Sailing clubs and lake water-sports groups use Telegram for the practical side of the season: who is crewing on Saturday, whether the wind is too strong for dinghies, when the slipway is free and who still has a spare buoyancy aid. As these chats grow, they also attract offers that have nothing to do with sailing.

This post describes a simple moderation setup for clubs, regatta groups and rental communities on lakes and coastal waters.

Disclosure: we develop 虾宝 (Xiabao), a spam-cleaning bot for Telegram, which is free for group owners.

Typical problems

Boat and engine sales that do not exist. Second-hand dinghies, outboard motors and trailers listed at tempting prices, with the seller "away on business" and asking for a deposit to reserve.

Berth and mooring scams. Offers to sublet a mooring or a winter storage place, paid in advance to a private account. Real clubs allocate berths through the harbour master or the committee.

Charter deposits. Weekend charters advertised by accounts unknown to the club, with a booking fee sent before any contract.

Regatta entry phishing. Links that claim to be the official entry form for a local race and collect card details.

General spam. Crypto and betting links from freshly joined accounts.

Rules for the pin

• Boat, engine and equipment sales use a fixed format: item, condition, price, where it can be viewed.
• No deposits before an inspection at the club or the slipway.
• Berths and storage are only allocated by the club office. Offers in chat are not valid.
• Regatta entries go through the link posted by the race committee.

Practical structure

Create topics for Crew Wanted, Weather and Conditions, Buy and Sell, and Club Notices (admins only). Members find what they need faster, and scam listings stand out in the sales topic.

For new members, a join question such as "Which boat class do you sail, or which course did you take?" stops most automated accounts.

Automatic filtering

Club volunteers spend their free time on the water, not on the chat. A filter bot handles the bulk junk. Once added as an admin, Xiabao (@xiabaotg_bot) removes advertising links and scam messages as they appear and bans repeat senders after a warning; questions about trim, rigging and launch times stay in the chat. Setup instructions are on the Xiabao site for club and association admins.

End of season

When the boats come out of the water, issue a fresh invite link, clear out silent accounts that joined over the summer and close the old sales threads. The chat is then clean for the next season.