"There was nobody out of the 1,000 sailing club members, who argued to keep them."

Walk into almost any sailing club in Australia, and you'll see a few things. There will be a bar, there will be trophies; people will be standing around telling tall tales about their racing history, and outside you'll hear the halyards bouncing against the masts in the marina, or in the hardstand. But there is one more thing that you'll hear before you see…

"Ding Ding Ding!!! Chhhhhhhhhhhhh Ding! Briiiiiiiiiing!"

Pokies. Hidden away in an air conditioned corner of thousands of clubs around Australia, stinking of stale beer and pillaging millions of dollars from the locals who play them, most of which aren't even sailors.

Some clubs argue that it keeps them afloat, with the revenue brought in by the machines paying for maintenance and other benefits to members. While that's true, Australia as a country is also sinking hundred of billions into poker machines, and not seeing a single cent returned. In the Northern Territory alone, last year there was a total of 80 million dollars lost (that's LOST!) on poker machines in clubs alone, with another 80 million bucks lost in the two NT casinos. Imagine if 160 billion dollars was invested on learning to sail? At least learning to sail has some tangible, and real world rewards! But you as a sailor know that…

So do the members of the Darwin Sailing Club, who this week cheered as a group of removalists wheeled out their collection of poker machines and simply threw them away. Instead of the gaming room, the club will use the space for something sailing related, like a yachting memorabilia room.

"We surveyed our 1,000 members last year and asked them about the pokies being removed." Explains John Melenewycz, Manager of the Darwin Sailing Club. "Overwhelmingly, members were in support of the idea of using the gaming room for something not related to pokies. There was nobody out of the 1,000 people who argued to keep them."

Does that sound like the sailing community at your local club? Should Pokies be wheeled out on trolleys and dumped in the mini-skips outside? Have your say in the forums, or raise the topic at your next sailing club meeting.