Self-help
The Launch and Recovery Syndicate and Recovery Syndicate is a self-help group. This means all members must assist in helping other syndicate members safely move their boats in or out of the water and for over-winter storage within the club grounds. The syndicate offers members the opportunity to take part in teams. Receive training in tractor driving for example and to ensure the safety of the public during boat moving operations.
Summary
- The Launch and Recovery Syndicate is open to all cruiser owners upon payment of a single joining fee.
- The Syndicate is a self-help group.
- All Syndicate members must attend a L&R Work Party. These Work Parties are totally independent of club Work Parties.
- Launch/Recovery dates and times are displayed on the club notice board at the appropriate times.
- All Syndicate members must assist on two days for each launch or recovery operation.
- Non-attendance at a L&R Work Party will result in an additional payment.
The rules
All cruiser owners club members can apply to become members of the Syndicate upon payment of a single lifetime joining fee. This fee is set annually by the Finance Committee and approved by the Executive Committee prior to voting at the Annual General Meeting. From 2023 the fee has been set at £420 (fees are index linked and set annually).
The Syndicate is a self-help group and all its members must assist in its efficient operation. The Launch and Recovery Committee organise two Work Parties per year to maintain the equipment. Members of the Syndicate must attend one L&R Work Party or undertake other duties as defined by the L&R Chairmen.
The first L&R Work Party is held approximately one month before launching commences and the second L&R Work Party is held approximately one month before recovery commences.
Any active Syndicate member who does not attend a L&R Work Party or undertake other similar duties will be required to make an additional payment. From 2023 this additional fee was set at £55 (fees are index linked and set annually).
The launching of craft, which is controlled by the suitability of tides, commences in March and is generally completed by the end of April. Normally four weekends are set aside for the launching of craft.
Members must assist on two of the launch days and two of the recovery days each year unless agreed otherwise with the Launch and Recovery Chairmen. Details of these dates and times will be displayed on the Club notice board approximately one month before the first launch date so that Members can choose an appropriate weekend.
The recovery of craft follows the same procedure as above except the first recovery commences in October with completion by the end of November, again governed by the suitability of tides.
Application
Please download LR-Application to apply to join the Up River Yacht Club Launch and Recovery Syndicate.
Applications During Winter Time
Please be aware of the ground conditions at the club during the winter. If you are thinking of joining the club because you wish to move your boat to the club grounds during the winter months, this can be impossible unless you have a small lightweight boat on its own trailer. You will also need a large 4wd vehicle to move a boat on its trailer into a laying-up space within the grounds. During late Spring, Summer and Autumn the soil dries out and will bear the weight of quite large boats, typically up to 5 tons on their own trailer, without problems.
Mooring your boat
Please download this Launch and Recovery Syndicate recommended mooring specification.
Laying up your boat
To keep your boat over winter within the Up River Yacht Club grounds you need to be aware of the limitations of the Launch and Recovery equipment. In the picture above you will see members yachts are principally bilge keel designs which are easily maneuvered by the L&R equipment and are ‘parked’ raised just off the ground using blocks of wood under the keels.
Several members have lift keel yachts that require a custom made frame that members must supply themselves. For L&R members these frames are stored free during the summer. Lift keel yachts must be of a size and configuration that enables them to be safely taken out of the water and lifted onto their frames by the L&R equipment.
Yachts with fin keels or any yacht that weighs over 3.5 tons (typically over 26-28 ft depending upon the design) must use a dedicated trailer (often called a ‘yard trailer’ in the UK) which owners supply and upon which their boat will be hauled out, and remain thereon throughout the winter, until relaunched in the spring. Once again, these trailers are stored free of charge when L&R Syndicate member’s boats are in the water.
It is vitally important to be aware that owners are responsible for keeping their frames and trailers in good, serviceable and safe condition. The L&R Syndicate, through the Club Executive Committee, reserve the right to call upon owners to have an independent expert/surveyor inspect their frame or trailer (at the owner’s expense) to confirm it is structurally sound and safe, before the L&R Syndicate equipment can be used to move the owner’s boat.
Safety
Due to the over-riding issue of safety, the officers of the L&R Syndicate, through the Club Executive Committee, have the authority to decline any application to join the L&R Syndicate or for an existing Club member to remain in the L&R Syndicate, should the owner’s boat or trailer or combination thereof be considered:
a) too difficult to handle or where it might pose a risk to, or using, the L&R equipment
b) to potentially expose members, their property or the Club property to injury, loss or damage.
Occasionally the Club is asked to consider storage of member’s boats that are kept elsewhere during the summer months. This is often because these are deep/fin keel sailing cruisers that are problematic if moored on a URYC mooring. The Club Executive Committee considers each request individually. However, as a rule of thumb, any yacht much over 10 metres in length, or 5 tons in weight, is most likely to be declined as inappropriate for storage at URYC.
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