St. Lucie Sailing Club

Welcome to the St. Lucie Sailing Club!

Ours is a sailing club of just sailing enthusiasts. We do not own a clubhouse nor a marina, so our costs are quite reasonable.

The boats in the club range from small day sailors and racers to 50 foot cruisers and multihulls. Yet it does not matter if you own a boat or not. Many of our members do not own boats and routinely serve as crewmembers on other people’s boats.

We meet once a month – normally the first Monday of the month at the Palm City Recreation Center [ Directions ]. If that happens to be a holiday, the meeting is cancelled and we normally have a social event early that month.

We normally have formal races and cruises about eight times a year.

For the racers, we have something for everyone. Normally on the third Sunday of the month, we have fleet races for the serious race enthusiasts. We offer both PHRF and One Design races that are generally windward-leeward type races. For those cruising type boat owners, we also have a “cruising boat racing fleet” class. The idea is to get our cruisers out and give them the opportunity to get the most out of their boats. The motto of the CBRF is “don’t sink anyone… including yourself.”

The formal races are normally held in the north fork of the St. Lucie River or in the center fork, off the hospital. Additionally, we normally have one or two ocean races every year, as well as a couple of “Sweetheart races” where the ladies show the men… how to do it right. Races are generally “pursuit” type races with each boat starting at a different time based on the PHRF or a club handicap system. The club handicapper will give you your start times. Ideally, we all make it to the finish line at the same time.

Probably more importantly, we hold “beer can races” every Saturday at 2pm in the north fork of the St. Lucie River. These are informal races with no record of winners or finishers. If you have a boat and would like to race, just be in the vicinity of the mouth of Bessey Creek in the north fork of the St Lucie River at 1:30pm on any given Saturday. If you don’t have a boat or would like to try it as a crew member first, go to the Deck Restaurant (307 Northwest River Drive – on the north side of the new Roosevelt Bridge, actually just north of the old Roosevelt Bridge). Be out at the end of the dock at about 1pm and someone will usually pick you up. The course is a three mile course around existing aids to navigation starting at 2pm. The winner gets… to brag… at the Deck Restaurant, after the race. Incidentally, the Deck Restaurant often serves as our post race watering hole.

For the cruisers, we generally go somewhere and raft up or stay at a marina overnight. Popular destinations are Kitching Cove, Peck Lake, Nettles Island, North Palm Beach, St. Lucie Lock, and the Hutchinson Island Marina. We also usually do day or evening raft ups for the 4th of July fireworks and the Stuart Air Show.

About once a quarter, we also have a “land cruise dinner” at a local restaurant. Occasionally, we’ll hold an ocean race and a cruise to a location such as Ft Pierce, and the racers, cruisers, and land cruisers all end up in the same place. Pretty neat, huh?

In March or so, we hold our annual Commodore’s Bash – a nice dinner in which we recognize folks for their efforts, and in December we hold our Christmas Party.

Each month, you will receive a copy of our newsletter called “The Log.” We encourage members to receive the Log by email but we will mail it the old fashioned way… though the mail, if need be. But to keep in the loop, you really need to get onto the internet. Go to the SLSC Yahoo Group and join the group to get on the mailing list. By adding your email address to the list, you’ll get email announcements and be able to respond. Race notices and cruise instructions are normally issued over the Yahoo email system. Very often, last minute instructions for events are passed over the Yahoo system. Be a little careful here… when you send an email to the group it goes to the group… the entire group.

Normally, whether racing or cruising, we use channel 72 for boat-to-boat communications.

As a new member, you get several items. (This is what the “initiation fee” is for.) You get a club roster, club burgee, a club license plate, and a name tag. Please wear your name tag to all club events. It helps us to get to know you! And when you fly the burgee, be sure to get it right side up. (Hint: the single propeller-like arm goes up with the two propeller-like arms on the bottom.) Get it wrong, and you get to buy a round at the Deck!

We also ask for something in return… get involved. If nothing else, participate in some races and go on cruises. Even better — volunteer to help run the club. Help with setting up and taking down the Recreation Center for meetings. Serve as the historian, assist in the Ship’s Store, assist in publicity, help with refreshments, or lend a hand in preparation and mailing of the newsletter and the club roster. If you’re pretty computer savvy, assist or become the webmaster. For each club cruise, we like to appoint a cruise leader – someone to organize and coordinate the cruise. Help the Fleet Captain organize social events. And for each formal race, we need a committee boat with several people to start the race and record the finishers. If you don’t own a boat… join the crew of the committee boat.

As with any sailing club, we have several elected and appointed positions that always need enthusiastic people. These include the Commodore (the president of the club), the Vice Commodore (vice president, in charge of membership), and the Rear Commodore (second vice president, in charge of programs). We have a Race Captain who runs the club race program and a Fleet Captain who runs the club’s cruise program. A Secretary, a Treasurer, and several Directors, whose functions are the same as in any other organization, round out our Board of Directors, which is known as the “Bridge.” Incidentally, Bridge meetings are open to all members. Many non-boat owning members are and have served in key volunteer positions and as officers in the club. The only prerequisite is a desire to participate.

The key to enjoying the St. Lucie Sailing Club, as with any organization, is to participate. Please join us in cruising and racing – sailing – and the social activities revolving around sailing. Please crank that winch and raise… your hand… to serve in the club. You’ll be glad you did.

Paul Loschiavo
Commodore