2024 Club Survey Insights

Thank you to the 42% of Clubs who responded to the 2024 Club Survey. 

The Australian Sailing Club Survey remains a useful tool to “check in” with clubs in a robust manner, to capture a collective view along with valued feedback. The information that is gathered results in more targeted and focused outcomes for sailing, and most importantly your club. 

To further enhance the usefulness of this process for the club community we have narrowed in on the Top 5 Challenges and the Top 5 Priorities as determined by clubs. This article will provide further context in the way of available resources or support currently available for clubs, or future work that is in the pipeline to enhance the support available.  

The top 5 challenges as determined by clubs: 

1. On-water participation  
2. Attracting new members  
3. Recruiting and retaining on water volunteers  
4. Retention of existing members  
5. Funding for infrastructure and maintenance   

The top 5 Australian Sailing’s strategic projects as rated by clubs: 

1. Participation and Membership Growth  
2. Club Support Program  
3. Coach, Instructor and Officials Development plan  
4. Sailing Participant Pathway  
5. Diversity, Inclusion & Accessibility plan  

The top 5 challenges as determined by clubs are outlined below. Please find descriptions and links to available resources to assist clubs in overcoming the challenges.   

On-water participation: helping club members become involved with being able to confidently and competently join in on-water activities. 

Below are a few easy to implement and utilise existing resources clubs can use to create more participation with on-water programs: 

• Find out why members are finding it difficult to join in on-water, utilise and follow the information in the Participation Hub.   
• Participation Programs: Green, Intermediate, Advanced Programs & others. 
  Remember that these programs are not just for children in dinghies, they can be applied across any sailing craft and all ages. 
• Increasing Female Participation and SheSails. 
• Case Studies from two yacht clubs; Mount Martha Yacht Club and Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club. 
• Overcome the challenge by empowering members to level up their sailing knowledge and gain experience, this takes some regular planning, preparation, delivery and reviewing (Plan, Prepare, Deliver Participation Programs).   

Stay up to date with the Australian Sailing Participation news feed HERE. 

Attracting new members: It is a challenge faced by not only clubs.  It is difficult; but it is vital to show the strengths and benefits of being involved in sailing and ultimately joining as a member.   

• Discover Sailing Days are the safest way to introduce the public to take to the water.   
• Becoming Discover Sailing Centres and delivering quality learn to sail or powerboat programs with qualified instructors is another easy way to attract non sailing public. Other resources and tools that are available to attract new members include:  
• Sail Pass – How new members can start their sailing journey today. 
• Clubs and Classes can use this link for your Marketing & Promotion.  Building a thriving Club with easy-to-use tools, that are ready to adjust, will start attracting the new members Clubs are seeking.   
• Find some inspiration and search out about other “Clubs In Focus” HERE. 

Recruiting and retaining on-water volunteers: Volunteers are priceless assets to all Clubs, making sure volunteers feel valued and appreciated for donating their precious time is a worthwhile activity.  

Invest time to find out how your Club can welcome, communicate and train a volunteer base that will create a WIN:WIN for your club.   

• Volunteer Management – read through the checklist of things to remember to help build and retain volunteers. 
• Officials Training – It always helps volunteers and officials to know that there are great resources that support and assist them to run safe, fair and quality racing. 
• There are also opportunities for your volunteers to become qualified Instructors and/or coaches – rewarding your volunteers with training opportunities is a great way to build loyalty and recognition.  
• Always remember the National Thank a Volunteer initiative. 
• Utilise the Volunteer Resource Hub via the Australian Sports Commission. 
• Celebrate your volunteers that go above and beyond by nominating them for Volunteer of the Year! 
• Officials Resources provide useful tools for your new and existing race official volunteers. 
• Club and Class hub has a huge range of resources to support your club committee and administration volunteers. 

Retention of existing members:  There are established tips to encourage existing members to stay.   

• A good starting point is to read  “Top 10 tips for keeping participants involved”  
• Think more about helping members enjoy and improve their sailing experience through Participation programs, using appropriate pathways and coaching.   
• Coaching programs are both a membership retention tool as well as a membership growth tool.  
• Ensure that there is consideration into including the broadest membership, paying attention to the diverse needs of members and ensuring safety is paramount. Create this by following this suggested Diversity and Inclusion Framework. 

Funding for infrastructure and maintenance: Funding infrastructure projects faces many challenges, and there is not always one easy answer.  

The first place to start to address this challenge is to contact your State Club Support Officer.    

There are other useful links to resources that include:  Infrastructure Development Toolkit and Grants & Funding.  

We also encourage you to visit the Australian Sports Foundation who can provide you with a platform to receive tax-deductible donations and other tools to help you raise funds.  

The top 5 Australian Sailing’s strategic projects as rated by clubs are outlined below; simply follow the hyperlinks to see Australian Sailing’s current focus, supporting the overarching purpose “To grow sailing by leading, inspiring, and supporting sailors and their communities”: 

Participation and Membership Growth  

Currently in place:  2022-2024 Participation & Membership Plan 

Under development: Australian Sailing is building awareness of the resources for the Clubs to use, including additional support and funding specifically to boost Clubs to the next level.  The Sailing STEM Project is well underway, which will be a valuable resource, allowing school groups to gain access to Clubs and engage with our sport. 

Australian Sailing recently secured federal government funding under the Play Our Way Grant to enhance attraction and development of females and youth to sailing. Standby for further information in early 2025.  

Club Support Program  

Currently in place: Sailing 2032 and the Club and Class Hub. 

Under development: Continuous development of the Revolutionise Sport database and tools, to create easier, smoother administration. Australian Sailing facilitates regular forums for Club decision makers at all levels, to facilitate support between Australian Sailing and Clubs, as well as Clubs supporting Clubs via networking opportunities. The Sailing Summits will be reinvigorated in 2025, to provide new opportunities for engagement on important topics. In the meantime an archive of previous years presentations are available online at - Sailing Summits. 

Instructor, Coach and Officials Development Strategy 

Currently in place: Coach Hub, Instructor Qualification Pathway, Officials Hub and the Instructor, Coach and Official Development Strategy. 

Under development: The development of new online learning modules and the streamlining of the Instructor, Coach and Official accreditation process, from early 2025. 

Sailing Participant Pathway  

Currently in place: Participation Hub 

Under development: Constant reviewing, planning and updating from Senior Instructors and Senior Coaches, including new pathways that follow trends of popular on-water activities. 

Remember to check out the Participation Programs for resources to deliver programs for all levels of sailors at your club. 

Diversity, Inclusion & Accessibility plan  

Currently in place: Sport Integrity Hub and Diversity and Inclusion Resources. 

Under development: New resources and support for DEI initiatives at your Club are under development, including the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategy. Further linkages with Para Sailing and Sailability and support for these programs around the country are also under continual development. 

Please continue to provide Australian Sailing with feedback, but most importantly please take the time to further improve your own knowledge and understanding through the existing resources.  Australian Sailing resources are readily available, current and continually evolving.  Further recommendations including keeping up to date by signing up for newsletters, and following, tagging, commenting and liking our content on social media. 

The next Club Survey will be conducted in 2026 and as you can see, the time you spend completing the survey and sharing your feedback, is instrumental in providing direction and the creation of resources. In the meantime, we recommend that you keep the communication channels open between your members and committees, and most importantly between your club and Australian Sailing.