About Hereford Sailing Club

Hereford Sailing Club (HSC) consists of approximately 25 members, many of whom have RYA qualifications, from Day Skipper to Yachtmaster Instructor. There is a wide range of sailing experience and technical skills amongst club members.

The ethos of the club is to provide sailing experience and to encourage members to improve their skills. Novices are welcome. Membership is drawn from many parts of the country but the club tries to keep a balance of 60% of members living within 50 miles of Hereford.

It is governed by a constitution and operating rules and is run by a committee elected at the AGM. Members meet on the first Thursday in the month for a social gathering, to organize cruises and crews and to swap stories of the sea.

HSC is for people who want to sail a well found 40 foot yacht with the benefits of shared ownership and shared responsibility. The club boat, Auburn Lass (the boat) is for the use of members and their crews and as such is shared by a limited number of people for their pleasure and enjoyment. Auburn Lass is regularly maintained and kept in such a condition to make the experience of yacht sailing as enjoyable and safe as possible. The boat is loaned to members in exchange for fees, which together with the club membership fees pay for the upkeep of the boat and the other costs to the club, including the capital costs of the boat’s purchase.  HSC is not a charter organization: it is a club with a shared asset that is loaned to its members.

The boat may only be sailed with a club skipper on board. Club skippers are appointed by the Committee after consideration of their experience, qualifications and an assessment by an appointed club skipper. Non members may sail, with some limitations, as well as members’ families.

The club is non-commercial, profits being used to repay the mortgage, make improvements, or be salted away towards the next boat. The boat is professionally maintained for major works but, in order to reduce costs, crews are expected to carry out maintenance work if possible, and to offer their services from time to time for winter maintenance parties.