At Rye Yacht Club, everyone is welcome. We’re a community built on a shared love of the sea — a place to discover new adventures, make connections, and find your home on the water.
Commodore’s Message
Season 2026 – 2027
Rye Yacht Club – Friendly, Informal, Welcoming
We acknowledge the elders of the Bunurong People, the traditional custodians of the beautiful land on Port Phillip Bay the members and guests of Rye Yacht Club continue to enjoy.
Rye Yacht Club is built around a shared love of sailing and community. It’s a place where people come together from different backgrounds, experiences, and walks of life — drawn by a sense of adventure and a connection to the bay.
We are a place where sailing, community, and adventure come together. From first-time sailors to seasoned racers, juniors to adults, there’s a place for everyone on the water. We invite people to join us to learn, play and grow in a friendly, family focused environment, enjoy a vibrant social calendar and experience the beauty of Port Phillip Bay from our modern beachfront clubhouse. Come for the sailing, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding or windsurfing and more, stay for the friendships and memories that last a lifetime.
We have an exciting season with organised programs operating from the second weekend of October until the last weekend in April. The full calendar of events, course sailing and sailing school activities can be viewed here.
We welcome your enquiry about becoming a member of the Rye Yacht Club community. You can start your membership and learn more about joining us here.
Neville Taylor
Commodore
Our History
Rye Yacht Club started with a simple idea: a fun New Year’s Day sail in 1970 to shake off the night before.
A group of local families came together for a yacht race off Rye beach. Six boats took to the water in a lively, carnival-like atmosphere. The winner’s “trophy” — a light-hearted creation of empty cans wrapped in foil and decorated with toilet paper bunting — reflected the fun and family spirit of the day.
The success of that first race sparked something bigger. The following year saw even more boats join in, and soon families were gathering every weekend to sail together. By May 1971, around 25 families formally established the Rye Yacht Club, and a year later a constitution was adopted. In October 1972, the club became a member of the Victorian Yachting Council (now Yachting Victoria).
Over the years, the club found its permanent home on the foreshore and, through the efforts and fundraising of members, built the clubhouse that officially opened in 1985. Since then, RYC has continued to grow with new facilities — a canteen, training rooms, a dedicated Sailing School, and expanded grounds — all designed to welcome more people to sailing and strengthen the sense of community.
From those first six boats to today, Rye Yacht Club has always been about more than sailing. It is a place where families and friends come together, where new sailors are encouraged, and where the joy of being on the water is shared across generations.
Sail. Belong.
Create Lasting Memories.
The Sapphire Banks
Rye Yacht Club sits at the western gateway to the Sapphire Banks, a remarkable stretch of Port Phillip Bay extending from the white cliffs of Rye towards Anthony’s Nose beneath Arthur’s Seat. Here, turquoise waters and white sandy beaches meet an extraordinary range of water-based activities, from sailing and paddling in pristine shallow waters to the unrivalled deep-water sailing just offshore in Capel Sound. With the boat ramp only a short distance from the Club and direct access to both the protected shallows and deeper waters beyond, Rye offers an exceptional base from which to experience the Sapphire Banks — where the beach, the breeze and the open water come together.