Membership
Why SSC?

In the past several years, 4 new membership / timeshare programs have opened in this area. Here is why we are better than other yacht membership or fractional ownership plans.

1. No Day Swapping. Some fractional plans are a use it or loose deal. Every month, you are allowed a certain amount of time. This time often can not be rolled over more than one month, if that. To not lose days, you have to swap them with other members. You probably have better things to do with your time than working on swapping days.
   
   
2. More Flexibility. With SSC, you are not allocated a set number of weekend and weekday slots. If only weekends work for you, just reserve weekends. If you can use weekdays, they allow more days of usage. Why pay for days you will not use?
   
   
3. Better Availability. Our competitors talk about their sophisticated scheduling software. Availability comes down to number of local boats you have access to and how many members there are per boat. Take weekend days for example. There are about 22 weekends per season, the equivalent of 44 days. About 30% will have lousy weather, leaving 30 weekend days. 9 vs. 8 members means 13% fewer days available. Ten-member program will have 21% fewer days available.
   
   SSC's program will allow up to 9 full weekend days per membership (or 14 weekdays). Our leading competitors allow only 5-7 full weekend days per season. Finally, many fractional programs restrict longer cruises. One-week cruises are normal at Sound Sailing, and you will not use up all your days in the process. Most members use a combination of 1/2 days trips (which 'cost' 30% less) and free useage to sail 15-20 days a year.
   
   
4. Expert, on-site staff. One of the things members find most rewarding about SSC is that they have access to true expert sailors like Martin van Breems and our 15 other instructors. Many have 20,000-30,000 thousand sea miles. Martin singlehanded raced his J44 from Plymouth England to Newport RI, one of the toughest races in the world, in which more than 70% of the competitors dropped out. Got a question or problem? The answers are right here. It’s pretty hard for a PDA or email to answer a question, or fix the override on a winch.
   
   
5. Service Capabilities. In the busy summer season, it is often impossible to find service professionals at short notice. Because we have our own people on staff and our own shop, we can fix problems much more quickly than other places.
   
   
6. Lower Cost. Why pay for national advertising or franchise fees? At SSC, we put our money into our fleet, offering higher quality yachts at a lower cost. We also do not charge large, upfront/initiation/deposit fees. If you know what you are doing, a 2-hour checkout and you are ready. Need some help? We are the largest and best sailing school in CT, with a proven program to help you become an excellent sailor. Our students also get 10% discounts on memberships.
   
   
7. More Local Boats. At SSC you can use any boat in our fleet smaller than the one you have signed up for. Because we have over 14 boats in Connecticut, you will always be able to go out when you want. Our goal is that, with 24 hours notice, we will have a boat for you over 90% of the time. Our competitors only have 1-3 local boats and you are often locked into the boat you sign up for, unless you pay hefty fees, often over $250 per day. At SSC, you can use any boat in our fleet smaller than what you signed up for. Most one time check out fees are under $100.
   
   
8. Great Locations. Our base is in Norwalk Cove Marina, one of the largest marina’s behind the scenic Norwalk Islands. You can be sailing less than 500’ from our docks, with over 10 scenic anchorages within an hour’s sail. Since so many of our members love sailing to Block Island, Newport and Shelter Island, we have additional vessels in Noank Shipyard. Both locations offer scenic dining on site (http://www.sunsetgrille.net in Norwalk, http://www.costellosclamshack.com in Noank), so you can enjoy drinks or dinner after your sail.
   
   
9. Racing and Social Events. At SSC, we offer members free racing on our 23’ Ensigns (Tuesday evenings in the summer, Sunday afternoon frostbiting). Racing is a great way to test your skills and become a better sailor, and our simple courses and rules make it fun for everyone. We also race our J44 Monhegan in the Newport/Bermuda and Caribbean regattas, along with other big boat racing. Each season, we sponsor several socials to help members get to know one another better.
   
   
10. Performance. Our members are generally experienced sailors, who prefer boats that can actually sail. We will never have a boat with a furling mast in our fleet. Not only is there 15-25% less mainsail area, to get a main to furl in a mast without jamming, the sails are a flat piece of canvas, instead of a shaped airfoil, with no upwind performance capabilities. Pulling out the main upwind will add nothing to your speed. With effectively no main, these boats are severely underpowered for Long Island Sound. None of the working sails in our entire fleet is over 4 years old, and all our boats offer much-better-than-average performance. Compare PHRF numbers. The Sabre 30’s rate 180, the Pearson 37’s 102, and the J44 rates at 35 seconds per mile. Fast is Fun!!!
    
    
11. Trouble-Free Rigging. Safety furling masts add weight aloft, making the boat heel more. Many offshore races will not allow a production boat with a furling mast, because the limit of positive stability is too low (under 120 degree’s). Few builders publish stability figures for boats with furling masts, due to this problem. Furling masts also can, and do, jam, and always at the worst time, while trying to get the sail in during a sudden blow. All our larger boats have other important safety gear, too, like Lifeslings, Boom Brakes, and the capability to reef from the cockpit.
    
    
12. Comfort. Our competitors feature the least expensive production boats, set up for inexperienced sailors. We know what makes for a comfortable, fun trip. For example, virtually all the ports open on our boats over 30’. We also include gear most other’s don’t, like Bimini’s for sun protection, dodgers, cockpit showers, autopilots, CD players and a dingy.
    
    
13. Ease of Use. Sailing should be easy and fun. Every boat in our fleet has a roller furling jib. Mainsails use the Dutchman self flaking system and low friction track system, so the main can easily be raised and lowered from the cockpit. The Hanse yachts even have self tacking jibs. To tack, simply turn the helm!
    
    
14. Quality, Beautiful Yachts. All our vessels are classic yachts even an experienced yachtsman would be, and are, proud to own. Sabre and J Boats are the finest US production boatbuilders. For our new vessels, we selected the German-built Hanse line. Please visit our yacht pages, www.HanseYachts.com, to see more. As always, we looked for a higher quality yacht that offers beautiful lines, spacious, comfortable and attractive interiors, and superb performance. Hanse offers all these features, which is why we are proud to offer them both in out fleet, and for sale as a dealer.

Please call 203-838-1110 for additional information.