SAILINg and water sports
One ship drives east, and another drives west
With the selfsame winds that blow
’Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales
Which tells us the way to go.
— Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Winds of Fate
Half Moon Bay Yacht Club is first and foremost a sailing and water sports organization. That’s right, we are a club devoted to the fun that comes from being out on the water!
While many Club members do own boats, it is not a prerequisite for joining the Club or enjoying sailing and water sports. The Club owns a variety of water craft, including sailing dinghies (Opti’s, Lasers, FJ’s, and C-15s) and a fleet of Cal 20 keelboats, in addition to stand up paddelboards (SUP's) and kayaks. These sailboats and watercraft are available for use by members, at no additional cost. In fact, having our own fleets sets us apart from many other yacht clubs. If you decide that a beautiful summer afternoon is better spent on the water than in your home or office, simply head over to the Club, check out a boat or SUP or kayak and off you go!
The Club also owns several Boston Whalers that are used by trained members as safety boats. Called "Angels" (since they potentially save lives), they are actively used during youth sailing camps, regattas, and many other times. The Angels are an important Club resource. Training sessions for operating the Angels and performing water rescues are held throughout the year.
For more information on the Club's sailboats, watercraft, and safety boats, click on Our Fleets in the navigation menu to the left.
There are many opportunities for Club members to sail and use watercraft. There are organized times, such as Wednesday evenings and Sundays, when skippers take out members in the Club's Cal 20's, either just for a fun sail or to hone their skills. And there are organized times when the C-15 fleet meets to sail and race. To further sailors' knowledge, the Club provides occasional seminars on a range of sailing topics that are presented by experienced Club members and invited guests, usually at no cost. For more information, click on Sailing Opportunities in the navigation menu to the left.
Before a member can take out a Club sailboat or watercraft, he or she needs to be checked out by one of our Examiner skippers, ensuring that the member has the requisite knowledge and skill to safely use the resource. This check out process is for protection of the member, as well as the Club's resources. Examiner skippers are Club members who have sufficient experience in the particular type of boat or watercraft to administer the check out process. The check out processes, different for each type of sailboat or watercraft, is described by clicking on Check Out Processes in the navigation menu to the left. The list of current checked out skippers, by type of boat, can be found by clicking on Current Skippers in the navigation menu to the left.
Not a sailor yet? No problem—sign up for one of our adult sailing classes, come out for some of our many sailing events during the season to build your skills, and then get checked out to use the Club's boats and watercraft. Click on Sailing Instruction in the navigation menu to the left for details on classes and the class calendar.
It seems that whenever at least two sailboats are sailing near one another, they trim their sails a little more smartly and try to sail a bit faster than the other boat, and the race is on! So it seems sailboat racing is in many sailors' DNA. The Club provides opportunities to race via organized regattas and informal races. For more information, click on Racing in the navigation menu to the left.
HMBYC is also proud to support a very active Women Sailing (WS) community, complete with twice-monthly on-the-water events from April through October. Click on Women Sailing in the navigation menu to the left for more information.
What about youth sailors? We also have an award-winning and popular youth sailing program, using our Opti’s, Lasers, and FJ’s. We offer sailing camp every spring during the local school district’s spring break week, as well as many weeks every summer. For all the details, click on Youth Sailing in the navigation menu to the left.