The Detroit Regional Yacht-racing Association (DRYA) was established in 1912 as the Detroit River Yachting Association by the Commodores of the Detroit Boat Club and the Detroit Yacht Club, Commodore Harry Austin and Commodore Harry Kendall, respectively.
Founded to be a clearing board to assist local clubs in resolving conflicts with their individual summer regatta calendars, the DRYA is now a Michigan Corporation and a registered non-profit organization. The DRYA's incorporation articles summarize its purpose:
The purpose of the association is to encourage and promote, in the United States and Canada, the general interest in boating, yachting, and sail racing by amateur sailors (including junior and collegiate sailors) by all appropriate means, including:
Albatross Yacht Club
Bayview Yacht Club
Crescent Sail Yacht Club
Detroit Boat Club
Detroit Sail Club
Detroit Yacht Club
Doublehanded Sailing Association
Edison Boat Club
Ford Yacht Club
Grayhaven Sail Club of Detroit
Great Lakes Yacht Club
Grosse Isle Yacht Club
Grosse Pointe Club
Grosse Pointe Sail Club
Grosse Pointe Yacht Club
Lake Shore Sail Club
North Star Sail Club
North Cape Yacht Club
Pontiac Yacht Club
Port Huron Yacht Club
Sailing Singles
Sarnia Yacht Club
South Port Sailing Club
St. Clair Yacht Club
Toledo Yacht Club
West Shore Sail Club
Windsor Yacht Club
Yachting is recreational boating activities using medium/large-sized boats or small ships collectively called yachts. Yachting is distinguished from other forms of boating mainly by the priority focus on comfort and luxury, the dependence on marinas for docking, and being typically only for exclusive social leisures such as cruising, fishing trip or racing.
Yacht racing is a sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course marked by buoys or other fixed navigational devices or racing longer distances across open water from point-to-point. It can involve a series of races with buoy racing or multiple legs when point-to-point racing.
Dinghy racing is a competitive sport using dinghies, which are small boats which may be rowboats, have an outboard motor, or be sailing dinghies. Dinghy racing has affected aspects of the modern sailing dinghy, including hull design, sail materials and sailplan, and techniques such as planing and trapezing.
A yacht club is a boat club specifically related to yachting.
The Grosse Pointe Yacht Club (GPYC) is a private yacht club located on the shore of Lake St. Clair in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan. The club is a member of the Detroit Regional Yacht-racing Association (DRYA). The clubhouse is prominently visible and a well-known landmark along the shoreline of the lake north of Detroit.
The Toledo Yacht Club is a private yacht club in Bay View Park, in Toledo, Ohio, located on the Maumee River, at the western end of Lake Erie.
San Diego Yacht Club is a yacht club located in San Diego Bay. It is located in Point Loma across from a spit of land known as Shelter Island.
The Southern Yacht Club is located in New Orleans, Louisiana's West End neighborhood, on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. Established on July 21, 1849, it is the fifth oldest yacht club in the United States and a founding member of the Gulf Yachting Association.
The Nepean Sailing Club (NSC) is a sailing club located on Lac Deschênes in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The club is based in Dick Bell Park, along Carling Avenue, adjacent to Andrew Haydon Park in the former city of Nepean.
The New Orleans Yacht Club (NOYC) was founded in June 1949 and is dedicated to further the sport of yacht racing, marine safety and seamanship. The club is located at West End's Municipal Yacht Harbor on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain and is a member of the Gulf Yachting Association since 1953.
Pwllheli Sailing Club is a yacht club in Pwllheli, Wales, founded in 1958. Over the years its clubhouse has moved several times, and it has also become an organiser of national and international yachting and dinghy sailing events.
The Biloxi Yacht Club (BYC) is located in Biloxi, Mississippi, USA, on the shores of the Mississippi Sound. The BYC is a founding member of the Gulf Yachting Association, as well as the Mississippi Coast Yachting Association. Established in 1849, it is the fourth oldest yacht club in the United States.
The Mississippi Coast Yachting Association was organized to promote the sport of yacht racing on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and nearby areas.
Itchenor Sailing Club is a sailing club located in Chichester Harbour which was founded in 1927.
The sport of sailing involves a variety of competitive sailing formats that are sanctioned through various sailing federations and yacht clubs. Racing disciplines include matches within a fleet of sailing craft, between a pair thereof or among teams. Additionally, there are specialized competitions that include setting speed records. Racing formats include both closed courses and point-to-point contests; they may be in sheltered waters, coast-wise or on the open ocean. Most competitions are held within defined classes or ratings that either entail one type of sailing craft to ensure a contest primarily of skill or rating the sailing craft to create classifications or handicaps.
The Britannia Yacht Club (BYC) is a private social club, yacht club, and tennis club based in Britannia, a neighborhood in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1887 by a group of cottagers.
The Windsor Yacht Club (WYC) is a private yacht club in Windsor, Ontario. It is located on the Canadian mainland just south of Peche Island overlooking the Detroit River. The clubhouse overlooks the southern shore of Peche Island and is at the north-end of the Detroit River, which takes water from Lake St. Clair.
The Santa Cruz Yacht Club (SCYC) is a yacht club founded in 1928 and is the oldest, and currently the only, yacht club in Santa Cruz, California.
Bosham Sailing Club is the oldest sailing club in Chichester Harbour and was founded in 1907 It is located in the historic village of Bosham in West Sussex. Its clubhouse is the Old Mill on Bosham Quay.
Ashbridge's Bay Yacht Club (ABYC) is a yacht club in Ashbridge's Bay, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The club offers a junior and adult sailing school, dinghy and keelboat racing programs, a cooperative sailing program, cruising and social events. In 2022, there are 702 members and docks for up to 292 keelboats. Club facilities include a restaurant, marine railway, and a public fuel dock with pumpout, diesel and gasoline.