AFLOAT or ashore, the Royal Southampton Yacht Club has something to offer everyone.
Our sailing activities cover a full range – racing, cruising, powerboating – with cadet and training programmes too.
Allied to these are the superb restaurant and bar facilities at our city centre clubhouse in Ocean Village marina, Southampton, and at Gins Clubhouse in the peaceful surroundings alongside the Beaulieu river.
Whilst we are a members' club, visiting yachtsmen are always welcome. The majority of our members certainly have an interest in boats and boating but you don't have to be an established sailor to join the club.
Applications come also from the world of business as well as those who just wish to enjoy the many and varied social events which happen throughout the year and we find, with these members too, the appeal of the sport grows.
Quarterly editions of the Club Magazine The Yachter, regular Email News Bulletins and this
website, updated at least twice daily, keep our members in touch with everything that is going on in the Club as well as wider sailing interests which are pertinent to our member interests.
Racing
All our events are open with competitors welcomed from any yacht or sailing club. We mount an all-year-round programme, with inshore events using the Solent and more sheltered environment of Southampton Water, plus coastal and offshore races. Classes are included for rated and non-rated boats, so you don't have to be an experienced racer to join in. As well as the popular fully crewed Sunday morning and Thursday evening series, the Club has a well-established two-handed series culminating in the Island Double, round the Isle of Wight. The Club provides experienced race management teams and enjoys an involvement with Skandia Cowes Week and other national and international events such as the Volvo Ocean Race.
Further information is available on Racing
The Royal Southampton has an active cruising section, where rallies (locally and cross Channel) and social events are organised throughout the summer months. Typically these might involve a rally to Chichester rounded off with a theatre trip or a get together on the Medina with added fun in borrowed dinghies. Sailors and motor cruisers are represented equally on the Cruising Committee and more often than not share the same rally destination, demonstrating the friendly co-operation that personifies the Club.
Further information is available on Cruising
Throughout the year at Ocean Village and whenever Gins is open, there is a full calendar of varied social events. Weekly carvery and bistro evenings offer excellent food with added entertainment - perhaps a speaker, quiz or live jazz band. We also run our own version of a debating society known as the Steak and Kidney Pudding Club and enjoy to the most our superb clubhouse on the Beaulieu with its special annual Gins Regatta when there is something for everyone. More formal occasions include the Commodore's Dinner and New Year's Eve Ball.
Many members have joined us to take advantage of the happy atmosphere of the social life and are made as welcome as the most avid sailors.
The Club runs a range of recognised RYA courses. These include practical training such as RYA Powerboat Level 2 and testing for the International Certificate of Competence. Theory courses cover RYA Day Skipper and Yacht Master together with Sea Survival; First Aid; radar/VHF operation and race management events. Dinghy instruction is also arranged for cadet members.
This clubhouse, built partly over the water, enjoys atmospheric views across the marina and is very tastefully furnished and decorated. The first floor includes an informal sailing bar and lounge, around a handsome central bar furnished in hardwood with brass fittings. Adjoining this is a luxurious dining room noted for the excellence of its cuisine. The Club is open seven days a week with restaurant and bar lunches available daily. Evening meals are available from Wednesday to Saturday inclusive. The bar, lounge and dining room areas can be opened-up to cater for functions seating up to 150 people. On the floor above is the Admiral's Room decorated with fine oil paintings and providing a multi-purpose, well lit function room. Adjacent to this is a smaller committee room.
Complementing the bricks and mortar, the Club is extremely proud of its experienced and long serving staff who combine professionalism with friendliness and courtesy, keeping century old traditions alive.
The unique location of the clubhouse makes for an ideal meeting place. The amenities are also available to members for arranging corporate functions, such as seminars or sales promotions, as well as private parties and wedding breakfasts.
Berthing is available below the clubhouse on the Club's private pontoons for visiting members' yachts and, if available, for other visitors or those participating in Club racing.
Situated on the beautiful Beaulieu River and with panoramic views across to the Isle of Wight, Gins Clubhouse is an informal, relaxed venue with seasonal opening times. Facilities include a friendly bar and restaurant, with a jetty and pontoon. On the river, the Club has pile and swinging moorings - always in popular demand with the members.
Gins is a focal point of river life and welcomes visiting rallies and yachtsmen belonging to reciprocal clubs. The club Bosun can assist visiting members in finding temporary moorings and ferrying crew from river moorings to and from the clubhouse.
Gins also serves as a safe base for our developing cadet section, which offers free membership to children and grandchildren of members. Sailing instruction days combining learning with fun are regularly organised with RYA approved training staff.
Further information is available on the Gins Clubhouse
We'll be happy to tell you more about the Club and perhaps show you the facilities at Ocean Village. Club Secretary Andrew Paterson will be pleased to make the arrangements. Prospective members can either be proposed and seconded by existing ones or introduced by other organisations and referees.
These formalities completed, we like to meet all prospective members at the Club before their final election.
Membership packs including application forms, subscription rates and details of all our activities are available online or from our Membership Secretary Maggie Puleston at: membership@rsyc.org.uk
