Crew Match

Join.Match.Sail

Meet the Skippers

How it works

The S&CA is not an exclusive club of boat owners.  Only about a quarter of S&CA members owna boat.

Perhaps the primary function of the club is to get like minded people on the water
together to enjoy the events we run throughout the boating season, so the club
aims to facilitate links between boat-owning ‘skippers’ and potential ‘crew’.

‘CrewMatch’ is our primary way of achieving this, although contacts are also made
between individuals who meet each other on our water based events, monthly
London Socials, or at other seasonal events such as the Fitting out Lunch or
Laying up Supper. The membership directory can also be a way to look up potential contacts, and event organisers and hosts may help directly to match skippers with crew.

Not all boat owners are looking for crewing guests, but many are. Some skippers will prefer experienced crew,
whilst others are happy to take novices on board.  There are also occasional opportunities to
join a charter where a skipper has chartered a boat for a club event rather
than being the owner.

There are two ways in which Crew Match works:

1)   Skippers posting a request for crew

2)   Crew posting a request for a berth

 

Most Crew Match posts relate to an upcoming Club Rally, whilst others are for general weekday or weekend sailing opportunities, or sometimes for a specific passage where for example a skipper is looking for help to move their boat to a new home port or cruising destination (a delivery trip).

Crew Match is a ‘two way street’, owners or charter skippers who advertise available
berths on Crew Match are keen to have new crew on board, crew are keen to get out on the water.  Some owners find boating a lot more fun with company, whilst others specifically need extra pairs of hands to handle their boats.

Make Sure it is a Match

It is important that skippers and crew get to know a bit about each other, the
boat and the passage before embarking on a Crew Match.

As a minimum for example:

•     A general description of the boat (a picture helps!), safety equipment and expectations
•       Start and finish dates / times, length of passage
•       The levels of experience of the skipper and the crew
•       How costs of the trip are to be shared
•       How minor or major damage is to be handled

Take a look at each other’s profiles on the club website and maybe on social media

Some skippers and crew will prefer to have a phone or video call or even to meet
face to face prior to confirming, whilst others will just dive in and see how
they get on.

The vast majority of Crew Matches have been positive, with
skippers and crew becoming regular sailing buddies and making great
Friendships.

Most skippers will expect costs such as berthing and provisions to be divided, some skippers request a contribution towards the weekend running costs such as fuel.  These costs will vary according to the size of the boat, how many are on board, but crew might typically budget for around £30 per night.

Sail and Learn Alternative

Some members who are ‘New As Crew’ might alternatively like to try the club’s ‘Sail
and Learn’ programme to join a club event for the first time.

Sail and Learn brings you onboard with a professional training skipper.  Some new members will prefer this option to
using crew match to join on a member’s boat or a charter especially if they want to work towards an RYA Certified Qualification.

See our Sail and Learn pages

Ready to Crew

Look for available berths advertised by skippers or post your availability to crew
on Crew Match

Check out our Events page and register for an event.

Contact the event organiser or host if there is no availability on Crew Match

Get to know your skipper and his or her boat

Join a Sail and Learn Event

 

Take Command

 

Experienced and qualified, non owner members might consider skippering a charter and using
Crew Match to find their crew for one of our events.

 

There are several charter businesses in the main areas where we run our events
including Commodore Yachting in Gosport which is owned and run by our Rear
Commodore Training www.commodore-yachting.com/yacht-charter/