Colac Yacht Club

About Colac Yacht Club

Western Victoria's sailing tradition runs through Colac. The local club stands on the shore of Lake Colac, described as the largest natural freshwater lake in the state, and it carries itself with the quiet assurance of an organisation that may be older than almost any other in this directory — the club states that it was established more than 135 years ago, though the precise founding year has been lost to the record. What is certain is the character of the place today: a family-friendly country club whose stated mission is fostering sailing and opening it up to the wider community, catering for everything from off-the-beach dinghies to trailable yachts in an atmosphere it describes as competitive and relaxed at once. The honour roll, the club says, includes past world champions, Olympians, and national and state titleholders across a variety of classes — names it keeps to itself, but the claim sits comfortably with the lake's long racing pedigree. One name is firmly on the record: life member Ian Lane, whose sixty-plus years in the sport, with many championship wins and national and Victorian placings, were recognised with Honorary Lifetime Contributor honours at the 2022 Victorian Sailing Awards. Racing today centres on a Pennant Racing Series that splits into fleets such as Intermediate Mono — sailed in Impulse dinghies — and Trailable, where RL24s, a Coreel 22L and Flying Fifteens compete, with Sabres and 125s also in the mix. For sailors in Victoria's south-west, Colac offers something the coast cannot: serious freshwater racing on a big, open lake, wrapped in one of the oldest sailing stories in the state.

Services

• Sailing club

Service area

Colac, VIC