About the Leisure Owners Association

The Leisure Owners Association

: Club sailing

Formed in 1982, the Leisure Owners Association was created to represent the interests of Leisure yacht owners and to provide a forum for members to exchange ideas about sailing, maintenance, etc. we continue to go from strength to strength with 600+ members worldwide.
If you own a Leisure Yacht, are considering buying one or just want to know more, we can help. Please contact the Commodore.

The Aims of the Association:

Provide a forum for members to communicate with each other
Provide a technical reference library
Make available technical expertise via a live discussion forum
Provide access to replacement parts and mouldings
Publish a regular association magazine – “LeisureTime“
Encourage sailing and social events

The benefits of joining are many. Perhaps the most important is the immediate access to a wealth of knowledge, experience and help concerning every model of Leisure yacht.
Details are available for the entire range, built between 1967 and 1996.
These are accessible to members through the Technical Reference Library and Owner’s Manual sections of the Discussion Forum and the Association magazine, “Leisuretime”.
Scans of the original brochures for each Leisure yacht can also be found and downloaded from the website on the respective pages for each yacht.

Membership costs just £10 for life (conditions apply, see below).

Association of Volunteers

A committee of volunteers manage the Association. Funds are used solely to administer, sustain and improve the experience of Association members.

A flourishing club also operates in the Netherlands and celebrated their 40^th anniversary in 2017. Their site, the Leisure Club Holland has more information.

Technical Support

The majority of members join to avail themselves of the wide ranging technical support available. Leisure yachts are now quite old and the boat builders have long since ceased trading, but a good number of our members have built up many years of experience in maintaining their yachts and are very willing to share their knowledge.

Wealth of Expertise

Especially for new owners looking to restore and properly maintain their yacht, access to a wealth of expertise and to share issues and solutions with fellow members is of great benefit.

Spare Parts

The Association actively invests in patterns and moulds for those yacht parts that occasionally get damaged or fail.

We also produce tillers, tiller heads, rudder bearings and pintles. By producing and stocking parts in quantity, costs can be kept down and so members avoid the difficulty and high cost of sourcing specialist parts.

Of course, you don’t have to be a member to buy part for your Leisure. However, Hurst Marine currently offer a generous discount to Association members on their spare or replacement parts for Leisure yachts.
Discount given at the discretion and agreement of Hurst Marine.

LeisureTime Magazine

Twice a year the Association publishes a journal “LeisureTime”, formerly known as “Saltings”. This includes details of sailing events, repair and maintenance tips and items of general interest to Leisure owners, not forgetting those sailing yarns we all like to tell in the bar after a good day on the water!
In the Forum, members have access to the magazine archive with issues dating back to 1997.

See here for the Latest editions of LeisureTime in PDF format.

Rallies and Events

Some of the regions organise sailing events during the sailing season, with occasional events during the winter.

Discussion Forum

Members who live away from the main UK sailing centres, overseas and who cannot travel easily to rallies and meetings, can participate through the Association magazine and of course our on-line forum where all sorts of questions are asked and answered. The Technical Library, including the Owners Manuals, are available to members on our Forum.

You need not own a Leisure!

Having your own Leisure yacht is not a pre-requisite of membership. Neither does your yacht have to be a ‘Leisure’. Indeed, you do not have to be a boat owner to be a member!

We have a few members who have sold their Leisure for bigger yachts, but continue with the Association because of the friends they have made. Others have retired from sailing, but stay in the Association to pass on their knowledge.

Leisure Owners Association Lifetime Membership

In exchange for the modest joining fee, you receive a Lifetime Membership to the Leisure Owners Association.
Please note:
There is no recurring annual subscription and your membership will continue on the condition that you log on to the Association Discussion Forum at least once a year, otherwise your membership will be marked as ‘inactive’ and will automatically cease.

To Join the Leisure Owners Association

Please fill in the online registration form.

When this is submitted you will be led to a PayPal checkout page where you can pay the lifetime subscription (currently £10) using any normal credit/debit card or your own PayPal account.
Once complete you will receive an e-mail receipt from PayPal.

Our Administrator will then create your Forum Account and you will receive welcome e-mail explaining how to access the Forum.

This may take up to 24 hours depending on the Administrator’s availability, occasionally longer.

Should you have any problem with registration or payment, please e-mail the Membership Secretary for assistance.

Leisure Owners Association Burgee

Smarten up your boat, fly the Association burgee at the top of your mast!
Members can order these from the Forum.

If you’re unsure about flag protocols, the Royal Yacht Association has a page for guidance.