Robe Yacht Club

Robe Yacht Club is based at Karatta Beach, Karatta Road, Robe, on Guichen Bay on South Australia's south-east coast. It offers sail training, social sailing and racing for members and visitors, and has sailed from its Karatta Beach clubhouse since 2002.

The club was formed on 7 March 1954 and has hosted events such as the 1959 National VJ Championships and the Adelaide to Robe Yacht Race. Contact the secretariat on 0428 815 863 or by email at secretary@robeyachtclub.org.au, or by post to PO Box 48, Robe SA 5276. See our Robe sailing clubs page for more.

Robe Yacht Club offers sail training alongside its racing and social sailing, continuing a tradition that began when the club's first sailing classes started in 1983. Social sails are a relaxed way for newcomers and holidaymakers to get out on Guichen Bay with experienced members, and club racing gives more confident sailors a chance to test themselves.

Because Robe is a popular holiday destination, the summer months are a busy and sociable time at the club. Contact the secretariat before your visit to find out what is on. If you are new to the sport, our beginner's guide to sailing in Australia is a good place to start.

The clubhouse is at Karatta Beach on Guichen Bay in Robe, a historic port town on South Australia's Limestone Coast, about four hours south-east of Adelaide. Guichen Bay offers open-water sailing with Long Beach stretching away to the north.

For decades the club sailed from Hooper's Beach, where boats were left on the sand over summer and races were set west across Guichen Bay, north and east towards Long Beach and back. The move to the purpose-built clubhouse at Karatta Beach in 2002 gave the club a permanent home. Nearby clubs include Lacepede Bay Sailing Club at Kingston SE.

Guichen Bay is more sheltered than the open Limestone Coast, though strong fronts can still bring rough conditions. For more on the town and its harbour, see our Robe page.

Regattas were held on Guichen Bay as early as March 1859, but they were only occasional until the late 1920s, when the town's progress association began organising them as a summer attraction. A boat club formed around then to run the events and to encourage the new sport of motorboat racing, with locals building their own speedboats and racing them off the old jetty.

Robe Yacht Club itself was formed on 7 March 1954 to revive sailing after a long recess. Rick Cawthorne was the first Commodore, with John D Lea as Vice Commodore and Jenny Gilkes as Secretary. That year the club was granted a 21-year lease at Hooper's Beach, which became the centre of Robe's sailing scene until the clubhouse at Karatta Beach was built in 2002.

The club has hosted some notable events over the years: the National VJ Championships in 1959, the Adelaide to Robe Yacht Race in 1969 and 1971 (revived in 1986), the first "Redgum" Yacht Squadron challenge in 1979, and a visit from the tall ship Young Endeavour in 1988.