Westlake Yacht Club
Westlake Yacht Club

Founded March 11, 1969 — The Westlake Yacht Club (WYC) is a private club owned and operated by its Members. Membership is open to the general public. Most Members live in the surrounding communities of Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills and Calabasas. WYC is a sailing club with strong and varied social activities. It is not necessary to live on the lake or own a boat to become a member. Westlake Yacht Club offers reciprocity with other member Yacht Clubs.  WYC was the Southern California Yachting Association, Senior Class Yacht Club of the Year in 1998.

WYC is a member club of:

  • United States Sailing Association
  • Southern California Yachting Association (Senior Class Member)
  • Yacht Racing Union of Southern California
  • Southern California Youth Yacht Racing Association
  • Association of Santa Monica Bay Yacht Clubs

The Clubhouse is located at the Landing on the Lake in Westlake Village. WYC promotes sailing and racing for adults and children. The Club offers a Summer Sailing Academy for young adults ages 9 - 17. There are sailing regattas once a month on a Sunday afternoon and open sailing for juniors and adults on Friday afternoons during the summer months.

The "Round the Island" July 4th sail boat race is a race for small boats that sail around the island in the middle of Westlake Lake and have to get their boats under the bridge to complete the Around the Island Race.

Social Activities: The Clubhouse and Bar are open to members and guests on Friday evenings, on Sunday afternoons during scheduled regattas and for parties, meetings and social events. Barbecues occur most Friday evenings April through October. There are dinner dances and theme parties including the annual Commodore's Ball, New Year’s Eve, Sweetheart Ball and Halloween.

WYC is organized into a collection of fleets. The fleets host events based upon the fleet’s special interest. Currently the fleets of WYC are: Sailing Fleet (C-18s and C-14s), Blue Water Fleet, Nautical Fleet (Nauti), Friendship Fleet and the Kayak Fleet.

The Blue Water Fleet is for anyone who enjoys being near the ocean. No boat ownership required. This fleet "cruises" (by car) to other yacht clubs for brunch or lunch. This is a great opportunity to learn about your reciprocal privileges with other yacht clubs. For the members who do own ocean-going boats, either power or sail, this fleet gives members a chance to participate in weekend ocean trips and in the Yacht Racing Union (YRU) cruise with other yacht clubs.

The Nautical Fleet (Nauti) features dinner dances, wine tasting and other social activities including their legendary Luau in late summer.

The C-14.2 Fleet provides Regular Members with a stable one design sailing dinghy for use on Westlake and for representing WYC in races at other Southern Californian Yachting Association Yacht Clubs.

The C-18 Fleet has 3 boats available for its members to sail. The club holds regular regattas (usually monthly). The boats are available for use in the regattas on a first come basis. Outside of scheduled events, the boats are always available for fleet member use.

The Friendship Fleet has an ElectraCraft 16' Party Boat that is available for use by the Fleet members and Club members by request and additional payment.

The Kayak Fleet has 3 tandem and 7 single kayaks available for use by its members.

WYC hosts the annual “Parade of Lights” boat parade in early December. The Clubhouse is open to the public and Santa and Mrs. Claus always join us to entertain the family.

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If you would like to learn more about membership in Westlake Yacht Club, or for general information, please Contact Us.


Special thanks to WYC member Bob Coutts for the use of many of his captivating photographs throughout this website.

Olympic GOLD Champions

By S/C Franklin Cofod

One of the most historic and memorable events in Westlake Yacht Club history will always be members Allison Jolly and Lynne Jewell winning the Gold Medal at the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.

Their "Road to the Gold" began in 1987 when I was Commodore. Allison and Lynne had two 470 Olympic Class boats. Their logistical challenge was moving them from major regattas all over the country a few times a month. That challenge was solved by Catalina Yachts owner Frank Butler. Catalina was one of the largest boat manufacturers in the world with their factory on Victory Boulevard in Woodland Hills; every day they shipped boats all over the country and was able to assist moving the two boats so all Allison and Lynne had to do was sail.

At the US Olympic Trials in Newport, Rl, in June 1988,they started poorly but rose to the top and won the privilege of representing the United States at the Olympic Games. Their Olympic Trials medal lives in our trophy case.

At the Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, Allison and Lynn were considered a long shot. They placed third in their first race. In the next race they capsized twice, but remained in contention They finished strong in the remaining races and won the gold medal convincingly. The Washington Post wrote they "blew the competition out of the water."

Every year we celebrate their victory with the Olympic Gold Cup Regatta. Staff Commodore Larry Warner made a huge replica of the Gold Medal which hangs on a wall in the club.

ADDED NOTES: Allison Jolly and Lynne Jewell Shore became the first women to win an Olympic gold medal in sailing at the 1988 Olympic Games in South Korea.

The sailing competition of the '88 Games was the first time that a separate event was created exclusively for women athletes. The inaugural women's 470 Olympic competition featured teams from 21 nations. This historic performance earned them the Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year honors.