Mornington Yacht Club

About Mornington Yacht Club

More than 750 members called this club home when it turned seventy in 2016, and the mix of them says plenty about the place. Juniors learn in Optimists off the beach, Etchells and Flying Fifteen crews tune up for one-design racing, keelboat owners chase offshore silverware, and Social members simply enjoy a meal at The Rocks, the licensed restaurant and bar inside the clubhouse. Family, Senior, Youth and Social membership categories keep the door open well beyond the racing set, and the club has made a genuine point of welcoming sailors with disabilities, whose program here has produced state-title winners.

The racing calendar is busy for most of the year. Division 1 and 2 keelboats and Division 3 trailerables share the harbour with off-the-beach fleets that take in S80s, Seaway 25s, Elliotts, Thompsons, Lasers, 420s and RS Fevas, while Etchells, Flying Fifteens and Optimists sail their own class starts. Mixed-fleet racing is the norm, which suits a membership with such a broad spread of boats, and a structured cruising division looks after skippers who would rather point the bow somewhere over the horizon. Thursday twilight races fill the long summer evenings, and on alternate Sundays a pursuit race throws the entire fleet into one start.

Families joining the sport, campaigners with serious keelboat ambitions and sailors who just want a Thursday night splash all fit here comfortably. A morning race can end with lunch beside the pier, and that, for many members, is precisely the point. The office keeps weekday business hours, yet the atmosphere stays unpretentious for all the silverware in the trophy cabinet.

Services

• Sailing club

Service area

Mornington, VIC