Algoa Bay Yacht Club


The Algoa Bay Yacht Club is a yacht club in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Port Elizabeth forms part of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality.

History

The Algoa Bay Yacht Club was established on 14 September 1959 and currently has around 245 members. The ABYC Founder Members were Paddy Goodall, Scotty Pearson, Mike Morgan, Harold Kohler, Charles Allen, Graham Packer, Jerry Cullum and Stompie Macdonald. ABYC incorporates the Zwartkops Yacht Club which was previously named the Beaconsfield Yact Club established in 1884 on the Zwartkops River.
The cross on the ABYC pennant commemorates the wooden cross erected in Algoa Bay by the first sailor from Europe to discover it, Bartolomeu Dias, on 12 March 1488. The Dias Cross Memorial now commemorates this event.

Activities

Regattas

ABYC hosts local, regional, national and international sailing regattas.

Hosted Regattas

  1. ABYC hosts a number of local short and medium distances races and short course regattas throughout the sailing season
  2. Algoa Bay Sailing Week is the annual premier provincial yacht regatta.
  3. The ABYC Inter-club Dinghy Regatta is held at either North End Lake or off-shore.
  4. A number of radio-controlled yacht regattas are held annually.

    Community and Development

  5. The first sail training school for locals with an emphasis on youth was established in 1998
  6. In 2001, with the demise of the Zwartkops Yacht Club, ABYC expanded their facilities and installed a slipway to accommodate the dinghy sailing population.
  7. In 2003 a need was seen to embark on sail training with an emphasis on previously disadvantaged youth and the ABYC Sailing School was established. A 4-year partnership with LoveLife South Africa was established in 2003 which resulted in close on One Thousand school pupils taking part in an eight-week sail training programme under the tutelage of LoveLife coaches.
  8. ABYC members give support to other watersport events in Algoa Bay such as the annual Bell Buoy Challenge
  9. ABYC runs a Sailing School teaching children and adults sailing. It runs across the sailing season of September to May, over weekends, by volunteer coaches. ABYC owns a fleet of dinghies: O-9ers, Optimists, Lasers, a Sprog, and a Regatta. Advanced learners are able to sail and compete on keelboats, including the Club's L26, and a loaned J22, J-Sea. Dinghy sailors are competing in local, provincial, national and international events on Mirrors, Hobie-Cats, RS Teras, Lasers and 420s.
  10. ABYC members give support to other watersport events or organisations in Algoa Bay, such as Redhouse Yacht Club and arranging provincial or national regattas.

    Notable ABYC Sailors