to show up for the inaugural race in October, but 50 came out. Racers put their boats in the water at a starting line at one end of the pool, then raced up and down three times to the finish line. Competitors were broken into two groups after the initial race, with the top finishers competing for the championship and the people in the bottom tier racing for a consolation prize. Because alcohol is banned poolside, the races were broadcast live in the bar.
“Each winner received a mug and a coupon for a free beer—or a soft drink if it’s a young person, and it often is, because kids are very good with games and hand-eye coordination,” Brightling says.
The races happened every week from October until the club’s island sailing facility opened again in April. Turnout was consistently between 20 and 25 people. The events attracted men and women between the ages of 6 and 88, and brought people to the club on a night when they might have otherwise stayed home.
“It exceeded my expectations,” Brightling says. “Everyone had a lot of fun.” The club is already planning to continue the sailboat races this coming October—and will likely add powerboat racing on Tuesday nights.
Revenue gains from the event were modest. Besides the sale of the boats, the Royal Canadian Yacht Club charged a $40 fleet fee to cover the cost of prizes. The more lucrative part of the program was the increased food-and-beverage sales, Brightling says.
But more importantly, the event served its purpose of drawing people to Royal Canadian’s City Clubhouse and helping them improve their sailing skills. Brightling says he rode in an elevator with one of the youngest participants after a race. He asked him about the difference between racing a remote-controlled boat and an Optimist, a vessel used to train children on sailing.
“He said, ‘I can see the pattern of the waves far ahead of the boat,’” Brightling recalls. “So he’s learning about how to watch the water for wind patterns. He’ll practice lessons learned from this experience when he’s sailing his boat in the lake.”
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.