Hey everyone, I'm looking to start a wake club in my local area and I wanted to see if anyone here has any advice or feedback.
One of my biggest pet peeve with wake sports is unless you already have a boat/gear, or know people willing to let you use them, getting on the water is often prohibitively expensive.
Cable parks are a bit different, and I wish I had one near me.
With that said I'm looking into what can and can't be done, and haven't found many examples so far. I see a lot of charter type rentals/sessions typically ranging from $250-$350/hr which is understandable but also not ideal is you don't have others to go in on the charter w/ you.
So what am I trying to do? Currently looking into 2 directions
- A funded Club operating w/ it's own equipment: boat, gear, etc.
With higher annual dues to pay for operations and equipment.
Pros:
+beginner friendly (no commitment to gear or boat)
+newer boats gear (recurring cycle)
+scheduled and consistent boat availability
+also has Social Club features
+volunteer drivers, i.e. no searching for a tow (members certified by club)
Cons:
-Requires many members and fairly expensive annual dues to maintain operating costs
-liability/insurance costs
-legal gray areas with USCG that need clarification on drivers/OUPV classification
- Social Club based on a private forum/portal for local members to request rides, or volunteer seats on a personally owned boat.
Pros:
+little cost to set up, tiny annual dues to keep website running and do events
Cons:
-completely dependent on boat owners wanting to bring strangers onto their boat
-basically the same a a Facebook group, which isn't very active/helpful for my local area.
-harder for new riders to get started
I'd love to hear your feedback, especially those with boats already.
Which system would you lean towards and why?
If you already have a boat, would a Club running a premium wake boat (like a G23 or similar model) be something you would be interested in anyway? (Guaranteed Driver)
As an owner would you be willing to take strangers/members on your boat?
Nothing is guaranteed to work, I have a lot of work to line everything up so it may be a while till I get anything firm.