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Club Locarno Membership

Club Locarno Memberships are valid for a 12-month period from your date of joining.  Membership renewals will add another 12-month period to your existing membership. 

New members can join ClubLocarno at any time during the year. Lessons and checkouts are scheduled during the spring and summer months, usually after April 1st. After joining, you will be required to demonstrate the required skills to access club boats and equipment during a checkout, or to take lessons on the boats in your fleet. Check the Club Calendar to verify you will have sufficient opportunities to get checked out before you join. If in doubt, please check with the individual Fleet Directors - you can find their information on the Club Contacts page

All members are required to belong to the Jericho Sailing Centre Association (JSCA), which operates the entire Jericho Sailing Centre facility that ClubLocarno calls home. Your JSCA membership card provides access to the change room, showers, the rooftop deck, and a 10% discount at The Galley Patio and Grill.  Most importantly, only a current JSCA access card will allow access to ClubLocarno's facilities.

Requirements for membership

  • You must be at least 15 years of age to join the club, and will require a signature of a parent or guardian if you are under 19.
  • You must be comfortable on, in, and under the water, and be a strong enough swimmer to cover 50 meters in rough water to recover your boat.
  • You must be able to communicate in English, so that you can benefit from our lessons, clinics and important communications.
  • Reading your email from time to time will keep you engaged with the club and informed about your membership, events and fleet activities.

Membership Types

Regular: As a Regular (adult) member you have personal access to those fleets that you chose to join (see fleet access below.)  You can bring your partner as a guest, subject to guest rules and the five-visit limit to those fleets.  You can bring a child as a guest, subject to guest rules, as often as you choose.

Youth: If you are between 15 and 18 years of age, you can get a Youth membership; it costs less, and you need your waiver signed by a parent or legal guardian.  You have personal access to our fleets, but cannot take guests.

Each member must join using their own email address; it is how we get important and/or personal communications directly to you, and our system requires that they are unique.

Fleet access

The main reason that most people join the club is for access to our great boats. Here's how it works:

When you join the club, you join and pay for the fleets that you want to use. If you already have the required skills, you can attend a check out; this will involve an orientation to the fleet and the craft that you want to use, and there will be an on-water component that includes basic operational skills and a capsize and recovery.  If you are new to the fleet or very rusty,  you may instead take lessons that we offer. Once you have completed one of these steps you have access to the fleet. This gives you unlimited use of the boats during daylight hours, when the wind is blowing less than 20 knots. Level two and three windsurfers are exempted from the wind restriction.  Note that each fleet has a hierarchy of craft, and additional checkouts may be required if you want to work your way up to faster or more demanding boats.

Generally after each two-hour voyage, you should return to the shore and check to see whether anyone is waiting to use your boat.  During the week and the off-season demand for the boats is very low, so use your judgement when planning a voyage. 

You can access the fleet logbook over the web to see which boats are in use, but you must be onsite to make a booking. Note that lessons, clinics, scheduled events and racing all have priority over individual pleasure use.

Logbook use

Our logbooks are all online, and can be accessed from each clubroom. You are required to make a logbook entry when you take out one of our boats and when you return it. In addition, you must log all damage, and any other information that you feel is relevant. When you log out, you will be presented with a list of all craft for which you have been checked out according to our records. You are able to override this restriction and log out other vessels, but a message will be sent to the fleet director. Please use only the craft on which you have been trained or checked out - you will find these records on our website as part of your personal profile.

Wetsuits and Lifejackets

Everyone on a ClubLocarno boat is required to wear a life jacket or a PFD; these are provided by the club and available in every clubroom

Everyone on a ClubLocarno sailboat or sailboard is required to wear a wetsuit appropriate for the season. People using kayaks, rowing shells or stand-up paddle boards should dress for immersion, considering the probability and consequences of capsizing. In other words, use good judgement. Don’t wear cotton clothing unless you are standing on the shore.

The Coast Guard requires that each vessel have a sounding device on board; we recommend that you buy a whistle and keep it on a lanyard along with your Jericho card and gate key. There may be a spare whistle in near the logbooks if you are caught short.

Volunteering

Each member is responsible for contributing a minimum of four hours of volunteer time each year. There are organized work parties at the beginning and end of each season, regular events that require volunteer support and ongoing organization, administration, maintenance and cleanup work. If you are looking for something to do please contact any fleet captain or executive member; the contacts page on our website works well for this.

Damage

Before launching a ClubLocarno boat and when you are cleaning and stowing it after returning to shore, you should inspect it carefully and ensure that it is seaworthy.  If you detect any damage and cannot repair it on the spot you should flag the damage, return the craft to storage and note the damage in the craft signout system.  Never use a damaged vessel; the damage is likely to get worse and the vessel could be unsafe.  Accidents happen, but if they happen regularly to the same individual, questions will be asked.

Incidents 

An incident is any event involving the use of a ClubLocarno craft that results in personal injury (to self or others), property damage or loss (ClubLocarno property or the property of others) or a change in the vessel status.  If a ClubLocarno craft is involved in an incident, the member responsible for the craft must report the incident promptly using the online Incident Report form.

Trips and Away privileges

There are regular Club trips in the kayak and windsurfing fleets, and Club equipment goes on the trips at little or no cost to the participants. ClubLocarno supports racing as a means of developing skills, and accordingly there is no charge for the use of equipment for competition either locally or at other locations (make arrangement with the fleet director). Kayaks and Standup Paddle Boards can be rented for personal trips, and for an additional fee, level two and three windsurfers can have off-site use of gear (for Squamish, etc.).

Youth members (between 15 and 18) are welcome on kayak trips if a parent member is also on the trip.  A child under 15 years of age may accompany a parent member on a kayak trip at the sole discretion of the trip leader (considering the duration, level of difficulty, group dynamics, etc.).

Safety 

The waters of Burrard Inlet are well-served by both the Coast Guard and the Jericho rescue volunteers, but they do not perform regular patrols. Emergency rescue services will be dispatched if someone reports a vessel in distress, but each of our members has primary responsibility for their own safety and the safety of their guests. You should be realistic about your skills and your ability to manage the wind and sea conditions. The staff and volunteers of Jericho rescue do not have legal authority to restrict access to the ocean, but if they recommend that you do not launch a vessel, you are required by ClubLocarno to listen to what they say and stay on shore. We are fairly inflexible on this point.

Guests

Since referrals are our primary source of new members, everyone is encouraged to bring guests to enjoy the ClubLocarno fleet and facilities. Each individual guest is welcome up to 5 times in a season after which we encourage them to join the club. This limit does not apply to guests under 15. Youth members are not permitted to take out guests.

In all cases the hosting member is required to take full responsibility for the boats and for the safety of their guests. Where guests are allowed, members and guests must only be on craft from the same Fleet. The member should sign out their own boat and their guest’s boat in the craft sign out application. Guests must register and agree to the waiver on every visit using the guest registration link available in the craft sign out application. Each fleet has different rules regarding guests:

Underaged Guests:

In some fleets, members may take out guests under 19 years of age at their discretion (see specific fleets for the rules regarding underage guests.) If your young guest will be paddling their own craft (SUP, Kayak), you must be on the water with them at all times, and in a craft from the same fleet. Take into consideration their capabilities as well as yours in view of the weather and sea conditions, as well as your ability and confidence to assist them in the event of difficulties. You must must register your underage guest and agree to the waiver on their behalf using the guest registration link available.

The Locarno Way

We have an awesome fleet of boats in great condition, well-maintained, clean and ready for the next trip, despite that they are shared among a group of several hundred people with a wide range of skills and experience. The reason that this all works is because of a set of shared values and behaviours that we call The Locarno Way.

The Locarno Way

Show our fleet the love - treat our boats as if they are your own

Share and play nice. Observe time limits, and be courteous, considerate and fair to others.

Make a go/no go decision before every trip on the water (sick, cold, hungry, scared, hurt or tired?)

Never run a boat aground! Boats, oars and paddles should only touch water; launch and land a floating boat.

Do a dummy check before you launch, and another one before you go home (the dummy may be someone else). Mental checklists are great; written ones are even better.

Pick it up, do it up, close it up, lock it up. If you see ClubLocarno gear lying about, put it into the nearest clubroom. If you see a door open to an empty clubroom, shut the door (everyone who needs access has a key around their neck).

Rinse everything after using it - if the salt doesn’t damage our equipment, the sand surely will.

Put nothing down - straight from rinse to shed.

Leave it better than you found it

Fix it or flag it, then report it. Never use a damaged boat.

Clean up after using tools, parts and supplies. Leave the work areas ready for the next person … who might be you.

Help other members. If you see someone who is struggling or still learning, share what you know and help them to develop their skills and knowledge. Similarly, if you are not sure what you are doing, consider not doing it until you can get some help or guidance.

And above all, never buy a boat.


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