Who we are

The club exists to get its members sailing, affordably: day sails on the Solent, coastal cruises further afield, and RYA training to take you from your first afternoon on the water to skippering the boat yourself.

Whether you are an experienced sailor, a novice, or somewhere in between, you will get a warm and friendly welcome. You don't need a boat. You don't need to find a crew or a skipper. And you don't need to have sailed before: a good many of our over 300 members hadn't when they joined. Some members arrive with a Day Skipper ticket but are unsure how to build up further sailing experience, which is exactly what our mile building trips are for.

SOYC offers some of the most affordable sailing in the UK's most popular waters, which makes getting into the sport genuinely cost effective. But affordable is not the same as second-rate: in 2009 we became an RYA recognised training centre so that we could offer our members the highest standard of training possible, taught by our own instructors, on the same well-found yachts you will go on to sail.

From simple day sailing through to summer cruises, and training for the complete beginner right through to Yachtmaster, the club offers something for everyone.

Owned by its members

Speedbird Offshore Yacht Club Ltd evolved from the British Airways Yacht Club and became wholly independent in 2016. It is now one hundred per cent owned and run by its members. The two yachts belong to all of us. The directors are volunteers, elected by the members at the AGM. The skippers who take you to sea are volunteers too, members giving their own time so that the rest of us can sail.

The reason the club is so affordable is that every penny goes back into the club.

On your doorstep

From our home port of Mercury Yacht Harbour you have easy access to the Solent, with the Needles to the west and Portsmouth to the east. There are sheltered anchorages, superb scenery and a long list of ports within an easy day's sail. To the west lie the Beaulieu River, Lymington and its Town Quay, Yarmouth and Cowes; to the east, Portsmouth Harbour, Osborne Bay, Wootton Creek and Bembridge, with Chichester Harbour a little further on.

Further afield, club boats turn up in Devon and Cornwall, Brighton and Eastbourne, and across the water in Normandy and the Channel Islands. It has been known for a shopping trip to Gunwharf Quays to be fitted in during a lunch stop at Portsmouth.

How it works

Trips are organised year-round by our skippers and you simply sign up for the ones you fancy. Once you are signed off to skipper, you can post your own trips too. There is no boat to buy, no berth to pay for and no winter maintenance bill landing on your doormat. You pay an annual membership and a day rate each time you sail, and that covers the boat, the fuel, the gas and the upkeep.

Our skippers are experienced club members who hold the relevant RYA qualifications and have been checked out by our own instructors. They brief everyone at the pontoon before slipping, which means you can turn up on your own, knowing nobody, and come home having sailed with people you would happily sail with again.

Since 1965

The club began in 1965 with a single wooden yacht called Dainty, and it has been sailing ever since. Six boats have carried the name Speedbird, we have wintered in Majorca and crossed to the Channel Islands, and in 2016 the club separated from BA Clubs to become wholly owned and managed by its members.

Where we are

Both yachts lie at Mercury Yacht Harbour, on the Hamble a few minutes from the M27.