About the project

Entirely run by volunteers, we encourage enjoyment and participation by all ages in the great sport of sailing. Our yacht club is located in Port Pirie on the northeastern side of Spencer Gulf in South Australia.

We provide learn to sail classes and activities for juniors and adults and conduct a dinghy racing program on Saturday afternoons from October to April each year. For our members who sail in keelboats and trailer sailers, we conduct monthly social sailing in Spencer Gulf. Our sailing and social activities are conducted from our club rooms, which are located on the Main Road in Port Pirie and overlook the Port Pirie River and the Southern Flinders Ranges.

We host and participate in a range of other sailing activities and regattas, including Tasar dinghy class state races, and the Spencer Gulf Cruise for keelboats and trailer sailers. Along with Whyalla Yacht Club, we conduct the annual Cockle Spit Cricket match which is held on cockle spit, in the middle of the Spencer Gulf. The spit is only out of the water at certain times of the year and is dry for a few hours on those days. The event is held between the Port Pirie and Whyalla Yacht Clubs.

To encourage participation, we conduct our sail training in our own pacer and holdfast trainer dinghies. We have a club owned Tasar dinghy and a club owned Sabre dinghy. All dinghies are available for members to hire for racing or recreation. We have our own motorised safety committee boats, to ensure that the safety of our sailors.

We started our junior sail training program in 2016 on a shoestring, with three older Pacer dinghies (without jinkers) and no road trailer. We added another older Pacer with its own road trailer last season. We have got by with a range of loaned life jackets for our first two seasons.

As the program is growing, we need new age appropriate life jackets and wet suits, sail training materials and a road trailer for the other Pacers. Because we are a regional centre over 200km from Adelaide, our juniors must travel if they are to meet and sail with other juniors, to expand their skills and enjoyment of the sport. Our nearest neighbour clubs are both over an hour's travel by road. 

We are aiming for Discover Sailing Centre accreditation with Australian Sailing, which will open up our program to additional support and resources and provide our juniors with transferable sail training qualifications. 

Please show your support for this vital club project by making a tax deductible donation today!