To encourage yachting, boating, navigation and seamanship; To promote sportsmanship and excellence in competitive sailing; To provide programs and facilities for the use and benefit of members; To uphold and celebrate the traditions of yachting; To actively steward and advocate for our marine boating environment.
 

RVYC provides sailors with  easy and affordable access to weekly club races,  involvement with a variety of sailing fleets including dinghies and keelboats, and the opportunity to gain experience as crew in a variety of races and regattas.  As the host club of the Swiftsure International Yacht Race, RVYC also allows members to participate in and volunteer at a premier yachting event.

Power boaters and sailors have the opportunity to meet at informal cruises, or on the many organized Club cruises. Most of the cruises take place in the Gulf Islands.  Annually, there are also summer cruises for destinations farther afield, such as the West Coast of Vancouver Island.  RVYC has outstation facilities that members are able to book at no charge in Long Harbour on Salt Spring Island, and in Friday Harbour on San Juan Island. RVYC members also have reciprocal privileges with many other yacht clubs in the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere in the world.

Members have access to a variety of facilities and services at the RVYC. For the active boater, there is the possibility of obtaining moorage at Cadboro Bay or Tsehum Haven (Please note there is a waitlist at both facilities). At the Foreshore in Cadboro Bay, there is dry storage for dinghies, showers, laundry machines and a full shop with a variety of power tools that members can use while doing boat repairs. There are marine ways and a hoist that can be booked for haul outs.  The Club’s sailing fleets are primarily raced out of the Cadboro Bay facilities.

At the Cadboro Bay Clubhouse, members can look forward to a variety of social events such as: cruising dinners with guest presentations, barbecues, dances, and a wide variety of events for all ages. The Clubhouse provides food services for members and their guests Wednesday through Sunday in the Swiftsure Dining Room or Chartroom Bar. Each meal is prepared by our in-house chefs. On special occasions such as Mother's Day, our chefs'  create extensive and creative buffets. The Chartroom Bar is open seven days a week.

We offer Sail Canada accredited programs for beginner to expert sailors. Our program introduces basic sailing and racing skills, develops existing skills, provides advanced training, and improves confidence, all in a fun, safe and positive learning environment. The  Instructional Sailing Program is available to both members and non-members.   We also offer numerous technical lectures throughout the year, often open to non-members.

At the request of the Board in 2017, an Education Sub-Committee of the Sail Training Committee was constituted to find members whose background and experience could provide useful and interesting presentations for the general benefit of the Club membership. To date, there have been a number of these Education Nights covering a broad range of subjects which have been most popular. Subjects have varied widely, ranging from Electrical Generation On Board to Racing Rules (both Basic and Advanced) as well as “What to Expect from Your Surveyor,” “Fire on Board,”  “Weather Patterns on the BC Coast,”  “Modern Rope Construction,” “Tides”  and the wildly popular “Crabbing and Prawning” (with samples!)

Most of our events are free of charge with the occasional course offering accreditation and therefore a modest fee. Members may invite non-member guests and everyone should register via the website. Currently, all presentations are provided via Zoom. Sometimes our events are space limited to facilitate discussion and a waitlist will be taken if necessary. These presentations take place at 7:00 p.m. usually one night every month in the non-summer period. The events will be announced in both the Mainsheet and Jibsheet and details about the event will be available on the website. In case you miss a presentation we aim to provide zoom recordings of this series on our website so you can review or catch up when convenient. Club members who would like to make a presentation or suggest a topic or presenter are always welcome to get in touch with one of  the members of the Education Sub-Committee who are listed below: 

Members of the Education Sub-Committee are:

• Marina Steele, Chair
• Maggie Aro
• Ian Paul
• James Steele

For more Information on the Education Nights, please contact the Administration Office. 

From time to time, the Bluewater Cruising Association (BCA) delivers both courses and presentations for their members, many of which may be of interest to the members of the RVYC. As a courtesy to our club, the BCA usually offers these to RVYC members at their members’ price.