These terms and conditions are applicable to all Shearwater Sailing Club members and came into force on 1st January 2009

Shearwater Sailing Club is a tenant of the Longleat Estate. Our landlord owns the clubhouse, boat park, slipway area and lake. Since 1961 the club has operated under the conditions of a lease from the estate.

Renewal of the Club's lease has never been automatic and has been negotiated every few years. Our landlord has always been able to impose whatever conditions they deem appropriate when granting a lease. We have been granted a new lease to run for six years from 1st January 2009 but our landlord has imposed some changes to the conditions under which we are able to operate on Shearwater. We have no option but to comply with these conditions. I will be as frank as possible as to the reasoning behind the estate's decision-making process and it's implications.

Background

Shearwater is promoted as a fishing venue and generates about 1% of the estate's income. The estate regards the fishermen as being of prime importance and sailors are tolerated. Under the previous leases they had no direct relationship with the sailors and now wish to establish one. This will enable the representatives of the estate in the form of the water bailiffs to hold individual sailors to account for their actions and if they deem it necessary exclude sailors from using the lake.

Sailing Licence

Longleat Estate requires that every boat that is sailed on Shearwater be issued with a licence to sail. The estate on payment of a fee will grant the licence. For 2010 the fee will be £45 plus VAT (£52.87) for the first boat. Additional boats sailed by the same permit holder will incur an additional fee of £30 plus VAT (£35.25)

This situation where a separate licence fee is payable by sailors is often encountered on privately owned bodies of water. For instance many water authorities charge a licence fee for sailing on reservoirs.

The Sailing Licence application process.

Anyone who wishes to sail on Shearwater must complete the Longleat Estate 'Application form for permit for sailing on Shearwater'. Copies of this form are posted on the club web site and available from the Hon. Membership Secretary. This form, listing details of your boat(s) must then be posted to the Estate Office (address is on the form) together with a covering cheque.

The estate will then send out a copy of the Sailing Licence. You must sign the licence agreeing to the terms and conditions and return it to the estate.

The estate will endorse the licence as being valid and return it to you. Only when you have received this endorsed copy will you have permission to sail on Shearwater.

Conditions of the sailing Licence.

The licence holder will be permitted to sail on Shearwater between 1st March and 30th November. This corresponds with our current season between the First and Last Thrashes. As hardly anyone wishes to sail in December, January and February this is not a great disadvantage. We will still be able to sail at any time between these dates. This is something of an advantage over many other sailing clubs whose members may only sail when rescue boat cover is operational.

There are a lot of other conditions attached to the licence including, as you would expect, having a sail number applied, keeping inside the buoys around the edge of the lake, holding insurance and being a member of Shearwater Sailing Club. There are also conditions covering avoiding injury and damage to persons and property, not disturbing wildlife etc. These all appear to be reasonable.

One particular clause which Longleat Estate refused to negotiate covers taking 'All possible steps to avoid fishermen and their tackle and to pay for any damage caused whether accidentally or not immediately on demand by the estate water bailiff'. I must highlight this to you as really being the one potential problem area that I see. Whether this will be so will depend very much on our relationship with the estate bailiffs and their sensible approach as well as of course our own reasonable behaviour and that of the fishermen. Just as we do not expect the fishermen to tell lies of the 'The boat came out from behind a bush' variety they should be able to expect us to avoid them where possible. This must be accounted for when setting or sailing racing courses as well as leisure sailing. The key to sharing the water on a heavily promoted commercial fishery is reasonableness and a good relationship on both sides. I hope that this will prevail.

Other Lease Changes

The club will have to apply for an Annual Events Licence to cover racing and other activities. A licence will be held by the club covering the operation of the Club's own boats. This will be charged at a reduced fee. A licence will be issued for the rescue boats at no cost. Our rental is actually being reduced considerably to only £500 PA. The Committee will take care of these issues on your behalf.

Questions and Answers

Q Do I have to buy a sailing licence to be a member of the club?

A No. You are most welcome to simply join the club. Also you can crew on or sail any boat for which a licence is held by someone else. It is the licence holder who will be held accountable.

Q Do I have to buy a sailing licence to keep my boat in the boat park?

A No, as long as you are a member and have paid for your berth you are welcome to keep any boat at the club so long as it is not sailed on Shearwater.

Q If I want to put my boat on the water at Shearwater do I have to have a Licence?

A Yes, you do and you must actually be in possession of a licence that has been endorsed as valid by the estate. The estate do not seem to use much technology and the bailiffs may well ask you to produce it to them to prove that you have paid. It is also being made a rule of the club that a valid licence must be held before a boat is used on the water.

Q Why did the Committee agree to the changes to our lease conditions?

A Put quite simply, the conditions were imposed following a protracted period of negotiation. The only alternative was that we ceased to be able to operate on Shearwater.

Q Will the new (reduced) club membership fee, dinghy berth fee and sailing licence fee when combined represent good value?

A If you are in any doubt over this please do a trawl of the internet and take a look at other sailing clubs total membership costs when a berth and sailing licence (if applicable) and sometimes 'hidden' costs are taken in to account. You will see just how little it will still cost to sail on Shearwater in comparison to many similar clubs.

If you have any questions over the new sailing licence application process please do contact Di Walker our Honorary Membership Secretary or me. I look forward to seeing you all out on the water again in 2010.

Kind regards,

Richard Fear, Commodore Shearwater Sailing Club

Membership and Sailing Licence Application