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April 2017
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Is Recreational Boating Dying
on the Hudson River?
We don’t think so.
by David Westcott, Commodore, Shattemuc Yacht Club
After the 2008 recession, the Hudson River witnessed a decline in
boating. Some would tell you it is part of a larger decline in recreational
boating. Others would have you believe that boating is too expensive
or requires too much time. We at Shattemuc Yacht Club believe they are
wrong. In fact, we just invested over a million dollars in upgrading our
marina in preparation for the next generation of boaters.
Shattemuc Yacht Club dates back to 1858, when as Sing Sing YC, we
hosted a number of sailing, canoeing and boating events. We officially
established the club in 1874 and have witnessed several boom and bust
cycles in boating. Did you know that canoeing was all the rage in the
1870s and 1880s or that ice boats, sandbaggers and power launches use
to race from our club at the turn of the century? Sailboat racing become
popular around 1910 with the establishment of the Hudson River Yacht
Racing Association (HRYRA), which is still serving our clubs today.
There were lean times as well. During the depression of the 1930s,
Shattemuc’s membership slipped to 11 paying members from over 100.
WorldWar II also reduced our membership, but rebounded to new highs
after the war.
We believe that boating on the Hudson is recovering from the
recession slowly but surely. The trends we are seeing are encouraging
and include:
• More women and families are boating than ever before. They are not
just spectators, but boat owners and captains.
• There is a greater diversity of water craft being used: kayaks, wake
boards and jet skis, catamarans and outboard runabouts as well as
larger boats that people live on during the summers.
• Used boats on the Hudson are priced below market value and there
a plenty of good deals for new boat owners.
• The average boat size at SYC is getting larger. Average size has gone
from 28 feet to over 31 feet in a very short amount of time.
• Our Junior Sailing Academy is finding ways to accommodate larger
numbers of young sailors.
Why is Shattemuc Yacht Club investing now in its future?
Our Long Range Planning Committee and our Board have debated
this question for many years, but in the end we agreed that we
have need to move forward and now is the best time to do it for the
following reasons:
• Interest rates are at an all time low, making borrowing costs easier
to manage.
• New York State is supporting efforts to encourage boating and
tourism in the Hudson Valley. We applied for received a grant from the
Fish &Wildlife Service to build transient boater docks.
• We are seeing a resurgence of young families interested in boating,
kayaking and sailing on the Hudson.
In response to these trends we have done a number of things we
believe will attract new members.
First, we geared the club to young families. We offer a Junior Sailing
Academy for young sailors, a pool and kiddie pool and a number of
social events that involve the whole family.
Second, we enlarged our marina to provide for deep water slips to
accommodate larger boats. (Our ribbon cutting ceremony for the new
marina will be on May 13th of this year.) This will also help us attract
transient boaters to stay at the club.
Finally, we are encouraging first time boaters to consider our club
by establishing a House-Kayak membership and building additional
kayak / wake board / small sailboat racks on our beach.
Is recreational boating dying on the Hudson? Absolutely not!