The Portage Yacht Club Sailing Program on Portage Lake had humble beginnings back in 1953, when a scattering of seasonal use cottage owners met to race their odd collection of sailboats. Festivities were “headquartered” at one of the cottages where the race start signal was indicated with a shotgun at the end of the dock. After-race social events regularly happened on the shore.
Portage Yacht Club has since grown into one of the leading inland lake sailing centers in the Midwest and one of the oldest sailing clubs in Michigan. Located at the current site on the south shore of the 650-acre Portage Lake, 17 miles northwest of Ann Arbor, it provides a venue for sailors of all skill levels. The sailing season runs from early May through late September.
Midwest Sailing has grown up with the Club, and it’s located on-site, providing sailboat sales as well as sailboat parts, repairs, and accessories.
The Club has produced National and North American champions, and qualified World Championship participants in several sailing classes, as well as prestigious US Sailing national championships. Innovations in the rules of racing first used at PYC have been adopted internationally.
Our local races are formally held on Thursday evenings for both single-handed (Lasers) and multi-handed boats (Interlakes and Flying Scots), and informally on Weekend days for all those interested in practice racing. Invitational regattas are held for the PYC sailboat classes in August and September. The Club has also hosted national and regional championship events. The Club is open to other similar boats joining the respective fleets (single or multi-hand) and social activities.
We invite you to have fun sailing with us to help bend PYC’s history to even greater heights.