Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron

About Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron

St Kilda's foreshore has hosted Australian sailing history in bulk, and Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron has written most of it. Founded in 1876 and regarded by the club itself as the centre of aquatic events in Victoria, the squadron occupies the heritage clubhouse at the foot of Fitzroy Street where, in 1956, the Olympic Games yachting events were directed and medals were presented on the lawns. Most major Victorian championships have been sailed off its shores at one time or another, and the international fixtures keep coming — the 1999 Laser World Championship here, the ISAF Sailing World Cup's first Melbourne stop in 2015.

Yet the squadron's character is broader than its honours. Core activity is keelboat racing plus recreational boating across the bay, backed by junior and adult sail training, marina operations and a year-round social program, and one corner of the calendar belongs emphatically to women: the Australian Women's Keelboat Regatta has been run here since 1990, an event widely credited with pioneering women's keelboat racing here and overseas, complemented each year by the Jennifer Goldsmith Trophy for female skippers in the Port Phillip Women's Championship Series. The clubhouse tells its own story — the Olympic Bar recalling 1956, the Harbour Room function space with rooftop views running from the city down the bay, live webcams streaming the scene to anyone curious. For a sailor wanting history, hard racing and a city-edge location inside the one club, St Kilda remains difficult to argue past — and for Melburnians simply curious about the sport, the squadron's training academy and Sail Pass options make that first step onto the water an easy one.

Services

• Sailing club

Service area

St Kilda, Victoria