Sailing clubs near Pittsburgh, PA?

[PirateFoxy]

I’ve been window shopping websites for Fancy Yachts because Covid boredom, and showed my SO one, and he thought it was a FABULOUS idea for some point in the future and now wants to take sailing lessons and thinks the little tiny racing boats look Great Fun. (I’ve been there, done that, not my thing. I want to be on a boat so I DON’T get all wet and have to swim. )

Anyway, obviously I have the mighty google, but since there are some people here whose experience I quite respect, I just thought I’d ask on the off chance someone knew of anything within ~2 hours drive or so. (Pittsburgh, being all rivers, is not a place where you tend to see a lot of sailboats in the city. Though supposedly we do have a sailing club for teenagers, though I don’t think I’ve ever seen them out.)

I did all my sailing at a camp that sailed in Conneaut harbor in Ohio, so they aren’t really an option. I suppose there might be a club up there, but it would be easier if it was closer and I know there are a few small lakes scattered around. (Though my SO will be thus deprived of the experience of having to keep a watch out for ore boats while sailing. They don’t look nearly as big out on the lake as when you’re in the same harbor. )

I imagine there might be some educational stuff that could be done over the winter, so we want to get in touch now even though it seems unlikely there will be actual sailing much longer due to the winter. So anyone heard of anywhere?

[jwoytek]

Wow! A post where my dumb self can respond because I actually know some things! Ha!

My wife and I live just up the Allegheny from Pittsburgh. Nearby, the only option I’m aware of holding official classes is the Moraine Sailing Club at Moraine State Park. I did a learn to sail class there (I think they did the US Sailing dinghy curriculum back then; not sure what they do these days) back when I was totally newb. I ended up bailing after several lessons because I wanted to progress faster than the class was going. Bought my own boat and started this long-running obsession with wind-powered boats.

MSC trains on and race Flying Scot dinghies. They run a community sailing program with several Scots available for members to take out, as well as a number of beach cats and a bunch of Sunfish. They are good folks these days and have an active racing program, and offer a bunch of educational programming for kids through adults.

Moraine is a good lake to learn to sail. The wind is shifty and one learns sail trim quickly! It’s big enough to explore but not so big as to be daunting. Until quite recently, we kept a beach cat there. There is a really active group of beach cat sailors there. They aren’t a club, but are one of the most fun sailing groups I’ve ever met.

The MSC has a web presence with a bunch of information on it. They’re pretty much wrapped up for the year—they will be taking their boats into storage over the next week or so.

University of Pittsburgh has a student sailing club. They also sail out of Moraine, on Flying Juniors. I don’t know much about them, honestly. I think they are student-only.

There is the Lake Arthur Sailing Club at Moraine, too. They are a looser group of mostly keelboat sailors. They have some organized races. I don’t think they offer any educational programs or community sailing programs.

Pymatuning State Park has some active sailing groups, but I don’t know about educational or community sailing programs there. They’re a little further out, though the lake is bigger and there are some larger boats there.

If you get up to Erie, the Erie Maritime Center has a sail training program, and I think members can take out boats. They seem to offer a number of different classes, at least last time I looked.

A couple of years ago, we purchased a larger boat, and keep her now in Erie. It’s not a bad trip, and having a huge bay to putz around in and easy access to big water is rather nice.

As far as I’m aware, there are no active clubs on the rivers.

Another option, though one I know nothing about, is to check out Deep Creek, MD. I know there is an active sailing scene on the lake, but I don’t know any specifics.

Feel free to drop me a line if you have specific questions. I’d be happy to help, if I can.