About the Royal Highland Yacht Club
The Club Today...
The Royal Highland Yacht Club is delighted to welcome new members who sail on the West Coast of Scotland. The RHYC is a cruising club and does not arrange racing events although we are well represented on the committee that organises the West Highland Yachting Week in July/August each year. We have around 600 members of which about half are fairly active in the Club.
There are normally three 'on the water' events (musters) each year and two or three shore-based events. The Club does not have a Club House but instead holds most shore-based events in Oban, the principal ones being the Laying Up and Fitting Out Suppers which take place in October and March respectively. The suppers, which are well attended (and often sold out), must be booked in advance. A three-course meal is included in the ticket price (£39 in 2022) with members and guests buying their own drinks. The evening is sometimes rounded off with a talk on a sailing-related topic and usually finishes about 10:30pm.
In recent years we have arranged an occasional additional winter event at another location. These have included visits to Scotland’s Museum of Transport in Glasgow and to Dundee to tour three historic ships moored there. More recent trips included Stockholm to visit the Vasa museum, Liverpool to visit various sites of nautical interest, Poole and Portsmouth to visit the RNLI Headquarters and the Royal Naval Dockyard and in 2022 Newcastle, Hartlepool and Blyth to tour the varied maritime heritage there.
All musters, which are held in waters close to Oban, include catering courtesy of the Club, and may be followed by an optional cruise in company. A mini-cruise in local waters is usually offered following Spring and Late Summer musters (weather permitting) and on alternate years the Summer Muster at the end of June is followed by the Club’s cruise in company covering the waters of the West Coast of Scotland and Ireland. The mini-cruises are informal and open to all with alfresco bring your own food for shore side BBQ’s. The summer Cruise may include organised events en route which will require prior registration and additional payment.
Additionally members get together informally to share experiences, barbecue on a “pot luck-bring your own food etc” basis and cruise together with no particular agenda necessary under the guise of the Social Sailing Network which is accessed via our Google Group.
We issue three Newsletters each year, an annual Journal, and list of members.
If you think that you may, at some point in the future, want to apply for a Permit to Fly an undefaced Blue Ensign on your yacht, we would like to draw your attention to one of the conditions for such a permit; all registered owners of a yacht must be a member of the RHYC before a permit can be issued. There are other conditions which apply – these can be obtained via the Club’s website or by contacting the Secretary. The Club encourages the wearing of Blue Ensigns on members’ yachts in exercise of this cherished privilege.
The Club is run by a management committee with a Commodore at its head. The Commodore along with the Vice and Rear Commodores when afloat fly the Club burgee with a swallowtail. Ordinary members may fly a triangular burgee, which is a saltire with a crown in the centre, as shown at the masthead of these web pages.
Perhaps the greatest benefit of joining the club and flying an RHYC burgee is the opportunity to enjoy the congenial spirit that exists between our members. Many strong and lasting friendships have developed as a result of meetings afloat (both in home waters and further afield) and at club gatherings.
