Harborlight Youth Sailing Club Reserve a session Reserve

Port Townsend, Washington

Draw the line.Then sail it.

Sessions · Boatworks · Berths · Regattas

Harborlight is a youth sailing club on the water in Port Townsend — summer learn-to-sail sessions, weekend boat maintenance workshops, junior instructor training, and a parent volunteer crew that keeps the fleet moving.

Reserve a summer session Regatta tickets

01 — Summer sessions

Learn to sail, from the first knot to the first tack.

Summer learn-to-sail sessions run on the water at Port Townsend, building from the parts of a boat to the feel of the tiller in your hand.

  1. Rig the boat Parts, knots and how a small sailboat goes together before it goes anywhere.
  2. Read the wind Where it comes from, where it goes, and what that means for the sails.
  3. Take the tiller Steering, tacking and gybing with an instructor close by and the water calm.
  4. Bring her home Coming alongside, stowing gear and leaving the boat the way you found her.
Young sailors in a small dinghy during a summer learn-to-sail session
Summer session On the water
Hands sanding the rail of a wooden boat inside a working boat shed
Boatworks Weekend

02 — Boat maintenance

Weekend workshops in the boat shed.

Scraping, sanding, varnish and small repairs — the work that keeps a fleet on the water. The club boats are the classroom, and the skills go home with the sailors.

  • Varnish and brightwork
  • Hull repairs and fairing
  • Rigging checks and fittings
  • Tool care and sharpening
Weekends · boat shed · club fleet

03 — Junior instructor training

The sailors who teach the next ones.

Older juniors train to step off the boat and into the instructor's seat: taking a crew through the basics, keeping the lesson calm, and learning how much you know by having to explain it.

Pathway · sailor to instructor
A junior instructor at the tiller talking with younger sailors
Junior instructors Season long
Parent volunteers taking lines on a floating dock
Parent crew On the dock

04 — Parent volunteer crew

Nobody sails alone.

Parents and guardians crew the sessions, the workshops and the regattas — driving the chase boat, taking lines on the dock, keeping the shed in order.

Volunteer crew

No sailing background is needed. Volunteers are shown what to do on the day, by the people who do it every week.

A young sailor at the tiller of a small dinghy alone on the bay
A berth held Scholarship

05 — Scholarship berths

A berth held for a young sailor.

Not every family can cover a season on the water. Scholarship berths are funded places in a summer session — the same boats, the same instructors.

  • A funded seat in a summer learn-to-sail session
  • The same boats and the same instructors, on the same water
Ask about a scholarship berth

06 — Weekend regattas

Watch the starts. Sponsor a race.

Club sailors race through the summer season on the water at Port Townsend. Take a place on the shore, or put your name behind a boat.

Start line Club course

Ticket 01

Spectator tickets

A place on the shore for the starts, the mark roundings and the finish. Bring the family and watch the club's sailors race the season out.

Buy spectator tickets
Ticket 02

Sponsor tickets

Put your name behind a start, a mark or a race. Sponsor support carries the regatta through the summer.

Sponsor a race

Join the club

Reserve a session, a berth or a place on the shore.

Summer sessions, scholarship berths and regatta tickets are open now.

Reserve a summer session Ask about a berth