Welcome to CBYC

Charteris Bay Yacht Club is on the south eastern side of inner Whakaraupo (Lyttelton Harbour). From Christchurch, either come over Dyers Pass, or, through the Lyttelton tunnel. It’s then a short trip around the bays, through Teddington and on to Charteris Bay. The Club is well sign posted, with the driveway down to the Club off the main road to Diamond Harbour.

The club house is in a wonderful spot with all day sun, and sheltered from the infamous easterly wind.  Because the sailing area is in the inner part of the harbour it is relatively sheltered from strong winds and swells. We utilise sailing and racing courses both in front of the club and in the main harbour which makes for an excellent variety of sailing conditions. The sailing area is affected by tides but sailing can comfortably take place 2 hours either side of low tide.

CBYC is primarily a dinghy sailing (mono and multi hull)  club. We have the regions strongest Optimist, P-class and Starling fleets and strong fleets of Paper Tigers and Finns. We welcome all new members and volunteeers.

Learn to Sail & Coaching

CBYC run a Learn to Sail program for children from 8 years of age based on Yachting New Zealand's pathway. This is taught by qualified instructors in 12 plastic optimists owned by the club. We also run a 2 day annual Spring Clinic with LTS and coaching for all levels and some school holiday LTS programs. Children progress to the Optimist Greenfleet where they continue developing their skills and aspects of racing in their own boats. As skills progress we have coaching programs Optimist Open Fleet, P-class and Starling sailing.

Adult Learn to Sail Programs are taught over weekends during the summer sailing season.

Racing

Throughout the sailing season from September to April we run club racing on Sundays (generally every second week). We also host a number of regattas for a range of youth and adult classes including national championship events. Club day is always a fun event with the kitchen open for hot food and snacks and the bar open for a drink on the deck after sailing. We welcome all sailors from any club to our club days. Full details can be found on the club calendar.

Boat Storage

Active sailing members contribute to a vibrant club. Club members are able to store their boats at the club, with fees payable depending on location and size. Optimists and P-class are stored in the racks in an allocated space, but can only be stored while in active use. Rigs are stored upright in the sail shed with key access for members. Larger dinghies and boats stored on the hard are allocated a space. As the storage area is limited and sought after, we may ask you to remove any boat sitting unused. For enquiries about boat storage contact Scott Chisholm scott.chisholm78@gmail.com

Facilities

Club House

The much loved club house has a lot of history as can be seen in the rafters where past members have left their mark. The clubhouse has a beautiful modern kitchen where you can buy hot food and snacks, we also have a bar open at the conclusion of sailing. There are showers and changing facilities, a large indoor space and a sunny deck with picnic tables. Fascinating photos and honours boards surround the walls. A collection of photo albums and sailing books are found in the Club’s book shelves.

Slipways

There are three wide slipways (2 with winches) from which yachts can be launched. Parking is very limited so we do ask that the hard area is used for drop off and pick up only and that vehicles are parked on the road, with respect to the road markings please.

Rescue Boats

We have a fleet of rescue boats, of which three are center console rigid inflatables, and two are smaller tiller steer boats. These allow the rescue boat operators to be close at hand to the sailors at all time.

Club Optimists

CBYC have  12 plastic Optimists which we use for our LTS programs. These boats are very safe with built in buoyancy. Club members can have access to these boats on Club Days.