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Atlanta Yacht Club

Welcome to atlanta yacht club.

Established 1950

Situated on Lake Allatoona, Atlanta Yacht Club has been home to small-boat pleasure and racing sailors for 70 years. From late March to November, our shores are dappled with one-design sailing craft heading out for an afternoon on the water with friends and family. 

Whether they come for friendly competition, sailing classes, or just an opportunity to relax with a day on the lake, what binds our members and families to AYC is their commitment to the sport of sailing and their choice to spend their leisure time in an activity where everyone in the family can “play”.

The Atlanta Yacht Club is home to several active one-design racing fleets. Among those, we are proud to say, the Snipe, Thistle and Y-Flyer fleets are the largest fleets within each of their class organizations.  The fleets host the largest fleet-hosted regatta within their class: Snipe Fleet 330's Halloween Regatta, Thistle Fleet 48's Dixie Regatta, and Y-Flyer Fleet 1's Beers Regatta. We are known for our competitive racing and our hospitality!

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Senior celebrates 75 years of sailing, teaching youth to love the sport

Credit: Phil Skinner

When John Muhlhausen of Marietta climbed aboard his Snipe class sailboat on Lake Allatoona last month, he marked a journey that began in 1946 on Long Island Sound, Connecticut.

This year, the 81-year-old is celebrating 75 years of sailing, and he took a victory lap with his son David Muhlhausen, 45, of Decatur.

“It’s amazing that you have a hobby you’ve enjoyed for that long, and you pass that passion down as well,” said David, who learned the sport from his father and has been racing since age 5.

The elder Muhlhausen has sailed the one-design racing dinghy his entire time on the water, and has become an expert in that class of sailboat.

“John is an icon in the Snipe class of sailing,” said fellow sailor and friend Greg Kibler. “He’s an elite sailor, always in the upper echelon in the top competitions.”

Snipe sailor Don Hackbarth said Muhlhausen’s longevity in the sport, while admirable, is not surprising.

“I’ve never encountered a person who stuck with anything that long, but John is persistent and meticulous. He does things in a very determined way,” Hackbarth said.

Muhlhausen came from a family of sailors and got his first taste of the sport at age 6 when his older sister took him out on her Snipe on July 4, 1946. He remembers being a little scared watching his parents get smaller and smaller on the shore. “I had never been out in the water that far in my life,” he said.

It didn’t take long to get past those fears, and he quickly discovered his knack for racing and teaching others.

Muhlhausen and his wife Kitza have been members of the Atlanta Yacht Club on Lake Allatoona for 52 years, joining shortly after moving to metro Atlanta in 1968. They would drive up from Marietta, traveling on dirt roads with a dinner bucket of chicken, and be the only ones on the lake.

They both enjoyed racing in regattas and Snipe sailing competitions worldwide and have helped organize events on Allatoona. One of them is the World Snipe Masters, a competition that has been held continuously since 1986 on alternating years.

Muhlhausen taught his wife and son to sail and is now teaching his 7-year-old granddaughter, Ellen. She will be the sixth generation of sailors in the Muhlhausen family.

“I just enjoy the pleasures of sailing,” Muhlhausen said. “It’s like three-dimensional chess. There’s an infinite number of moves you can make out there.”

He also enjoys introducing others the sport, especially kids and those coming to it for the first time as adults.

As a young man, he created a simple teaching method and wrote a book so others could follow step-by-step sailing instructions.

In 1973, he started a junior racing program at the AYC and saw a need to develop a week-long summer program where kids could learn the sport and have fun with their friends. In its 47th year, Junior Week has become a significant pillar of AYC’s successful junior sailing program.

Muhlhausen processes and thinks through decisions, good qualities for sailing, said his friend Hackbarth, 75, a long-standing member of the AYC. “Kids and new sailors try to emulate him,” he said.

“John has mentored a lot of young pre-teens through high school, teaching them sailing. He is a great man for a teenager to learn from, to learn to be responsible,” Hackbarth said.

Reaching his 75-year milestone is meaningful to Muhlhausen in a more profound way. He battled esophageal cancer in the early 2000s, and treatments resulted in vision loss in his left eye. The impairment makes it difficult to know when to pass a boat or go behind, and he had to relearn how to navigate.

Despite those obstacles, he won the Snipe club championship in 2008. He was not expected to do well, and his one-dimensional vision was a real challenge racing five times during the two-day regatta.

The victory is the highlight of his sailing career, more precious to him than any of his other championships or trophies.

“It became a spiritual thing for me,” said Mulhausen, remembering his races. “I was in a zone. Almost like someone was telling me what to do, everything slowed down for me.

“When I finished in the last race, I cried. It wasn’t so much winning the regatta, but I beat cancer. I was back. Anybody who doesn’t believe that God listens to our prayers, I’m an example of that. That’s what made it so meaningful for me.”

WHAT INSPIRES ABOUT JOHN MUHLHAUSEN

When he isn’t in his Snipe, Muhlhausen competes with his radio-controlled yacht . This is how he gets his “sailing fix” now, says his son, David.

Muhlhausen once taught his son to sail blindfolded to develop his senses while sailing – the feel of the boat, the movement of the water and sound of the waves.

“Sailing is not a difficult task to learn,” said Muhlhausen, “racing a sailboat is a difficult task. It’s a whole other level.”

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About the Allatoona Yacht Club

The Allatoona Yacht Club was established in 1952 for the enjoyment of members with mutual nautical interests. The same interests are shared today and expanded to include emphasis upon safe boating, involvement in the Community, the Lake, and the quality of life of its inhabitants.

Allatoona Yacht Club's primary purpose and mission is to provide an environment that enhances the enjoyment for all our members with mutual and  safe nautical  interests. Additionally, we are committed to excellent-civic citizenship that will support the quality growth and preservation of  Lake Allatoona,  Georgia.  Also, we are dedicated to supporting local charities.   While our main focus and facilities are centered upon powered craft, as opposed to sailing vessels, we do have several skilled racing and cruising sailing yachtsmen as members.  

Our facilities include a spacious lakefront clubhouse with a magnificent lake view, member-owned land cabins, floating cabins and a full-service marina with covered slips. The grounds are in a private gated community and beautifully maintained by the full-time Club Staff. 

The Club provides activities for all ages with the huge and well equipped clubhouse providing a central focal point for most functions. Menu and buffet meals are available from Fridays to Sundays in season,  (May through September) . Members are provided many outstanding services through the Club's full-time staff.  A full schedule of social activities are planned and conducted throughout the year.

Allatoona Yacht Club is a private, stock owned and not-for-profit corporation. 

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Lake Allatoona

Sailing on lake allatoona.

Plenty of lakefaring men and women love sailing on Lake Allatoona.  A few are also seafaring!

If you are a sailor and you’ve been on land too long, your heart will drive you to sing, “ Sailing, sailing over the bounding main! ”  If you’re not a sailor, having solid soil beneath your feet suits you just fine … and you probably wonder what the heck “over the bounding main” means.  If your captain has been in the grog and a plank is dangling off the deck, it’s better not to ask until you come back to shore.

If you do have questions about sailing on Lake Allatoona, here are some links that will lead you to clear sailing and safe harbors.

Atlanta Yacht Club

Atlanta Yacht Club on Lake Allatoona has been home to small-boat pleasure and racing sailors for over sixty years.   Membership in Atlanta Yacht Club is available to all persons with a sailboat or an interest in sailing although a preference is given to those interested in racing.  A prospective member must be sponsored and co-sponsored by two Club members, then interviewed by our membership committee and approved by the general membership.

South Winds Sailing Club

The home port of South Winds Sailing Club (SWSC) is at beautiful Lake Allatoona’s Harbor Town Marina (34°07’46N , 84°38’16W).  There are many marine services are available for you and your sailboats, including fuel docks, a bathhouse with showers, and sailboat slips of assorted widths and lengths to accommodate most sailboats.

Since 1981, SWSC has promoted nautical activities, sailing races, and good fellowship among its members and guests.  From raft ups, potlucks, special events, to handicap sailboat racing, SWSC is about enjoying the beauty of the lake, a little competition, family, friends, fun, and new adventures.

We welcome visitors at our various events.  You can even bring your boat and try a race or two.  We only ask that if you enjoy what we do, please become a member and support the club.

Windsong Sailing Academy

According to Windsong’s website, they will scuttle our junk if we copy any of their information here, even if it might benefit them.  To learn more about Windsong Sailing Academy, click the link above.  Thank you.

• Guided tour

River Cruise on Luxurious Radisson Boat

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Equipped with ice-breaking technology, these huge fancy yachts are the only river cruisers running all year around. The round trip journey takes two and a half hours and floats past all the big sights like the White House, Novodevichy monastery and the Kremlin. There’s a large open air observation deck up top, while the main body of the ship houses a restaurant with a dance floor for a romantic post dinner dance. For a particularly romantic experience take one of the evening boats and admire the bright lights of the city skyline at night.

The most relaxing and picturesque tour that Moscow can offer: a great way to see the city center and its main attractions. This is a perfect alternative to exploring the city by car, if you only have time to do sightseeing during weekday rush hours.

Your English-speaking guide is eager to share every bit of their knowledge about the surrounding landscape, the architecture and historical details.

We conduct Moscow river tour on Radisson Flotilla boats all year around!  It’s warm inside during winter months, while there’s air conditioning during hot summer days. You may also treat yourself to drinks, lunch or dinner on board (drinks and food are not included in tour price).

The cost of an excursion with a personal guide for 1 person

Quay at Radisson Collection Hotel

Government Headquarters ("the White House")

Kievsky Railway Central

Novodevichy Convent

Luzhniki Stadium

Academy of Sciences

Monument to Peter I

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

Moscow Kremlin

St.Basil's Cathedral

Novospassky Monastery

U-turn and back to Quay at Radisson Royal Hotel

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• Excursion River Cruise on Luxurious Radisson Boat
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