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Welcome to the Kelowna
Yacht Club’s website! I invite you to spend a few minutes
exploring and learning who we are, our history, what we do both
in the community and for our members, and how we govern ourselves
while keeping an eye to the future.
2010 marks our 65th anniversary and there are not many organizations
in the Okanagan who can claim such a long and active association
with its community. We formed in 1945 with the mandate to promote
the betterment and enjoyment of pleasure boating on the waters
of beautiful Okanagan Lake. We continue to do this by organizing
many activities throughout the year for the benefit of both the
residents of the central Okanagan and our members.
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Our year’s activities
begin with the annual Boat & Leisure Show, which benefits
the many thousands who attend and businesses who exhibit. Less
obvious are the thousands of visitors and other boaters who enjoy
safe moorage at any one of the 32 public mooring buoys we maintain
in specific bays on the lake. Proceeds from the Boat & Leisure
Show go toward installing and maintaining these mooring buoys
for the safety of all boaters.
We sponsor many sailing
regattas and weekly races, delighting onlookers who love the sight
of wind-filled sails on the water. We provide families of children
with disabilities an incredible day filled with pirates and fun
out on the lake. We host people with sight impairments a fishing
derby and host and raise funds for the Disabled Sailing Association.
We are active and supportive of our community by donating precious
moorage space for the fire, rescue and patrol boats of the RCMP,
City of Kelowna Fire Department, Canadian Coast Guard and Department
of Fisheries as well as the Disabled Sailors and the Seniors’
Pontoon Boat. We run very active Youth and Education programs,
teaching children how to be safe both on and in the water and
introducing people of all ages to the delightful world of sailing.
It takes an active and vibrant club to do all this and we are
both fortunate and proud to have enjoyed excellent governance
over our 65-year history. Our members take an active interest
in their Club and have always looked to the future. The Club has
never had any form of assistance from any level of government
for our operations and have always paid our own way.
This good planning is now leading us to an exciting future as
we work on two very special projects. The first is to expand our
facilities to help alleviate the critical moorage shortage in
the Okanagan. The second is the recent agreement with the City
of Kelowna which will see us move our clubhouse in order to expand
the new Stuart Park.
We are proud of our accomplishments and contributions to our community
and look forward to our next 65 years.
Bob Smith, Commodore
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