Our Boats
The Washington Yacht Club currently has 70 boats within its fleet. These include Dinghies, Windsurf boards, Performance Boats (including Catamarans), Daysailers, Keelboats, and Large Keelboats. Click on the buttons below to navigate between the various boat categories.
Dinghies
We encourage all of our members to begin learning to sail on Dinghies, which are small 1-2 person boats by taking our lessons. We teach our “Single-Handed” (1 person per boat) classes in Lasers or Bravos, and we teach our “Double-Handed” (2 people per boat) classes in Flying Juniors (FJs).
Bravo
The Bravo is a 12-foot catamaran designed for 1-2 people that is very simple to sail and requires little to no rigging — just unfurl the sail and you are off! Its simplicity makes it a good choice for individuals with little to no sailing experience as well as for those who want to maximize their time out on the water.
Requirements to Sail: A Bravo Rating or a Single-Handed Novice Rating.
Laser
A Laser is a 13-foot boat designed to be sailed by one person and comprise a majority of our “single-handed” fleet.
Lasers are the most popular racing dinghy in the world — they are responsive, fun to sail, and a great boat to hone your sailing skills on.
Requirements to Sail: A Single-Handed Novice Rating.
Flying Junior (FJ)
The Flying Junior (FJ) is a 13-foot boat designed to be sailed 2 people and comprise a majority of our “double-handed” fleet.
FJs are also an extremely popular racing dinghy and are a great boat to practice sailing with multiple sails and crew.
Requirements to Sail: A Double-Handed Novice Rating.
RS Vision
The RS Vision is a 15-foot boat designed to be sailed by 2 to 3 people.
Requirements to Sail: A Double-Handed Novice Rating.
Windsurfers
Windsurfing is a sport that combines elements of surfing and sailing. The Washington Yacht Club offers windsurfing classes and gear for beginning through advanced sailors! We windsurf on Union Bay, Lake Washington (off of Magnuson Park) and Sail Sand Point (North of Magnuson Park). Classes are open to all members, and windsurfing is offered year-round (wetsuits are required during non-summer seasons).
Windsurfing gear consists of:
- A 2 to 3-meter board with a volume of ~60 to 250 liters (see list of boards below)
- A mast
- A free-rotating universal joint (that connects the mast to the board)
- A boom (a bar to hold on to)
- A 3 to 12 square meter sail (a standard Laser sail is 7.0 square meters). Sail areas range depending on the sailor’s skill and conditions.
WYC’s windsurfing board fleet includes:
- BIC Techno
- Mistral IMCO
- Mistral Superlight-I
- Starboard Start
- BIC Samba
- And more!
Performance & Catamaran
Once you are proficient with our Dinghies, we encourage you to start sailing our Performance boats. These boats will take practice to learn, but they’re also a lot of fun. There aren’t often classes for these boats. Instead, we encourage you to come to Work Parties, Meetings, and Supervised Sailing Hours to get to know experienced WYC members who can teach to rig and sail these boats.
Each of these Performance boats are fast and are relatively complicated to rig — therefore Rig ratings are required to be able to sail these boats.
Laser II
470
International 505
International 14
The Laser 2 is a 14-foot boat designed for two people.
Requirements to Sail: A Double-Handed Novice Rating.
The 470 is a 15-foot racing boat designed for two people.
Requirements to Sail: A Double-Handed Intermediate Rating and a Performance Specialty Rig Rating.
The International 505 is a 16-foot racing boat designed for two people.
Requirements to Sail: A Double-Handed Intermediate Rating and a Performance Specialty Rig Rating.
The International 14 is a 14-foot racing boat designed for two people.
Requirements to Sail: A Double-Handed Intermediate Rating and a Performance Specialty Rig Rating.
Dart 16
Hobie 16
Hobie SX18
Hobie 21
The Dart 16 is a 16-foot catamaran.
Requirements to Sail: A Catamaran Novice Rating.
The Hobie 16 is a 16-foot catamaran.
Requirements to Sail: A Catamaran Novice Rating.
The Hobie 18 is an 18-foot catamaran.
Requirements to Sail: A Catamaran Intermediate Rating and a Big Catamaran Specialty Rig Rating.
The Hobie 21 is a 21-foot catamaran.
Requirements to Sail: A Catamaran Intermediate Rating and a Big Catamaran Specialty Rig Rating.
Daysailers
Flying Scot
The Flying Scot is a 19-foot daysailer that can fit up to 5 people. It is stable and easy to rig and is a common boat for teaching in other fleets.
You can always ask a chief or Ratings Examiner how to rig it, especially during Supervised Sailing Hours!
Requirements to Sail: A Double-Handed Novice Rating.
Ensign
The Pearson Ensign is a 22-foot daysailer that can fit a crew of ~4 individuals.
Requirements to Sail: A Double-Handed Intermediate Rating.
J22 (Freedom)
The J22 is a responsive, performance-oriented boat that races with a crew of 3 but can fit 4-5 people total.
J22’s are a popular racing boat which frequently have J22-only racing series such as the Kirkland Sailing Club’s J22 Tuesday Evening Racing Series.
Keelboats
Keelboats are medium to large sail boats that have a weighted keel under the bottom of the boat. Members (with proper ratings) may rent these boats out for half day, full day, and multi-day events for a fee using the Keelboat Calendar.
Santana 22
Santana 22 is a 22-foot cruising keelboat, that was acquired by WYC in 2023. It is the smallest boat in the keelboat fleet.
Requirements to Sail: A Double-Handed Intermediate (without an outboard motor) or a Keelboat Novice Rating (with an outboard motor).
Ranger 26 (Rascal)
Rascal, a Ranger 26, is a 26-foot keelboat which sleeps 3 to 4 individuals. Rascal is rigged to fly a symmetrical spinnaker.
Requirements to Sail: A Keelboat Novice Rating.
Catalina 27 (Charlotte)
Charlotte, a Catalina 27, is a 27-foot cruising keelboat which sleeps 4 to 5 individuals. Charlotte is rigged to fly a symmetrical spinnaker.
Requirements to Sail: A Keelboat Novice Rating.
Catalina 27 (Deception)
Deception, a Catalina 27, is nearly identical to Charlotte which sleeps 4 to 5 individuals. Deception is rigged to fly a symmetrical spinnaker.
Requirements to Sail: A Keelboat Novice Rating.
Cal 3-30 (Nightshade)
Nightshade, a Cal 3-30, is a 30-foot, inboard diesel keelboat which sleeps 4 to 6 individuals. Nightshade is rigged to fly a symmetrical spinnaker.
Requirements to Sail: A Keelboat Skipper Rating and an Inboard Keelboat Specialty Rig Rating.
San Juan 30 (Talaria III)
Talaria III, a San Juan 30, is a 30-foot, inboard diesel keelboat which sleeps 4 to 5 individuals. Talaria III is rigged to fly a symmetrical spinnaker.
Requirements to Sail: A Keelboat Skipper Rating and an Inboard Keelboat Specialty Rig Rating.
Large Keelboats
Ithaka (a Swan 441) is the Washington Yacht Club’s flagship keelboat and was added to our fleet after a generous donation. This boat will be used to teach members on how to sail a 44′ keelboat. With a displacement of 24,700 pounds, she is the largest keelboat the club has ever had access to and easily berths ten people. With additional systems compared to our other keelboats, she will allow club members to learn the numerous systems that come with a boat this large.
Swan 441 (Ithaka)
Ithaka is a Swan 441 that was built by Nautor, a Finnish company that has been known for its luxury sailing yachts. She was designed by Ron Holland and built in 1979. Swans are known for their blue-water capability and numerous and elegant amenities.