Shawnee Yacht Club - SYC

Winter 2004

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.

Questions? - Come Join Us

Current News

Five-Year Master Plan

12 Apr 2025

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.

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One of Our Own in The Top 100

02 Mar 2025

Former Commodore and current SYC Resident Agent Eric Kjorlie was featured in the 2nd quarter 2023 Top 100 Lawyers publication.

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:

Topeka, Forbes Field

57°F - Overcast

Wind

E 8 mph

Humidity

74%

03:53 PM

Coming Events

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
6/4, First Wed Lessons & Group Sailing, 5:30 pm-Sunset, SYC

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Shawnee Yacht Club - Topeka, Kansas

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Mark's Racing Blog

Beautiful Sailing Conditions Today!

We had beautiful sailing conditions today! Winds out of the (mostly) north at maybe 4 to 12 MPH. Except for the start of the third race. Five boats raced. First race. Tony got off the line well and picked all the right shifts. Leaving me with the not as desirable second choice. Tony lead the whole first lap but on the second upwind he let me get off to the side. Mistake. If boats are 100 yards apart, and the wind shifts 10 degrees, the boat on the shift side will gain a whopping 25 yards! I only needed about 4 boat lengths to be back in the game. In the second race, we were all going up the left side of the lake while the wind was slowly shifting right. As Tony reached the shore he had to tack out against the shift. Next, Doug had to do the same. I, however got really lucky. As I neared the shore, the wind continued to shift lifting me all the way up to the mark on a single tack. For the start of the third race there was zero wind. Race committee Don Towle blew the three minute horn while I was sitting directly behind the committee boat. At the two minute horn, I was still there. At the one minute horn I was still there. We were all on a port reach looking at the black water coming down the lake when the race started. Tony hit the lay line first with me just below him. This put him in a vulnerable position because with a lift he would over stand and with a knock he would have to tack again. There was a lift and I was able to sneak inside of him and round first. Many people think sailing is all luck or man vs. nature or some other esoteric idea. It's a geometry game.