Smooth Sailing; the growth of yacht clubs
Yachting is not just for the rich, as a recent revival of the sport seems to indicate. 'Once you get the boat, the wind is free'
MIKE KING, The Gazette
Published: Tuesday, August 14
Montreal-area yacht clubs, including at least one that was sinking toward bankruptcy less than a decade ago, are riding a new wave of popularity - so much so that some of them are turning away business.
There are waiting lists at clubs in Laval and Hudson, while an Old Port club, in its first full season, is already almost three-quarters full.
Yachting, often perceived by the uninitiated as the sport of the very rich, appears to be enjoying a revival led by people of more modest incomes.
Timothy Brown, executive director of the Canadian Yachting Association, based in Kingston, Ont., suggested that despite the impression that sailing is an activity of people who own 100-foot yachts, the rich are, in fact, "the vast minority."
With the increasingly prohibitive costs surrounding big power boats, which Brown likened to aquatic sports utility vehicles, he said he is seeing a move back to sailboats.
Perhaps he is confusing yacht clubs with marinas?
