Supporting a new sailing community venture in the NYC Metro Area

[Sailors NYC]

Fellow Anarchists,

Please:

1. Watch the video: http://igg.me/p/292144/x/1823304

2. Share it with your friends via social media tools below the video

3. consider contributing to this campaign - as little as $10! Check out perks on the right column of the campaign page

Thank you and happy holidays y'all!

Sailors NYC

 

[left hook]

But read this thread before you give any money: http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=142329

 

[redboat]

Frighteningly amateurish. Can't believe $100,000 start up cost for a functioning sailing center in the heart of the most expensive bit of real estate in Amerika. Suggest they contact Reid Stowe for tips on securing dockage for cheap.

If I have any extra $$ for a NY metropolitan area sailing program I'll send them to Rock the Boat. Already flourishing and helping disadvantaged kids get out on the water rather than disadvantaged executives and attorneys who want to schmooze and be photographed behind a big wheel (reason for choosing J105?).

 

[dacapo]

what's funny is...if someone REALLY wants to sail, owns a sailboat but can;t afford NY Harbor berthing, City Island berthing, LI berthing, NJ berthing, why not get a mooring north of NYC?? Nyack, Tarrytown, Ossining ALL have less expensive alternatives, some quite good sailing in the summer (Haverstraw bay) and are less than 40 min. train ride to get there.....

 

[Jkdubz808]

But read this thread before you give any money: http://forums.sailin...howtopic=142329

Fuck.....you beat me to it!

 

[Gracious]

NYC harbor isn't the greatest place to sail. Lots of commercial traffic and serious currents from East River and Hudson River. It would be great to see the sport reach out to others but this is not the place for amateurs to go for a day sail and have cocktails. I'd be more than willing to donate funds or even take people sailing there's got to be a better way.

 

[Sailors NYC]

Frighteningly amateurish. Can't believe $100,000 start up cost for a functioning sailing center in the heart of the most expensive bit of real estate in Amerika. Suggest they contact Reid Stowe for tips on securing dockage for cheap.

If I have any extra $$ for a NY metropolitan area sailing program I'll send them to Rock the Boat. Already flourishing and helping disadvantaged kids get out on the water rather than disadvantaged executives and attorneys who want to schmooze and be photographed behind a big wheel (reason for choosing J105?).

true - it takes more than $100K, but that's a start. I'm more than happy to tell more in a personal message if you are interested.

and yes - Rocking the Boat Rocks. I donate them on a monthly basis and plan to work with them in the future in helping developing their programs. thank you for bringing them up - as they are really dear to me, and a donation to them is a tax exempt donation.

 

[Sailors NYC]

NYC harbor isn't the greatest place to sail. Lots of commercial traffic and serious currents from East River and Hudson River. It would be great to see the sport reach out to others but this is not the place for amateurs to go for a day sail and have cocktails. I'd be more than willing to donate funds or even take people sailing there's got to be a better way.

I am more than happy to hear more of your thoughts and tell you more about my plan and hopefully get your support on that. You know that things are not always as simple as they sound

Please feel free to email me in person. thanks!

Wow! you anarchists are surely passionate about this topic! well - I guess I'm at the right place! feel free to challenge me publically or personally - I am up to it!

 

[aloha27]

Frighteningly amateurish. Can't believe $100,000 start up cost for a functioning sailing center in the heart of the most expensive bit of real estate in Amerika. Suggest they contact Reid Stowe for tips on securing dockage for cheap.

If I have any extra $$ for a NY metropolitan area sailing program I'll send them to Rock the Boat. Already flourishing and helping disadvantaged kids get out on the water rather than disadvantaged executives and attorneys who want to schmooze and be photographed behind a big wheel (reason for choosing J105?).

Better still, contact Stowe for a donation. He'd love to pay it forward I bet.

 

[Crump's Brother]

- I guess I'm at the right place! feel free to challenge me publically or personally - I am up to it!

Well ok then, let's see the goods (funbags, sweater stretchers, chesteckles, baby feeders, etc.)..

KB

 

[rgscpat]

I'm a bit confused about whether this would be more like a community sailing center (non profit, typically uses smaller and less expensive equipment and has a focus on youth and other special populations, has emphasis on instruction/ safety/ seamanship, has a focus on meeting community needs and can qualify for 501©(3) status), or more like something that would compete with for-profit sailboat rental companies, given the type of equipment proposed and the apparent marketing focus.

What I said in the other thread:

There's a business plan somewhere, is there? It should address the experience of the people in the organization (business or other organizational experience, marketing, sailing and boating instruction, maintenance, etc., with references), organization finances and sources of start-up and reserve capital, start-up costs, projected financials for the first few years, any agreements that are in place for a venue, quotes for insurance, standards for staff hiring, standard operating procedures, how customers will receive screening and orientation, forms that customers will sign, how business licensing and regulation are being dealt with, all that sort of thing. All of the questions a participant or supporter might have about who what where when how much should be answered credibly in the plan.

For-profit companies and Non-profits alike have business plans.

Guidestar puts out some good articles about how non-profits can help make their supporters feel secure, if this is trying to be a non-profit.

Something else a business plan for a nonprofit can do is very carefully answer the questions of:

What is the problem?

.... (how urgent is it, why is it not being met now, who has tried to address it in the past and what happened, why is this important?), and

How will we solve the problem?

........... (how can our success be seen and measured by our supporters, the community we serve, and the larger community, who will benefit, what will successful outcomes look like?)

In this community, you can expect lots of razzing and negative assumptions, especially if you don't state your relevant experience and background right up front. If you allow room for doubt, that's what you'll get; and you won't get much benefit of the doubt.

One other thing that affects your credibility is your answer to the question of "How much skin do you have in the game?"

If supporters see you bleeding and sacrificing that's very different than if it looks like you just want to have a fun ride at the expense of others.

 

[CrushDigital]

Beyond the nitty gritty of business plans and uber optimistic financial projections, I just don't see how this is anything innovative. The plans from the video seem to be that they will get docks somewhere for boats they haven't yet identified. Hopefully by those docks will be a rental space that they can acquire and renovate for 15k. Just on that last point, I have a 700sqft apartment in a luxury building in midtown Manhattan, the rent comes out to be 36k per year. Where do they expect to be able to get the square footage to support a robust membership for less than half that amount, I know the descriptions was for a cozy place but still.

I just can't see how this is anything more than, "We want to be Manhattan Sailing Club, but with bigger boats." Where is the innovation?

 

[dacapo]

Beyond the nitty gritty of business plans and uber optimistic financial projections, I just don't see how this is anything innovative. The plans from the video seem to be that they will get docks somewhere for boats they haven't yet identified. Hopefully by those docks will be a rental space that they can acquire and renovate for 15k. Just on that last point, I have a 700sqft apartment in a luxury building in midtown Manhattan, the rent comes out to be 36k per year. Where do they expect to be able to get the square footage to support a robust membership for less than half that amount, I know the descriptions was for a cozy place but still.

I just can't see how this is anything more than, "We want to be Manhattan Sailing Club, but with bigger boats." Where is the innovation?

so....I'm guessing yer back home??

 

[CrushDigital]

Yeah, they kicked me out of the bar at the Royal Bombay Yacht Club when it dawned on someone to check whether or not Glen Island Yacht Club actually had reciprocal privileges. To their credit, it was the only bar in all of India that I could find that had rye for a proper Manhattan.

 

[6924]

Jesus F'ing Christ - SA sure is pyscho sometimes

Always whining about getting more people into sailing, especially women.. Here is a young woman who wants to start a sailing program in NYC & all the SA peanut gallery can do is talk trash. Instead of talking trash, why not use your vast epic trove of experience to help guide the lassie along.

This is a great project - Manhattan has a shortage of sailing programs and an over abundance of 20-30 somethings who want to sail. Plenty of Manhattan woman sailors do not want anything to do with Manhattan Sailing Club. Many women are really creeped out by the owner of MSC - Michael Fortenbaugh. Also, long time members of MSC are leaving in droves since Fortenbaugh seems to have lost his way with Fortenbaugh focused on the lucrative floating bar rather sailing.

 

 

So, why not an alternative run by a woman ? There is more than enough demand for sailing in Manhattan for more than one club to prosper.

 

What advice does SA have for someone wanting to start ?

 

[MR.CLEAN]

a nice israeli girl helping get more people sailing on america's most populous island; we'd be the first to support this if it seemed worthy. seems a little sketchy though.

6924: why is the owner of MSC creepy to women? i have never met him. does he look like the dude behind the wheel of the panel van with 'free candy' written on the side?

 

[6924]

6924: why is the owner of MSC creepy to women? i have never met him. does he look like the dude behind the wheel of the panel van with 'free candy' written on the side?

Clean - I've had a few women sailors describe him as 'creepy'. It is a consistent theme as far as I can tell. No idea why women find him creepy. One neewbie sailor gal described a ASA graduation ceremony as 'lots of fun until this creepy guy came up and made a speech. He was wearing a ridiculous blazer with gold ribbons'

 

[bodega87]

What boats do you have? Since you don't mention the purchase of the four "race boats". 15k to renovate a rental property? What is it, a bathroom?

 

[PurpleOnion]

Jesus F'ing Christ - SA sure is pyscho sometimes

Always whining about getting more people into sailing, especially women.. Here is a young woman who wants to start a sailing program in NYC & all the SA peanut gallery can do is talk trash. Instead of talking trash, why not use your vast epic trove of experience to help guide the lassie along.

This is a great project - Manhattan has a shortage of sailing programs and an over abundance of 20-30 somethings who want to sail. Plenty of Manhattan woman sailors do not want anything to do with Manhattan Sailing Club. Many women are really creeped out by the owner of MSC - Michael Fortenbaugh. Also, long time members of MSC are leaving in droves since Fortenbaugh seems to have lost his way with Fortenbaugh focused on the lucrative floating bar rather sailing.

 

 

So, why not an alternative run by a woman ? There is more than enough demand for sailing in Manhattan for more than one club to prosper.

 

What advice does SA have for someone wanting to start ?

You're right, We should all follow your lead and spend our time bashing a 7 meter boat that's making sportboat/sportboat-like performance available to a much wider audience.

As for Manhattan Sailing Club, I've heard varying stories. The word creepy has come up more than once, but I've never bothered to find out the details. I tend to be creeped out by most people who feel the need to form groups/clubs/gangs/cliques.