Justin Bean

Review of Kingston Yacht Club

Beautiful club with great facility. I have visite...

Beautiful club with great facility. I have visited twice as a sailing coach and had a fantastic friendly experience for me and for my race team.
However, I visited last year while I was in Kingston for work and thought it would be nice to pop by on a weekly keelboat race night. I introduced myself as an out-of-towner and ordered a beer at the bar. I put my name on the "crew for hire" board, hoping to get out on the water, maybe even one of the many boats in the Shark fleet.
After about 20 minutes, the manager walked to the bar, whispered to the bartender who passed along the message that I would have to leave the premises, and that this was a "members only club". Safe to say this was insulting and embarrassing for me, considering I was surrounded in people, showing up for race night.
Thanks to KYC (or at least it's management) for perpetuating the horrible reputation of exclusivity in sailing. I know on the east coast, that all of our clubs are very welcoming of new and visiting sailors.