Part of “Happy Fridays” at Manhattan Yacht Club.
New START TIME – 3:30 PM
One of the great and ancient traditions at Manhattan Yacht Club are the “Lucky Dog Races.” These are held every Friday afternoon for 10 weeks from late June until Labor Day.
The Lucky Dog races are informal and start at 3:30 pm from the Honorable William Wall. The race course is around government marks and the length of each race is meant to be about 1 hour.
The name says it all. If you are able to sail on a Friday afternoon, you are a Lucky Dog!
Don’t miss the Lucky Dog Races! There are only 10 races every summer. The series ends after Labor Day.
Maybe the Commodore will even race! But he needs a pick-up crew. So if you are willing to race with the Commodore, please show up early. He will take the first 3 interested crew (who have not sailed with him before) and then also take 1 experienced genoa trimmer.
Any skipper member can reserve a boat to participate. Just make a reservation on the website. Then find your own crew or gather some pick-up crew at the dock. Any regular member is invited to come down to the docks to try and get on a race boat. If the boats are full, you can join the Race Committee.
In addition to Member boats, the Lucky Dog Races are opened to the Teen Sailing Academy. They are looking forward to an opportunity to beat the grown-ups! The teen program expects to field 3 to 5 boats each Friday.
The Lucky Dog Race is a fun program, not a serious race. Everyone is encouraged to participate but we have these rules to make sure sailors do not get too serious:
- This is an informal and fun racing series. Anyone taking this too seriously will be considered a cat among the Lucky Dogs.
- The Skipper’s Meeting is at the clubhouse at 3:00 p.m.
- The countdown sequence will begin at 3:30 pm.
- The race course will be announced at each Skipper’s Meeting.
- Pick up crews are encouraged. If there is a member at the dock looking to join the race and your boat is not full, please take them. That’s the Lucky Dog spirit!
- Anyone who wins two consecutive races will have to let someone else steer the following week.
The program was begun in 2010 and became an immediate success with a strong and growing following of Lucky Dogs.
Celebrate Happy Fridays at the club. Don’t just come to sail. Come to LIVE! Bring a picnic or BBQ and hang out at the Club after sailing. Start your weekend in great style. Stay around for DRINKS AT THE DOCK, chat with your fellow members, pay corn hole, enjoy the rocking chairs, sip some wine and beer or Mt Gay Rum & tonic and live the sailing lifestyle!
Members hanging out at “Drinks at the Dock” on Friday evenings after the Lucky Dog Races. Can anyone bring the ingredients for fresh margaritas?