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Mary Neumann
Past-Commodore
At the Helm
Learning to Capsize
Race Training
Summer in the City
Lasers All in a Row
Albacores All A-Jumble
Lobsters Ahoy!
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It's a cooperative community club
We
all own the boats, sail and train together, run the club, have potluck
and gourmet dinners and parties, make friends and have lots of fun for an incredibly low price.
You don't need a boat to sail
We
provide 24 dinghies (small sailing boats without keels) that are owned and maintained
by the club:
16 Albacores - 15 foot long two sail, two person boats that are used for training,
social sailing and racing
6 Lasers – 12 foot long one sail, one person boats for
social sailing and racing.
2 Catamarans – 16 foot long multi-hulls with two sails and double trapeze for two or three people.
Once
you know how to sail (White Sail III or equivalent) you can come
down to the club anytime - all you have to do
is sign out a boat and go sailing. Membership is kept small, so
that there will always be boats to sail Unless their is a particularly big beginner's class or
a popular Friday Night Race.
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We
run a minimum of four White Sail III beginner courses a year (see Training)
so there is no problem learning to sail. Not only do we offer a
great course – new and improved every year – but we also
offer lots of opportunities to get on the water practice, with more
experienced sailors outside of class hours, in our Paired Sailing
sessions.
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What if I know how to sail?
If
you know how to sail already you just have to demonstrate your skills by passing the Old Salt's Test (which is equivalent
to White Sail III and is offered on Wednesdays as part of the Social
Sail evenings or by arrangement), before you are allowed to take
the boats out without another experienced sailor. If you are a little
rusty you can take the Spring Tune-up Course (see Training) which
will review what you need to pass, and/or do some paired sailing
before taking the Old Salt's Test. If you never
took White Sail III but learned to sail at the cottage or if it has
been a long time since you sailed, get yourself assessed on a Wednesday
to see what training you need, if any.
If you pass the Old Salt's without taking a course it is recommended
that you go to Race Training, take Skills Building or Bronze IV, go regularly to
Social Sailing or weekend Paired Sailing and/or get involved with planning
or running a party, so that you get to know other members. It
makes belonging to the club much more fun and will introduce you to
lots of people with whom you can sail throughout the season.
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Your Cottage in the City: The clubhouse and facilities
The
clubhouse is right on the lakefront of the Outer Harbour with great
views over the water to the unspoiled nature reserve of the Leslie
Street Spit and the Outer Harbour. When you arrive you feel
as though you have left the city and have somehow been transported
to cottage country.
The clubhouse provides generous indoor space for classes and dinners
when the sun goes down or, in inclement weather, change rooms, a
wood stove, a stereo, a ping pong table and a well-equipped (new!) kitchen. Outside are two large decks, lawn, picnic tables and a big gas barbeque - as well as space for the
boats and storage for sails and boat equipment.
The clubhouse and the facilities are there for members, both collectively
and individually, to enjoy. Feel free to come and laze on the deck,
read a book or snuggle close to the fire on a wet day. Many people
bring food and make their own dinner or participate in the dinners
that are served most nights after a class or social sailing.
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We
are 185 sailors and 30 or so social members who are at least 19
years old, from a wide variety of occupations and backgrounds: students to bankers, the practical to the artistic, who enjoy being part of a community of sailors and are
willing to give some volunteer effort back to the club. Club members
can and do sail together, socialize together, become friends and
even sometimes marry each other. Membership is on a first come first
served basis and everyone is welcome.
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The
club is run entirely by the members - there is no paid staff,
which is why it is so affordable. There is a volunteer executive
that makes major decisions and does all the administrative functions.
Each of the executive members looks after an aspect of the club
like the boats or training and recruits volunteers to help. There
are jobs for everyone from cooking, to bringing drinking water from
home, to helping plan or run a party, to taking beginners sailing,
to firing guns for races. Volunteering is a great way to get to know
more club members and without it the club wouldn't be viable. We don't require
specific volunteer commitments when you join - just help out in whatever
way works for you.
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There
are lots of social activities at the club. Most new members take
a training course and the class is a social event of it's own.
After the class there is always a dinner prepared by class members
which is a great time to get to know new people. Social Sailing
is offered on Wednesday evenings - sailors
of different abilities are matched up (paired sailing) and afterwards we all eat; all you have to do is sign-up so we know how many to cook
for. On weekends there is at least one day (usually Sunday)when there is paired
sailing with an informal potluck dinner afterwards.
There are also parties throughout the summer - St James Town puts
on ten or so parties a year (see Events) and almost every weekend there
is a party at one of the adjoining community clubs, open to the larger sailing community.
We also function all winter long with various social events held at the club and, weather permitting, skating on the lake!
Not mentioned so far is the most universally engaged in social activity
of sitting on the deck and shooting the breeze. This can take all
afternoon and evening with intermittent bouts of sailing thrown
in.
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