YACHT CRUISING: The club organises cruises ranging from a single day sail, to a several days around the Solent or further afield - cross channel sailing trips and trips along the south coast. As well as the simple pleasure of enjoying the sailing many members enjoy brushing up their skills and everyone is able to participate. A highlight of the year is the summer cruise, where groups of members take one of the yacht on an extended trip for 10 to 12 weeks, each crew handing over to the next at an agreed transfer port. The club has been as far afield as the Baltic, Mediterranean, and Spain as well as around Britain via the Caledonian Canal.

YACHT RACING: We usually sail in the Round The Island race and enter a series of (mostly) Offshore races in the JOG and RORC series. The club has sometimes entered the Fastnet Race when sufficient interested and capable members are available.

RYA TRAINING: The club is a recognised RYA Training Centre, so there is plenty of opportunity to improve your sailing skills. We are fortunate to have a number of RYA Instructors who can teach our members the range of RYA practical courses (https://www.rya.org.uk/training/sail-cruising) from Competent Crew, through Day Skipper to Yachtmaster Coastal and Offshore. These are normally taught as five-day (Monday-Friday) courses, with Yachtmaster exams being conducted by an independent RYA examiner over the weekend following the preparation course. In addition to certificated RYA training we also teach useful skills development short-courses such as boat handling and sail trim or spinnaker training. The club also offers non RYA skill training courses - Boat Handling, Navigation & Pilotage, Spinnaker Handling.

How we operate

Phoenix Yacht Club (PYC) is a non-profit making private members’ club, run by the members, for the members. All of the club’s activities including both yacht care and administration are carried out by volunteer members and we work hard to ensure that the yachts are maintained to a high standard, especially in safety critical areas. Every time a yacht is used, the skipper and the crew are expected to leave the yacht in a better condition than they found it. High boat standards are confirmed by our annual inspection as an RYA Training Centre.

Only Club Members (and their children and grand-children) are allowed to sail our boats. We always have a suitably qualified club member as a skipper, backed up by a mate. This is based on the RYA training scheme which allows a steady progression from “Day Skipper” through to “Offshore Skipper” qualifications. Members with appropriate RYA qualifications, which they may gain through the club, undergo a short familiarisation and assessment process before they are able to take charge as a Club Skipper.

We use professional yacht maintenance trades to help with major repairs and improvements where the skills required are outside the scope of members.

The Phoenix Yacht Club is non-profit making and is constituted as a company limited by guarantee. Its overall operation is guided by an annually elected Management Committee, with day-to-day operation controlled by the Sailing Committee.

Who we are

When BP wound up their Yacht Club in 1994, some of the members decided to become an independent club and raised the money to buy the club boats from them. One of these boats was a Sadler Starlight 39, Spellbinder of Wytch, which we kept until 2018! Along the way several other yachts were bought and sold, but today we have an X-Yachts X40 “RelaX” and a Westerly 35 “Quartette”.

As a club, we aim to provide what our members want. The sailing skills of our members range from Yachtmaster Ocean to absolute beginners, so no one is left out and all are made to feel very welcome.