Elwood Sailing Club

About Elwood Sailing Club

A seahorse appears on the sails, the burgee and the clubhouse wall at Elwood Sailing Club, and that little emblem carries the club's whole personality: improvised, seaworthy and a touch eccentric. The club grew out of a canoe club on the Elwood foreshore, roughly eight kilometres south-east of central Melbourne, and it still has the feel of a place where sailors make their own fun. Racing here covers monohulls and catamarans, run on Saturdays from October through to Easter with patrol boats on the water, and the club regularly hosts state, national and international championship events on Port Phillip Bay. Alongside the dinghy fleet sits one of the bay's more committed boardsailing crews: Elwood counts up to fifty dedicated windsurfer members, and twenty or more rigs can be seen launching off the beach when the afternoon breeze fills in. Kites, notably, are banned from this stretch of foreshore, which keeps the water for wind-powered craft of the older kind. The mood is competitive without being exclusive — the club caters to sailors of every skill level, and basic windsurfing gear and stand-up paddleboards are available for members to borrow, with lessons on offer. In 2024 the club marked its centenary, publishing a history written by Barbara Lloyd, and Commodore Ross Lloyd found himself acknowledged in the Victorian Parliament for the milestone. The blue burgee with its white cross and seahorse has flown here since the canoe days. For a bayside club with a century behind it, Elwood wears its years lightly, and the mix of championship racing and beach-level boardsailing keeps the membership unusually broad.

Services

• Sailing club

Service area

Elwood, VIC