History
The Olcott Yacht Club is located on the west bank of Eighteen Mile Creek where it meets Lake Ontario. The land was purchased in 1919 by the five charter members: Faber Gooding, Kenneth Hedley, Dr. Wilton C. Paull, Harold Shaeffer and George W. Starling. The original building was erected in 1920 and consisted only of the area occupied by the current Grog Room and bar. OYC was formally incorporated in 1920 with "Cap" Hedley as the first Commodore.
The Club was expanded during the 1930’s with the addition of the second floor and the area now occupied by the lounge and dance floor. Additional renovations in the 1960’s and 70’s added the kitchen and enclosed the north patio to create the current lower dining area. The expanded shower and restroom facilities were added in 1980 and also during that decade we added docks, remodeled the second floor for dining, enclosed the Commodore’s Porch, added an outside upper deck, and purchased several additional parcels of land in the immediate area for expansion. In 1999, we pursued the idea of creating Haul Out and Storage capabilities on the property so we began by adding the Haul Out slip in the south lot. In the fall of 1999, we purchased a 20-Ton Travel Lift to complete this project. Today we haul and store approximately 45 boats and are growing. In 2000, our Junior Sailing Building was completed. The building houses a classroom for Junior Sailing instruction, storage lockers for members to rent and in the off-season is used for storage of our Junior Sailing fleet, our Haulout equipment and other items.
Our facility has grown considerably over the years and improvements continue to be made. In our future, we hope to someday be able the offer slips to our membership. We are a self-help Club and with the knowledge and endless volunteerism from our members, have been able to provide a suitable Club House and Anchorage for their recreation and use.
Racing
OYC provides a full season of racing beginning Memorial Day and continuing through Labor Day. Fleets compete under PHRF-LO in both “spinnaker” and “white sail” divisions. Our Club racing program competes on Wednesday evenings and Sundays, and our Women’s race program competes on Thursday evenings.
Our racers are active in other regattas around the lake throughout the summer. Our Junior Sailing Fundraiser in July, raises funds that directly support the Youth Boating and Sailing program directly through our Past Commodore’s association, the Olcott Mantel Club, thus enabling us to provide suitable equipment for our Juniors to compete outside of OYC.
OYC is a member of US Sailing and the Lake Yacht Racing Association (LYRA).
Education
The Olcott Yacht Club has been offering on-the-water sailing and seamanship instruction programs for children and adults successfully for many years. These courses have made landlubbers into boat owners, established crew members for our racing programs and forged the heart of our club membership. Here is some information on each:
Travel & Reciprocity
The club organizes several cruises to Lake Ontario ports during the season. Membership entitles you to reciprocal docking and use of facilities at most yacht clubs nationwide. These excursions are more fun with a group of boats, and members often plan their trips together.
Olcott Yacht Club is reciprocal with over 80 yacht clubs in the U.S. and Canada along the shores of Lake Ontario, the Thousand Islands and Lake Erie. OYC is also a member of the Yachting Clubs of America, US Sailing, and the Lake Yacht Racing Association.
Restaurant & Grog Room
Olcott Yacht Club offers full service dining for members and guests with a magnificent view of Lake Ontario’s beautiful sunsets and the Toronto skyline from our second floor dining room. Dinner is available upstairs on weekends and in our lower dining area during the week. Our schedule is Wednesday – Sunday, May through October.
Our first floor Grog Room is always full of activity especially on race nights and offers sandwich specials and a pub style menu Wednesday - Sunday. On weekends, lunch is available in the Grog Room and can be enjoyed on our patio while watching our harbor activity.
The Club is available for private (member-sponsored) dinners, receptions, parties, meetings, and conferences. Please contact the Vice-Commodore for further information or to make a reservation.
Social
OYC offers a multitude of non-boating social events throughout the season for all ages. Our gala Commodore’s Ball is the premier formal event of the year and begins our season. The Club is a fantastic location to watch the Independence Day fireworks. Theme weekends for Cinco de Mayo, the Kentucky Derby, and Lobsterfest offer up specialty foods, drink and entertainment, and the annual Halloween costume party is a hoot! The schedule is a very busy one with most of our events offering music for listening and dancing.
Haul/Launch/Storage Facility
In the fall of 1999, OYC completed the addition of a full Haul/Launch/Storage facility complete with haul-out slip, 20-Ton travel lift and boom truck. This service is provided for OYC members and reciprocals of other clubs with members receiving preference when at capacity. Our price/Ft. is competitive with area marinas. Presently we haul and store approximately 45 boats on our property and interest is growing as the word gets out.
