Northeast · Fernandina Beach
Amelia Island's sailing club on the Northeast Florida coast. Racing, cruising, and beginner clinics for every skill level on the waters around Fernandina Beach, with no boat required to join.
26-mile ocean race from St. Simons Island, Georgia, to Amelia Island, the club's fall inter-club race, re-run from its October 24 date after high winds.
The racing happens on Cumberland Sound, the deep tidal water between Amelia Island and Georgia’s Cumberland Island, where the tide runs hard and the scenery includes wild horses on the far bank and the occasional submarine bound for Kings Bay. The club runs a numbered season of fifteen Saturday races there, starts timed to the tide in Cumberland Sound, plus two inter-club ocean races a year (the spring Coastal Cup to St. Simons Island and the fall GA-FL Challenge back), with cruising outings filling the gaps between race days. Visiting sailboats are invited to race with no membership required.
“No boat is necessary; just get connected and get involved,” the club says, and the testimonials bear it out: members who joined boatless and got on the water crewing. Combined with clinics and crew opportunities for beginners, the club functions as northeast Florida’s on-ramp: show up, learn, crew, and buy the boat later once you know what you actually want.
Fernandina Beach is the home port, at the very top of the Florida coast, closer to Georgia than to Jacksonville’s southside, and the club is the organized sailing presence for the island. For sailors this far north, the alternative is a long drive down the coast; for anyone on Amelia, this is the local fleet.
Amelia Island Sailing Club is a private club. Membership is subject to the club's approval. For current membership costs and how to apply, contact the club's membership office.
Membership details at ameliaislandsailingclub.wildapricot.org ↗
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