About OYS

Club History:

Oakville Yacht Squadron was founded in 1946 by a group of sailors interested in racing Snipe class dinghies, a boat which was very popular and competitive at the time.  Early facilities, located in downtown Oakville across the river from the current site of the club were limited, but that did not prevent the members from being very competitive on the local and international stage.  The involvement of OYS sailors with the Snipe class continued until recent years – not too many years ago Id Crook, an OYS member, was Commodore of the International Snipe Class Association.

With the passage of the years OYS members moved across the river, established a more permanent clubhouse, and graduated to larger boats.  For many years the club maintained a focus primarily on racing.  Fleets of Tempests, Viking 28’s, C&C 27’s, and J-24’s have all seen close competition at OYS and around Lake Ontario over the years.

In 1995 OYS merged with the former Oakville Harbour Yacht Club, and a growing interest in cruising was augmented by the members integrated into the club at that time.  Today, OYS maintains an active club racing program and also counts many local and a few long-distance cruisers in it’s membership.  The club continues to be an organization dedicated to active support of the sailing lifestyle.

Getting to OYS by boat:

The Oakville lighthouse (FR) on the south end of the east pier is N 43 26 21.9 W 79 39 56.5 – follow the signs to the visitors’ dock, to port about half way to the first bridge.

Getting to OYS by other means:

Take the QEW to Trafalgar Road and head south. Make a right turn onto Lakshore Road and proceed to Forsythe, the first light immediately after the bridge. Make a left onto Forsythe, then immediately left again onto Francis. OYS is the large brown building directly ahead. MAPS