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Lake Bluff Yacht Club Overview Who are we? Few images conjure up such peace,
relaxation, beauty or just plain fun as the sight of a beautiful sunset
sparkling in the reflection of clear blue water with a sailboat skimming over
the horizon. The Lake Bluff Yacht
Club takes advantage of our proximity to Lake Michigan by indulging our recreational
fancies. Membership in the LBYC
consists of more than 120 families from Lake Bluff and surrounding communities.
The majority of our members are boat owners and store their Sunfish
in our storage compound on the Lake Bluff South Beach.
If you don't own a boat, no problem, the LBYC has several Sunfish
available for use by social members on weekends for free. The club is
also accomodating an increasing number of kayakers who also store their
boats at the beach. Sailors and non-sailors alike
come together in companionship as the Club hosts many social events such as
"Brunch on the Bluff", a wonderful way to enjoy a meal while overlooking
Lake Michigan, Lobster Boil on the Beach, spring and fall cocktail parties
and brat roasts. After reviewing the ranks of
our social members we discovered that many of the social members are also
sailors. They sail a wide variety of boats at other clubs from Chicago to
Waukegan. One of these members won his sailboat class in the Mackinac race
last summer. In conjunction with the Lake
Bluff Park District, the LBYC helps support the Junior Sailing Program which
enables young people to become involved in an activity they can enjoy their
entire life. Contact the Lake
Bluff Park District for details. In recent years, the LBYC racing
fleet has become the most active in the Chicago area.
So if you are an active racing sailor or have an interest in learning
to sail or are just looking for a great social club, the Lake Bluff
Yacht Club is the Club for you. History The Lake Bluff Yacht Club, originally known as the The Lake Bluff Sailing Association, was founded in 1961 by Ed Freeman, Bill Gorman and Bill Hensley. At that time there was no boat storage or committee boat so they used the concrete pier on the beach at that time to form a starting line for racing. The first Midwest Sunfish/Sailfish Regatta was sponsored by the Lake Bluff group and held at Illinois Beach in 1962. In April of 1963 the group initiated construction of needed boat storage on our beach. They secured permission from the North Shore Sanitary District to build a storage facility. Each member contributed $50 and pitched in to help build the north compound, which was finished in May. The south compound was erected in 1965 and remains in use today. The north compound was destroyed by high water several years ago and was rebuilt by the club. What is our mission? The following quote is our mission statement as developed by our long-term planning committee: "The Lake Bluff Yacht Club will be a world class Sunfish sailing club providing the highest quality sailing programs, including racing instruction, family participation, social activities, and community involvement." In the past couple of years we have come to realize that our Sunfish racing fleet is the most active in the Chicago area. Area Sunfish sailors have been looking to us for a leadership role in promoting Sunfish sailing. Many of the top Sunfish sailors who frequent the national and international Sunfish racing events are from the Chicago area, and have raced with us. They talk about how active our fleet is at these events, and they are impressed by the competition they encounter when they sail here. We want to continue to improve our Sunfish racing program, and increase participation at all levels of sailing, from beginners to active racers. Regattas Lake Bluf Yacht hosts an annual Sunfish regatta every August, and has hosted other official Sunfish Class events such as the Sunfish North American Women's Championship, Sunfish North American Championship, Regional Regatta's, and is planning to soon host the Sunfish Master's Regatta. Lake Bluff Park District partnership We provide equipment and sailing expertise to help with the Park District's Junior Learn to Sail program The Junior program accomplishes four things: · provide our kids in Lake Bluff with another enriching opportunity in learning how to sail, an activity they can continue to explore throughout their lives · take advantage of our lake front asset which most communities don't have · provide a training ground for new sailors to participate in our Yacht Club's racing program · enable the Yacht Club's sailing program to become more of a family activity by involving our kids.
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