In 2012, the Royal Southern Yacht Club will celebrate its 175th Anniversary. In a country where the average life expectancy of a business is 12 years, the Royal Southern continues to show how a yacht club can be commercial enterprise and a thriving hub of social and racing activity.
The Royal Southern yacht club is several businesses, some of which run 7 days a week, around the clock. The management team control the revenue and expenses of a restaurant, marina and event space. But in order to stage the activities planned for 2012, the club requires commercial sponsors.
Sponsorship is something that yacht clubs around the world are coming to terms with as an essential part of their business model. The subject was the topic of discussion at a recent Conference of the International Council of Yacht Clubs (ICOYC), which will hold their 2012 conference at the Royal Southern Yacht Club.
At an event at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week, the Royal Southern Yacht Club Commodore, Mark Inkster introduced some of the companies that will partner with the club to support the calendar of events including a new race.
Royal Southern Yacht Club 175 partners will include sailing apparel company Gaastra, Piper-Heidsieck Champagne, Swarovski Optik, and Sunsail Racing. The deal with Sunsail is particularly clever and is good for the club, but also for the sport of sailing.
Sunsail Racing will be the technical partner for the new Biscay 2012 Race, with a new fleet of Sunsail F40 performance cruiser/racers, built by Beneteau, constituting the largest part of the Royal Southern Yacht Club’s inaugural Biscay 2012 race fleet. Sailors looking to get into offshore racing will be able to charter the yachts at a reasonable cost, lowering barriers to entry for top level sailing.
Sam Davies, an honorary member of the Royal Southern Yacht Club will also be an ambassador for the new race. She said:
“Any sailing initiative that helps encourage a wider audience to participate in some competitive offshore racing has to be a good thing. Being able to encourage the Club’s racing members to sign up to this but also open it up to a wider sailing fraternity to enter Biscay 2012 is very welcomed. The Royal Southern’s Race Management is superlative and Biscay 2012 couldn’t be in better hands. Congratulations to you all and thanks again for inviting me to be a part of it.”
