Category: Crew and Boat Finder

Your Boat Profile

Posted on by John_RailMeets.com

I was cruising through the RailMeets Boat Finder looking to see what was going on the sailing world as well as looking for interesting boat profiles. You can learn a lot about a boat and program by reading the profiles. I see lots of you have beer, cold, free, craft are all options you can find. Some boats list the skills they are looking for from beginner to advanced, there is a seat available. Some of you extol your racing accomplishments and others have a Dude like laid back cruising style. These are all great conversation starters with prospective crew.

One thing I did notice was there were a lot of boats that did not yet have the Motto spot filled in. Not filling in the Motto section is kind of like putting up an ad to sell a car and then leaving out the details. Creativity is good here but not all of us have Mad Men levels of it. So what do you put on your boats profile? Tell us a little about your boat, when you race, the attitude on board, types of crew or positions that you are looking for. If you need crew for Wet Wednesday or the Sunday Commodore’s Series, let us know. Keep it short, keep it tight and the crew will start contacting you.

Giving back to the sport

Posted on by John_RailMeets.com

There is one conversation that we at RailMeets have had with people all over the world. How do we match experienced skippers with new skippers to get them started in sail racing? RailMeets is doing its part to match them up. Say you are an experienced skipper that wants to give back. You can now check a box on your profile that indicates that you are open to mentor. If you are a newbie skipper and want some help you can check a box on your boats profile to indicate that you would like some help getting started. This is searchable in our crew/boat finder. Thanks to the three people that have already made themselves available to mentor as well as one boat that is looking for a mentor. Can any of our eastern Michigan peeps help him out?

Match Racing Anyone?

Posted on by John_RailMeets.com

Match racing is one of the many areas of this sport that has been growing and in Chicago it has some very devoted sailors, Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club’s Windy City Team Race, Chicago Yacht Club’s Match Race Program or the Chicago Match Race Center, not to mention several programs on the east coast. RailMeets is happy to help you match racers get connected. Go to your crew profile and in the Sailing Types section be sure to check Match Racing. Also there is a Match Racing option for boats. Are you a Skipper for one of these Match Race programs? Set up a boat just for your match racing activities. Check the Show in Boat Finder box and make sure that you select Match Racing for sailing types. You can now use RailMeets to connect with your fellow match racers.

Official crew finder for the 2020 Newport to Bermuda Race

Posted on by John_RailMeets.com

RailMeets is proud to announce that we have been selected as the official North American crew finder for the 2020 Newport to Bermuda race. With RailMeets you can add to your profile that you are available for the race. Go to My Info, then Crew Finder Profile, update, check Newport Bermuda Race and click on update. That’s it, ready to go.

Prospective skippers can search for crew that would like to do the race by using the filters. They can also search on specific skill sets needed to round out the crew.

See the official announcement here…
https://bermudarace.com/race-links-to-online-platforms-to-match-boats-and-crews/

For more information about the race see https://bermudarace.com/

Chicago NOOD or Don’t tell me tell RailMeets

Posted on by John_RailMeets.com

It was great seeing many of you at this past weekends Chicago NOOD regatta. Thank you for your comments suggestions, complements and of course how can I forget sipping rum drinks on a T-10 while giving some training on the RailMeets dashboard. Thanks! But my favorite comment was from a J/109 skipper telling me how RailMeets changed his program, from finding crew to tracking the crew schedules. As he told me, when he gets a text from a crew saying they are available for a race he texts back “Don’t tell me, tell RailMeets!”


How did the boat I was on do? Well after sitting in the fog on Friday we got in four good races on Saturday. We were tied for second (with two other boats tied for first). We really needed a race on Sunday but more pea soup fog prevented that and after all the tie breakers were applied we ended up fourth. Not bad for a new program and a good chunk of the crew picked up from RailMeets.

A race like no other…

Posted on by John_RailMeets.com

There are some sailboat races are special because of where they start, some are special because of where they finish and some are special because of their inherent challenge. Few are special because of all three. The Chicago Yacht Club’s race to Mackinac is one of those races. The race starts with the spectacular Chicago skyline as a backdrop for the start. Then the fleet heads north up Lake Michigan where conditions can range from dead calm with the nasty black fly to major gale force winds and tall choppy waves. 333 Miles later you are transported back in time to Mackinac Island, it’s a race like no other.


RailMeets has partnered with Chicago Yacht Club to provide the official crew finder for the Chicago to Mackinac race. To get yourself set up sign in to your RailMeets account then click on the silhouette (or picture) in the upper right corner, select My Profile. Scroll down to the Crew Finder Profile and select update profile.

Make sure Show on Crew Finder is selected and then scroll down and select Chicago to Mackinac in the Special Events Wanted section. Don’t forget to click on update.

It’s a similar procedure for updating your boats profile if you are looking for crew


Don’t have a RailMeets account? It’s free go to https://railmeets.com/ to learn more.

Chicago Yacht Club members can use https://cyc.railmeets.com/

Even easier to find a boat

Posted on by John_RailMeets.com

Gang, we have been doing some housekeeping and catching up on user requested features. As you know we have crew and boat finders on RailMeets. The Crew Finder was in the top menu bar but you had to hunt around to find the Boat Finder. We moved it to right between the RailMeets logo and the Crew Finder on the top menu bar. Please take a minute and see who is looking for crew. It’s not too early to start your networking.

Setting Your Boats Location

Posted on by John_RailMeets.com

Set your boats location – make it a bit more specific. The other day I was looking at the boat finder and I am finding boats from all over North America. That’s great thank you for using RailMeets! Top tip – when setting your boats location be more specific than you were with your personal location. Why, well in a lot of areas harbors can be difficult to get to and major cities can have multiple harbors. If prospective crew lives or works on the other side of the city they might not be able to get to your boat on time. For best results we recommend using the harbor your boat is moored in.

Setting Your Location

Posted on by John_RailMeets.com

Setting your location – keep it general. I was looking at the crew finder and I am seeing people from all over the country. That’s great, thank you for using RailMeets! Top tip when you enter your location don’t enter your street address or neighborhood or anything that specific as that information will appear in the crew search. Here why, say a visiting skipper is racing in Chicago and he needs crew. Whats the first thing he does? He goes on RailMeets to look. First thing he does is check Chicago as a location. Why? cause that’s where he is at. He doesn’t know where Villa Park is so he never finds you and you miss an opportunity.