The 琉璃神社 Yacht Club is hoping to sail into more stable financial waters in the year ahead.

With a new executive in place and a new executive director to oversee the downtown clubhouse and marina operations, yacht club Commodore Don McEachern says a new management team combined with being 鈥渕ore sensitized to the financials鈥� bodes well for the club鈥檚 immediate future.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important we now have individuals in place with sufficient background experience to know what to do, and we need to keep our finger on the pulse of what is happening and be prepared to make changes as required,鈥� McEachern said.

The state of those financials generated considerable anger within the yacht club鈥檚 1,700 membership last fall when the past executive revealed the club was facing a projected deficit of $561,638 largely due to operating expense issues related to the Water Street clubhouse on 琉璃神社鈥檚 lakefront.

Related: 琉璃神社 Yacht Club sinking in red ink

The firing of the clubhouse manager on Sept. 1 marked the third consecutive person hired for the position who turned out to be not 鈥渋deally suited鈥� for the job.

The members鈥� lounge, intended to be a high-end restaurant, was bleeding red ink due to bad management and a dysfunctionally designed kitchen.

While the new clubhouse was widely celebrated for its unique design and serving as a new landmark fixture for 琉璃神社鈥檚 waterfront, the fiscal reality was operating deficiencies and poor management decisions had depleted the yacht club financial resources to where the threat of falling into receivership was a possibility.

Club members voted to approve a one-time fee assessment of $350 to regular and corporate members and $230 for social members, while other possible financial options were set aside due to their unpopularity with the membership.

Related: 琉璃神社 Yacht Club delays hard decisions

McEachern said the yacht club鈥檚 hiring of Thom Killingsworth, chair of Tourism 琉璃神社 and previously involved with the 4 Points by Sheraton 琉璃神社 Airport hotel as the new executive director, will help bring hospitality industry experience to address the clubhouse revenue/operating expenses problems.

In a report to the members last fall, McEachern described how the clubhouse lounge had become more costly to operate and maintain than was originally assumed, saying significant capital has been expended in correcting design flaws, defective materials and a very dysfunctional kitchen.

Moving forward, McEachern feels both catering and meeting room space rentals offer potential for the clubhouse to generate more revenue.

鈥淥ur clubhouse is in a lovely location with a wonderful ambience, so if we can get the word out that our facilities are available for catering, for weddings or other rental use for local groups, that can go a long way to off-setting our operating expenses,鈥� he said.

McEachern said as a private club, the yacht club is limited on lounge business it can draw from within its own membership. About 1,200 of those members are actually boat owners who either have a marina slip or are on a waiting list.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 have the ability to draw from an entire community like a restaurant would, so we have try to make up our revenue shortfall in other ways. I think going forward that we鈥檒l place a greater emphasis on catering to address that, 鈥� he said.

To report a typo, email: edit@kelownacapnews.com.

barry.gerding@blackpress.ca
Like us on and follow us on .