An independent technology consultancy that gives your club a clear plan, the right tools, and someone your volunteers can ask. For about the cost of a couple of memberships a month.
Every sailing club has someone who "does the website". Usually they inherited it. Usually they've got another job on the committee as well. Membership's on one system, payments on another, the calendar's on a third, and the racing results go out on WhatsApp because that's what works.
It's fine until it isn't. The person leaves and takes the passwords with them. The renewals go out late. Somebody proposes a new system at the AGM and nobody can say whether it's a good idea. Technology isn't in anyone's remit, so it gets decided one tool at a time, usually by whoever's loudest.
I help sailing clubs use technology to make life simpler for the volunteers who run them and the members who enjoy them.
I work as your club's part-time head of technology, and my job isn't to do the work for you but to make sure the work is worth doing: a plan the committee can agree and follow, the right tools for a club of your size, and someone your volunteers can turn to when they're stuck.
You may have come across the idea of a fractional chief technology officer, or CTO. It's common in business, but it has always been priced well beyond the reach of a volunteer-run club. Club CTO is built to change that.
Two online sessions with your committee and whoever does the digital work today. You get a written roadmap for next season, a recommended set of tools with what they cost, and a role description for a club digital officer, so the job finally has an owner.
£750 plus VAT
Three to four weeks, start to finish. Free for founding clubs.
Ongoing. Every month, a 45-minute clinic with your digital person and an email line for questions. Every season, your roadmap refreshed. Every quarter, a half-page note to the committee. Always, the toolkit: guides, templates and comparisons written for sailing clubs.
£100 a month plus VAT
Billed monthly.
Founding clubs £75 a month plus VAT for year one.
Your volunteers carry on running things, and I make sure their effort goes on what matters most, with tools that suit the club and someone to ask when they need it. Nothing depends on me or on any one supplier, so if you ever decide to stop, everything keeps working.
Sometimes a club wants a project led rather than advised on, such as a website rebuild or a move to a new membership system. If that's something your club needs, get in touch and we can talk it through.
I've sailed and windsurfed for forty years, most of it around dinghy racing and the clubs that run it. I spent six years on the committee of my local sailing club in Northumberland, four of them as company secretary and two looking after the safety team.
So I know what a club asks of the people who keep it going. Everyone has a day job, the list never gets shorter, the committee changes at every AGM, and the same few people end up holding it all together. Keeping everyone on the same page, from the committee to the race officers to the members who just want to know whether Sunday's racing is on, takes far more effort than anyone outside the club realises. When it goes wrong, it's the goodwill of your best volunteers that pays the price.
I've also spent more than thirty years in technology and running businesses, most recently founding Sail, a club management platform for sailing clubs. Technology won't fix all of that on its own, but chosen well and set up properly, it takes a lot of the weight off: a membership list everyone trusts, a rota people can find, news that reaches every member, and far fewer late-night messages. That's what I help clubs put in place, whatever systems they use today.
Sometimes it's the right answer for a club, and I'll say so. Often the right answer is to get more out of what you've already got, and I'll say that too. If I think Sail is the right fit, I'll set out the alternatives alongside it so the committee can compare them fairly. It makes no difference whether you're on Sailing Club Manager, WebCollect, membermojo, a spreadsheet or a shoebox. What you're paying for is the advice, not the software.
If you're curious, you can find out more about Sail at sailapp.cloud.
I'm offering the Digital Review free to the first six clubs, with no obligation. You keep everything the review produces, including the roadmap and the role description, whatever you decide. In return, I ask for honest feedback, a short case study and a reference if you're happy with the result. If you go on to Club CTO within thirty days of receiving the final roadmap, it's £75 a month for the first year instead of £100, both plus VAT.
The offer isn't open to clubs already in conversation with me about Sail. That keeps the review independent, so there's never any doubt about which hat I'm wearing.
| Digital Review | £750 plus VAT. Free for founding clubs. |
|---|---|
| Club CTO | £100 a month plus VAT, billed monthly. Renews every twelve months, and you can cancel with thirty days' notice before the renewal date. |
| Founding rate | £75 a month plus VAT for year one. |
| Hands-on projects | £500 a day plus VAT. For when your club wants a project led rather than advised on, such as moving to a new membership system or replacing the website. This sits outside Club CTO, and we'll agree the scope and cost in writing before any work starts. |
Everything is delivered online. No travel, no travel costs. All prices exclude VAT.
Frequently asked questions
The questions your committee is likely to ask, with answers you can take into the meeting.
Not at all, and you're far from alone. Part of the Digital Review is a role description you can take to your next committee meeting, so the job exists and someone can be asked to take it on.
No. The review starts from what you already have, and if it's working well, I'll tell you to keep it.
No. I built Sail, and sometimes it's the right answer for a club, but often the best answer is to get more out of what you already have. If I think Sail is the right fit, I'll set out the alternatives alongside it so the committee can compare them fairly. What you're paying for is the advice, not the software.
For the Digital Review, your commodore or secretary, your treasurer and whoever looks after the digital side today, across two online sessions. For Club CTO, it's mainly your digital person, with a quarterly note to the committee so everyone knows where things stand.
Ask me for the committee pack. It includes a one-page summary of what your club gets, what it costs over the year, who needs to be involved and how much of their time it takes, and what happens if you decide not to continue. There's also a suggested minute you can drop straight into your papers.
Yes. Club CTO runs for twelve months at a time, and I'll write to you sixty days before your renewal date so the committee can decide whether to continue. To cancel, just give thirty days' notice before that date. If it isn't working in the first ninety days, tell me. If we can't put it right, you can leave early with thirty days' notice: you pay until your notice ends, and nothing after. After the first ninety days, the contract runs for the full twelve months.
Got a question that isn't here? Book a call or send me a message.
