Following are some questions which other people have asked. We are recording the questions and answers here for you to look at as well. We hope this is helpful to you. If you have any questions, please just ask by email at office@myc.org.
How does the process of signing up to sail a boat work? Is there a signup process, how do we get matched with experienced skippers, etc?
The boats are available to members to go sailing. Once you are a Skipper Member, you can reserve a boat and go sailing with other members or friends (there is a guest fee for non-members). We encourage you to work towards your Skipper Privileges, because once you are a skipper, you can go sailing more often as your schedule permits. https://myc.org/cruising/skipper/ When you are ready to acquire your skipper privileges, start by joining the Mentor Program which is a free program of members training other members. https://myc.org/cruising/mentor-program/ If you are a crew member, you need to meet other skippers and be invited out on one of their sails. There is also a Fleet Captain Program in which crew can sign up to go sailing and start meeting other members. https://myc.org/cruising/fleet-captain/ There are some days when the boats are reserved for racing, Tuesday and Wednesday evening for membership racing and Thursday for corporate racing. These programs use some of the boats but there may be a few others still left at dock for cruising. On cruising nights, Monday, Thursday & Friday, roughly half the fleet is reserved for skippers and the other half for Fleet Captain sails.
For my friends – is the sailing certification required before they can join? They’ve sailed before, outside the US, but don’t have the ASA certification.
You do not need any specific sailing certification to join the club. However, if you want to start sailing in the Fleet Captain Program, the fleet captain volunteers will want you to have at least a basic Sailing education. The Fleet Captain program is for training skills, not for teaching them. If you need to learn skills, we encourage you to start with a Basic Sailing course at https://sailmanhattan.com/
We’re all fairly new to sailing. What’s the best way to gain experience? I took your 2-day ASA sailing course last year and enjoyed it, but definitely want to refresh and learn more of the skills!
We recommend that once you have taken Basic Sailing, that the next best step is joining the Manhattan Yacht Club. Then you can sail a lot as a crew and practice what you have learned for a annual fee which reduces your cost significantly. But some people prefer to do courses only, and you are welcomed to keep going at the school for ASA 103 and eventually 104 which the school teaches during De Caribbean Regatta. One of the main benefits of joining the club is that you become part of Ny Harbor’s largest and most active sailing community. You will meet so many great people in the club and have lot of fun sailing with them and also hanging out. Club members normally become your largest social network in addition to a great sailing network. What can we say except – Sailors Have More Fun!
As a crew member, are we allowed to bring any friends to sailing occasionally? We are ok with paying guest fees.
Crew members can sign up for the Fleet Captain program, but that is members-only with no guests allowed. The other way crew can go sailing is by being invited by a club skipper. If the club skipper says it is ok for you to bring guests, then this is fine. The club skipper is billed a guest fee for each non-member who goes sailing. It is the goal of the club to encourage sailing opportunities for club members. We encourage all member to keep improving their skills so they too can acquire their skipper privileges. Once you have skipper privileges, you can reserve a club J/24 to go sailing and then bring your own guests if you choose. However, you will probably find that sailing with other club members is more enjoyable than sailing with guests. Sailing with guests sometimes means that you have to do all the work and teach your guests how to hank on the jib roll the mainsail, etc. When you sail with other members, they are for the most part already experienced sailors who can contribute and rig the boat for you! That always makes it easier and more pleasurable for the skipper.
Are we able to take our kids to the boat? They are 10 years old.
Yes, there is no age limit for sailing on the club boats. The skipper who signs out the boat is responsible and should keep an eye on the weather and the skills of the crew to ensure than no children are put in a risky situation.
What are the fleet captain sailing day/time?
Fleet Captain sails are normally held on Monday, Thursday & Friday evenings as well as Saturday & Sunday mornings, afternoons and evenings. Up to 1/2 fleet or about 6 boats can be set aside for the fleet captain sails. This number depends on the number of volunteer Fleet captains available to go sailing with other members.
Are we allowed to charter the motor boat, and bring guests?
MYC has an electric boat called “Happy Hour” which members can reserve and go for rides in the harbor in a specific area. More details are at https://myc.org/cruising/happy-hour/ Happy Hour has a Torqeedo electric engine and battery pack which developed charging issues in 2022. She was not able to be used in 2023 and we are working with Torqeedo to try and resolve these issues. We hope that Happy Hour will get back in service at some point during the 2024 season.
Does the club have kayaks for rent? How much? Are we allowed to bring guests to kayaking?
No we do not rent kayaks.
Do you have summer camp program for kids?
Yes, there are junior and teen sailing programs associated with our club and details are at these two websites: