Welcome to Shawnee Yacht Club
Since 1941, SYC has promoted sailing on Lake Shawnee for the recreational benefit of the local community. In addition to the opportunity to sail on beautiful Lake Shawnee, the club provides: free sailing lessons for those new to the sport, sailboats for members to use, a fenced boatyard with a boat ramp, several docks (provided by Parks and Rec), a storage shed for equipment, sailing activities, racing, and social gatherings.
SYC Annual Business Meeting
28 Jan 2025
The SYC annual business meeting was held February 2nd at 2:00pm over Zoom. Following are some highlights:
- Due to sparse attendance at this meeting, we decided to delay nominating and electing the 2025 Board of Governors. Instead, that will take place at a breakfast meeting for all club members at the clubhouse on Saturday, May 3rd. The Spring Work Party will follow that meeting.
- Sailing lessons will be the same as last year, monthly sessions of 4 lessons each on Wednesday evenings scheduled through Parks & Rec. There will be sessions in June, July and August, but not in September.
- There will be 3 socials over the sailing season: The Spring Breakfast on May 3rd, 4th of July, and a fall social on September 7th.
- We will be working with Parks & Rec to improve the dock at the launch ramp to make it longer and move it to deeper water and closer to the launch ramp.
- With the boatyard nearing capacity, we will be doing some reorganization of parking spots and possibly moving some boats to better utilize the space.
For SYC members only:
Five-Year Master Plan
20 Oct 2024
SYC has presented Parks and Recreation with a Five-Year Master Plan for improving our sailing facilities. The plan aims to increase sailing activity on Lake Shawnee and get SYC back on a more sustainable footing. We are currently negotiating with P+R staff for their support in moving forward with individual items in the plan. SYC's costs for some of these improvements will be substantial. Please consider making a contribution to help us with these facility improvements.
Topeka, Forbes Field
32°F - Fair
Coming Events
- 3/1, Boatyard Opened for Season, SYC
- 5/3, Spring Social, Breakfast, Elections, 9:00am, SYC
- 5/3, Spring Work Day, 11:00am, SYC
- 6/1, First Sun Racing & Group Sailing, 2:00pm-5:30pm, SYC
SYC on Facebook
Mark's Racing Blog
Wednesday Evening "Race" Report
With about 30 seconds until the start, Chuck and Doug were coming in on starboard. I tacked in front of Chuck hoping to slow him down and take the start. Couldn't do it so I was about 5 seconds early. The HUGE advantage of winning the start is that you have first choice of which tack to be on and where to go for the best wind. Chuck had first choice and chose well. Doug had second choice and chose to follow Chuck. I had third choice. The windward mark was sitting in a calm spot with the breeze on both sides of it. I gambled the right side was as good as the left and so went that way. Not only was I wrong, but I had both boards up and so made no progress at all. Increasing my deficit, I rounded a distant third.
Down wind. Usually in a dying wind the boats ahead just keep getting further ahead. I tried to stay in the "stronger" part of the wind and jibed back and forth from broad reach to broad reach. Somehow I managed to narrow the gap on the other two boats.
Doug passed Chuck and rounded first. He and Chuck took the longer tack first toward the finish line. Normally this is the smart move. I gambled with a short tack away from the finish line into the stronger wind and then tacked for the finish line. It actually paid off! I passed Chuck and crossed the line only a few seconds behind Doug.