Lakewood Yacht Club (Seabrook, Texas) has grown from a powerboating club to being world-renown for its sailing events. In 2019, the club hosted its annual J-Fest regatta with 65 boats, ranging in size from the J22 to the J122. Lakewood also hosted its 33rd Annual Harvest Moon Regatta, a long-distance offshore race from Galveston to Port Aransas, the largest regatta on the Gulf Coast with 133 boats in the 2019 fleet, which was preceded and enhanced by a Safety Day.
PHRF fleet racing remains strong along with pursuit races and other interesting formats. Under the guidance of Past Commodore Ash Walker, the club in 2019 purchased a new fleet of RS21’s for training and member racing. The inspiration behind this effort was to encourage one-design sailing from learn-to-sail programs through advanced racing clinics, to grow participation by youth, women, and younger members. The “pay to play” format where members can sail versatile, high quality boats that offer convenience and affordability to younger members (college and post-college age or those with young families) provides high value for the membership without the hassle and cost of boat ownership. Lakewood is building off the successful J105 North American Championship in 2017 to host the 2020 Opti Team Trials World Qualifier.
Click here to read the article by US Sailing in full.
