Sailing At The Lake: This Is The Best Time Of Year To Love It Or Learn It

A sail on the horizon stirs a sense of longing. And if you're longing to learn how to sail, this might be the best time of year to do it at Lake of the Ozarks.

The spring breezes are blowing, quickening lifeless sails. Coves are calm, and will stay that way for another month-and-a-half, when vacationing (power)boaters hit the water. And sailing staff at Ozark Yacht Club stand at the ready.

Under the leadership of ASA-certified Chief Instructor Donald Ressel - a retired airline captain & flight instructor - OYC's sailing school programs are based on the American Sailing Association’s guidelines leading to internationally recognized certifications for bareboat chartering of sailboats. Their three-day Basic Keelboat and Dinghy Sailing course is a perfect crash-course in sailing... without the crashes, of course. For $650, aspiring sailors spend time in multiple brief technical classroom sessions interspersed with extensive on-the-water practices using both wheel and till-steered keel boats, as well as assorted dinghies for single-handed experience. OYC also offers private lessons for $80/hr (two-hour minimum) and several other courses on sailing topics ranging from navigation to racing.

Learn more about sailing school at OYC

But once you learn the ropes of sailing, how do you actually get on the water, without dumping tons of money into a boat and everything that comes with it? Meet: Ozark Yacht Club's Sailing Membership. This unique program helps people with a passion for sailing—or a desire to learn—get on the water without needing to buy a boat.

Boats available to reserve are of excellent quality and vary to accommodate members' abilities and needs on any given day. OYC’s diverse fleet includes boats suitable for 1 to 8 people, in lengths from 13 to 40 feet. The largest boat at 40-feet comfortably accommodates up to 6 people overnight on the water. Membership is not just for advanced sailors: OYC has boats suited for entry-level sailors too.

Sailing at Ozark Yacht Club — photo by JB Simpson
J.B. Simpson/LakeExpo.com

A Sailing Membership is available at an annual cost of $1,500. For this investment, members not only enjoy access to high quality boats, they also receive all the other amenities and discounts accompanying an OYC Social Membership, including use of:

OYC’s heated pool and patio, May through October
A private sandy beach, a play area for picnics and volleyball, and a separate sand volleyball court
A fitness room equipped with treadmill, reclining bicycle, elliptical, tanning bed, and infrared sauna
Discounts at OYC’s two award-winning restaurants: the LakeSide Café for waterfront breakfast and lunch service and the Wine Galley for lighter foods while taking in views of Princess Beach and the Jennings Branch Cove
A discount at the Nautical Shoppe stocked with home and boating décor and accessories

In addition to the opportunity to use a wide range of boats, members enjoy unlimited access to OYC’s entry-level dinghies and kayaks. More important, Sailing Membership investments relieve members of any burdens that come with owning a boat. Membership eliminates the costs to lease a slip, insure a boat, and maintain it. Perhaps most significant is that owners no longer need to transport their boats from the winter waters in the Caribbean to Lake of the Ozarks for the season.

Lake of the Ozarks provides a unique setting for sailing. The lake is vast, with countless coves and inlets to explore, and sailboats can—and do—coexist with powerboats here. Because sails depend upon the whims of the wind, they move more slowly, and international navigation law makes sailboats the "stand-on" vessel, requiring powerboats to yield the right-of-way.

Sailboat - Bird Through Masts — Al Griffin

Another pleasure found at Lake of the Ozarks in a slow-moving boat is an architectural tour: exquisite homes among trees, perched atop rugged bluffs.

The sailing season here can last for 9 months—mid-March to mid-November. These months coincide with the racing season for sailing, and racing is one more benefit of a Sailing Membership. Members receive discounted opportunities for racing events and social activities, and they save 10 percent off the cost of OYC sailing schools that could lead to certification at an advanced level. With advanced certification, a person can lease a vessel anywhere in the world and serve as its captain. A captain who cut his or her teeth sailing at Lake of the Ozarks could wind up sailing in the Caribbean.

A sailboat is a romantic thing. It moves with unseen forces above and below, at one with both. The man or woman lucky enough to steer it through them knows the kiss of wind and the swell of power granted to the water. The captain becomes a part of nature, enjoying it at a slower pace: a testament to the old adage, "It's not just about the destination, but also the journey."

Learn more about OYC Sailing Memberships by calling Ozark Yacht Club: 573-552-8401.