A Brief History
The Port Owen Yacht Club was started in 1985 to serve the needs of the sailing community within the new Marina. The founding Commodore was Paul Stuyck who served an initial 3 year term. Initially the Club had an agreement with the developers of the Marina whereby the Club could use existing facilities belonging to the developer. As the club grew however, the need for bigger premises became necessary and the Club negotiated with the local council to rent a portion of ‘Open Space’ with the view of erecting a Clubhouse on the property. The negotiations were successful and in 1994 a clubhouse was built. Soon this proved too small and in 1997 the clubhouse was expanded to double its size. As the Club spent more funds, the need arose to secure the assets and in the year 2000 the Club bought the premises from the local council.

Boating
The Club caters for sailing as well as power driven vessels and an active programme is tabled each year. Power boaters are catered for by way of organized trips up the river. Sailing is practiced both in the river as well as out in the bay. The main events of the year excluding the monthly weekend regattas include the annual West Coast Cruise -SA’s premier cruising event, The Great Berg River Race -a dinghy race of approx. 12 km down the river (organised in conjunction with our neighbours, the Velddrif Yacht Club), as well as the Weskus Interclub -an interclub regatta between all other clubs on the West Coast.

Social
The Club has developed this section which has become the most important and active social function within Port Owen. Nearly two thirds of our members are social members while nearly three quarters of our members are resident within Port Owen. The club arranges a minimum of one social event per month and every Friday evening there is a light supper and social gathering.