Alamitos Bay Yacht Club
21 November 2004 - 23:17
Since its founding in 1924, ALAMITOS BAY YACHT CLUB has emphasized three things: excellence in sailboat racing, a family atmosphere and the enjoyment of sailing in all its phases.The Mission Statment and Vision in the link above describe what the club is about.
With its ideal location on Alamitos Bay, ABYC offers easy access to one of the finest racing areas in the world. The rich cruising destinations of Santa Catalina, the Channel Islands and the Southern California coastline are equally accessible. Alamitos Bay offers sheltered waters for sailing, swimming and sunning on sandy beaches just a short stroll from our facilities.
Over 400 families are members of ALAMITOS BAY YACHT CLUB.
RACING
ALAMITOS BAY YACHT CLUB has been called "the home of one-design yacht racing in Southern California." ABYC maintains an active racing schedule for a variety of skill levels. Many of our one-design fleets schedule one day regattas monthly. Sabots, Lido 14's and Lasers enjoy twilight series in the summer months on weekday evenings. The club also hosts many invitational regattas that bring sailors from all over Southern California.
The mainstay of ABYC'S racing calendar is our Holiday Series. Four two-day invitational regattas linked to Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day and Thanksgiving holidays bring hundreds of sailors in dozens of classes to race in Long Beach Harbor and Alamitos Bay.
Our Olympic Classes Regatta is a premier event for ABYC and for those Olympic hopefuls who come to compete. Nearly every American Olympian has sailed at ABYC and the U.S. Olympic Sailing Teams have used ABYC as a training center for more than a decade.
ABYC hosts the SCYA Manning Series for dinghies, a Multihull Invitational for the Multihill set and serves as a host site of the SCYA Midwinter Regatta. Nearly every year ABYC hosts at least one major national or international championship regatta.
FACILITIES
On ABYC's grounds you will find yard space for the storage of both dinghies and keelboats. There are three gasoline driven "mules" and two electric cranes to facilitate launching and retrieval of the dry-stored boats. Our architecturally distinct, two-story New England style clubhouse topped by the traditional "widows walk" is a landmark when viewed from afloat or ashore. Within the Clubhouse are a spacious dining/banquet room with dance floor, Wardroom Bar and lounge area with an indoor fire pit, offices, conference room and restrooms with showers.
Adjacent to the main Clubhouse is an auxiliary Quarterdeck building with a large meeting/seminar/conference room and other rooms used for race management and related functions. Additional restrooms and showers are also contained in the Quarterdeck.
Although ABYC does not maintain a full-time, full-service dining room, dinners are prepared and served in our professional restaurant-style kitchen on the second deck of the main clubhouse. Cooking and serving are done by volunteers or caterers.
The Club Galley located adjacent to our outdoor patio serves breakfast and lunches at very moderate prices.
SOCIAL PROGRAMS
Many of our social events are tied to racing activities. Typically we offer a special theme dinner on the Saturday night of a regatta. Seasonal events such as the annual New Year's Eve Party and the Super Bowl and St. Patrick's Day parties give the entire membership and their guests the opportunity to enjoy the club.
Two events, the Easter Brunch and the Christmas Party, have been tailored especially for children; the family is the centerpiece of these holidays .
The newest social activity is the very successful "Galley Breakfast" held one Sunday a month. Special-menu breakfasts are offered and enjoyed in the patio adjacent to the Galley.
For bridge players, there is the monthly bridge night on the first Friday of each month. Also, fleets frequently schedule their meetings so as to mix business with pleasure.
FLEETS
The cornerstone of ABYC is its fleets, groups of people with similar boats or interests organized for social, racing and service purposes. In return for service to the Club, members of in-house fleets are invited to every ABYC regatta.
Many fleets are based on ownership and racing in one-design boats. Dinghy fleets include Naples Sabots (both Junior and Senior), Lido 14, Coronado 15, Laser, Snipe and 505. The one-design keelboat fleets are the Cal 20 and Etchells.
Keelboats wishing to race under the PHRF handicap rule are in the PHRF Fleet. Keelboats wishing to enjoy less serious racing, and more cruising and social events, join the Keelboat fleet, one of our most active fleets. A Small Boat Arbitrary Fleet is under development for dinghy classes who wish to race under Portsmouth rating.
The Olympic Classes Fleet members own and race Tornado catamarans, Stars, Europe dinghies, 470's and the newest Olympic Class, the Laser.
ABYC MEMBERS
ABYC depends on its volunteer members. The volunteers maintain and operate a world-class facility and manage world-class sailing events. Year-in and year-out, ABYC members respond to the call and lend a helping hand.
Volunteers work both individually and through the fleets. Once a year, each fleet prepares one monthly membership meeting dinner and staffs the race committee at one of the Club's invitational regattas.
Individual volunteers work on major national and international regattas. Although this requires a lot of work, these regattas offer the chance to meet sailors from all over the world.
Committees are organized to manage the operations and events of the club and here too members and helpers are always welcome.
JUNIORS
As part of its family emphasis, ABYC has always fostered sailing among the "younger" generation. ABYC Juniors have gone on to compete in events all over the world including the America's Cup and have brought home national and international trophies, and Olympic medals.
The Alamitos Bay Yacht Club Summer Sailing Program is open to both members and non-members. Instruction is by US SAILING certified instructors (many of whom are former ABYC Juniors) who offer training from the beginning sailor level to advanced racing. In the winter, weekend sessions continue to hone skills learned the summer before in preparation for the summer to come. Year round, ABYC Juniors travel extensively to compete in local, national, and international events.
ORGANIZATION
ALAMITOS BAY YACHT CLUB is incorporated under the laws of the State of California and registered as a 501-C-7 social club. It is an "equity club" where assets are held corporately by the members. A Board of Directors oversees the Club's activities. ABYC also has a paid staff of operations, food-service and maintenance workers under the supervision of a Club Manager.
Please contact the Office at (562) 434-9955 or by email at ABYC@ABYC.ORG if you would like further information. The ABYC Office is open Wednesday through Sunday 9:00 - 5:00.
