It’s a cooperative community club
We all own the boats, sail and train together, run the club, have dinners – gourmet and potluck, host parties, make friends and have lots of fun for an incredibly low price.
You don’t need to own a boat
We provide 25 dinghies (small sailing boats without keels) that are owned and maintained by the club:
- 16 Albacores – 15 foot long, two sail, two person boats that are used for training, social sailing and racing
- 6 Lasers – 12 foot long, one sail, one person boats for social sailing and racing.
- 1 Byte C II – Similar to a Laser, one sail and lots of fun
- 2 Catamarans – Two Nacra 500, modern 16 foot long multi-hulls with two sails and double trapeze for two people.
Once you know how to sail (White Sail III or equivalent) you can come down to the club anytime – all you have to do is sign out a boat and go sailing. Membership is kept small, so that there should always be boats to sail.
Learning to sail
We run a minimum of four White Sail III beginner courses a year (see Training) so there is no problem learning to sail. Not only do we offer a great course, but we also offer lots of opportunities to get on the water practice, with more experienced sailors outside of class hours. The Wednesday social sail is great for this.
What if I know how to sail?
If you know how to sail already you just have to demonstrate your skills by passing the Old Salt’s Test (which is equivalent to White Sail III) before you are allowed to take the boats out without another experienced sailor. If you are a little rusty you can take the Spring Tune-up Course (see Training) which will review what you need to pass, and/or do some paired sailing before taking the Old Salt’s Test. If you never took White Sail III but learned to sail at the cottage or if it has been a long time since you sailed, get yourself assessed to see what training you need, if any.
If you pass the Old Salt’s without taking a course it is recommended that you go to Race Training, take Skills Building or Bronze IV, go regularly to Social Sail and/or get involved with planning or running a party, so that you get to know other members. It makes belonging to the club much more fun and will introduce you to lots of people you can sail throughout the season.
Your Cottage in the City: The clubhouse and facilities
The clubhouse is right on the lake-front of the Outer Harbour with great views over the water to the unspoiled nature reserve of the Leslie Street Spit and the Outer Harbour. When you arrive you feel as though you have left the city and have somehow been transported to cottage country.
The clubhouse provides generous indoor space for classes and dinners when the sun goes down, change rooms, wood stove, stereo, ping-pong table and a well-equipped kitchen. Outside there are two large decks, lawn, picnic tables and a big gas barbecue – as well as space for the boats and storage for sails and boat equipment.
The clubhouse and the facilities are there for members, both collectively and individually, to enjoy. Feel free to come and laze on the deck, read a book or snuggle close to the fire on a wet day. Many people bring food and make their own dinner or participate in the dinners that are served most nights after a class or social sailing.
Who we are
We are sailors – both racers and recreational, who are at least 19 years old, who enjoy being part of a community and are willing to give some volunteer effort back to the club. Club members can and do sail together, socialize together, become friends and even sometimes marry each other. Membership is on a first come first served basis and everyone is welcome.
How we operate
The club is run entirely by the members – there is no paid staff, which is why it is so affordable. There is a volunteer executive that makes major decisions and does all the administrative functions. Each of the executive members looks after an aspect of the club like the boats or training and recruits volunteers to help. There are jobs for everyone: cooking, helping plan or run a party, taking beginners sailing, firing guns for races. The list goes on! Volunteering is a great way to get to know more club members and without it the club wouldn’t be viable. We don’t require specific volunteer commitments when you join – just help out in whatever way works for you.
Social activities
There are lots of social activities at the club. Most new members take a training course and the class is a social event of it’s own. After the class there is always a dinner prepared by class members which is a great time to get to know new people. Social Sailing is offered on Wednesday evenings – sailors of different abilities are matched up (paired sailing) and afterwards we all eat. All you have to do is sign-up so we know how many to cook for. On weekends there is at least one day (usually Sunday) when there is social sailing with an informal potluck dinner afterwards.
There are also parties throughout the summer – J-Town puts on ten or so parties a year (see Events) and almost every weekend there is a party at one of the adjoining community clubs, open to the larger sailing community.
We also function all winter long with various social events held at the club and, weather permitting, skating on the lake!
Not mentioned so far is the most universally engaged in social activity of sitting on the deck and shooting the breeze. This can take all afternoon and evening with intermittent bouts of sailing thrown in.
