Port Dalrymple Yacht Club

Port Dalrymple Yacht Club (PDYC) is the local yacht club at Beauty Point on the banks of the Tamar River, known by its palawa kani name kanamaluka. Founded in 1952, it operates from 9 Kemps Parade, Beauty Point, with a waterfront clubhouse and facilities for members and visiting sailors.

It's a club built by its members, literally: volunteers created close to 90% of its onshore and on-water facilities. That hands-on culture has earned it a big reputation. PDYC was named Tasmanian Club of the Year in 2018, and it was the first Tasmanian club outside Hobart to host a world championship (for the B14 class).

What the club offers

• Club racing through the season for keelboats and dinghies, plus social sailing and club events.
• A Discover Sailing Centre with learn-to-sail courses for juniors and adults.
• Radio-controlled DF65 model yacht racing through the year.
• Services for visiting boats, including diesel sales and slipping (book through the club office or bosun). It's one of the few haul-out facilities on the Tamar estuary.

With around 280 members, PDYC races a mix of Sabots, Sabres, NS14s and B14s alongside SB20 and Elliott 5.9 keelboats. See our Beauty Point sailing clubs page and Tamar Valley page for more.

PDYC is an accredited Discover Sailing Centre with a youth-led focus. Programs include Tackers for young children, start-racing sessions, and powerboat handling and safety boat training. The club also runs dinghy instructor and assistant instructor courses, and course dates are listed on its website when scheduled.

The club is particularly good at welcoming first-timers. Its "Try Sailing" series introduced more than 50 first-time sailors in 2022, and its annual Women on Water day gives women a relaxed introduction to sailing. The instructors are highly regarded: Greg Rowsell and Magnus McIndoe were named Instructor of the Year in 2019 and 2022. Graduates can move straight into the Wednesday twilight Midweek Series or the club's dinghy fleets.

The club fronts the Tamar River (Port Dalrymple) at Beauty Point, a broad tidal estuary that leads north to Bass Strait. Sailing is centred on the river next to the club's Kemps Parade site, in the wider Tamar and Launceston boating region.

The Tamar is a big, tidal waterway, with strong streams, especially near the heads, so racing and cruising need an eye on the tide tables. The club's recently rebuilt main jetty and four pontoons, which took more than 1,800 volunteer hours, make it a welcoming stop for visiting boats. Beyond the heads, Bass Strait offers serious offshore sailing. See our FAQs on tidal streams in Tasmanian harbours and planning a Bass Strait crossing.

Port Dalrymple Yacht Club was founded in 1952 and has sailed from Beauty Point on the Tamar River ever since. Its story is one of volunteers: members built most of the club's facilities by hand, from the clubhouse surroundings to the jetty and pontoons.

The club has a proud racing record. It ran the Australian Three Peaks Race, which combines sailing and mountain running, for 25 years, and it hosts the Shakedown Passage Race Series, the Northern Inshore Championship Regatta and an annual Blockbuster Regatta that regularly draws more than 60 boats. It became the first Tasmanian club outside Hobart to host a world championship when the B14s came to the Tamar.

Notable members include Olympic gold medallist Mark Turnbull OAM and Tasmanian Hall of Fame sailor Nick Edmunds, veteran of more than 10 West Coaster races and 21 Australian Three Peaks races. In 2018 PDYC was named Tasmanian Club of the Year.