By KATHLEEN O’CONNOR/Lincoln Chronicle
For thousands of years people have been chasing the wind on sailing vessels. Members of the Yaquina Bay Yacht Club in Newport follow that tradition, experiencing the same exhilaration that ancient mariners felt when successfully managing wind and water and tides.
The Newport club was founded in 1947 by boating fans and its purpose remains the same today — to promote aquatic sports, particularly yachting, and to preserve the traditions of navigation and seamanship. Today there are approximately 130 club members — families, individuals, and students. While they can sail throughout the year, “sailing season” is considered from April through October.
Initially the club was primarily a social organization, but over time it has acquired eight dinghies, a 22-foot Capri keel boat and a Boston Whaler. The boats are primarily for members to use but are also for teaching sailing to the public and to high school students. In addition, members have access to an aluminum skiff with pots for crabbing.
The club’s annual events require hundreds of volunteer hours. Weather permitting, these events include the Sailstice, a spring regatta, and a fall regatta. And every Wednesday — again, weather permitting — at 6:15 p.m. from April through October there are club races on the bay.
The clubhouse is across the parking lot from Englund Marine on the Bayfront on land leased from the Port of Newport. It was built in 2004 for just $40 per square foot, with most labor and many construction materials provided by club members.
Two of those members are Diane Henkels of Newport, who serves as the co-chair for the historical committee, and Joshua Orkin of Yachats, who is the club’s secretary. Together they provided information about the club.
Question: What are your annual events like?
Answer: Sailstice is our annual day to offer free sailboat rides to the public. It’s a chance to share what we love and is always held on the Saturday closest to the summer solstice — this year on June 21. Several of our members with keel boats queue up to take people out. We have people who have never been on a sailboat before, and we have people who come year after year.
Our spring regatta was on April 26, and the entrants were all local boats. The fall regatta is much bigger, with entrants coming from the Willamette Valley and beyond. What races are planned for each event depends on the weather and the tides. We can sometimes run them from Buoy 14 in the bay all the way downstream to Buoy 7, which is halfway between the bridge and the end of the jetty. Most often we run them between Buoy 12 and Buoy 9, which is just east of the bridge. Each regatta includes 6 to 10 races.
All our events include food — lots of food. After a sailing experience everyone wants to share stories over a good meal.
Q: How do you use the different boats that you have?
A: We use the dinghies to teach sailing. Sailors generally agree that if you can sail a dinghy, you can sail a keel boat, but if you learn to sail on a keel boat you can’t necessarily sail a dinghy. The dinghies have a centerboard instead of a keel. It is drawn up into the boat when the boat isn’t on the water, allowing it to be pulled up onto a beach or dock more easily. It is down when the boat is on the water to provide stability and a counter force to the wind in the sails. A boat with a keel is easier to sail because the weight at the bottom of the keel is a much stronger stabilizer than a centerboard.
Our larger sailboat, the Capri 22, is used for racing in the regattas and to teach our members how to sail a larger boat. Our Boston Whaler is a power boat, our chase boat. It is always on the water during an event, helping with race management and with ensuring the safety of the event.
Q: What happens if a sailboat capsizes?
A: The dinghies are more likely to capsize than our larger boats, so everyone who goes out on our dinghies wears a wetsuit and a life jacket. The cold temperature of the water in Yaquina Bay cannot be taken lightly.
If the crew knows that capsizing is imminent, they will loosen the tension on the lines that control the sails if they have time. Once a dinghy capsizes the centerboard will be out of the water, lying horizontally. It’s most important for one of the crew members to literally get on top of the centerboard to provide the weight to right the boat. Sometimes the boat “turtles,” going completely upside down. We teach our students how to handle that, too.
Q: How does your student program work?
A: Sailing is a club sport at Newport High School. Our youth sailing program is a collaboration between the high school and our club. The Oregon Boating Foundation also helps by allowing us to use their float house. From early March through early May the students are on the water two times each week for practice. During the season they participate in three regattas, all run in accordance with the Northwest Interscholastic Sailing Association guidelines.
Our goal is to introduce a sport that they can enjoy tremendously throughout their lives. By the end of the season, their abilities, judgement and confidence have all soared. Besides sailing, we teach the students the “rules of the road” on the water — who must yield the right of way to others. This includes everything on water, whales and other marine life, sailboats, fishing boats, power boats, kayaks, paddle boards. Large boats simply have less maneuverability, so we must get out of their way. The rules are established by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Q: What is the purpose of each of the sails?
A: The main sail, usually a triangle, flies on the back of the mast, and is the driving force for the boat.
The jib, a smaller triangular sail, flies on a wire in the front of the mast when the boat is sailing into the wind. It adds power by channeling air to the main sail, making it more efficient. The spinnaker, a billowing balloon-like sail, flies freely in the front of the mast when the boat is sailing downwind, catching as much wind as possible.
Sailboats cannot sail directly into the wind, so sailors are continuously “tacking” … changing the angle and tension on the sails to move from side to side across the water.
Tell us a secret.
The interface between the air and the water is magical for sailors. Harnessing the wind and tide to work with the sail and the boat is both invigorating and calming at the same time. We can’t stop coming back for more.
More information
- Website: www.yaquinabayyachtclub.org
- Sailstice is Saturday, June 21, beginning at 11:30 a.m. at the clubhouse, 750 S.E. Bay Blvd. Club members look forward to sharing free sailboat rides with the public.
- Kathleen O’Connor is a Waldport freelance writer who can be reached via email at kmoc8916@gmail.com
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