Gulfstream Sailing Club

Founded in 1957 and run by volunteers ever since, Gulfstream is one of the longest-standing sailing organizations in South Florida, and it operates on an unusual two-venue model. Ocean racing and cruising run out of Fort Lauderdale, where the Gulf Stream itself is minutes off the beach; teaching runs at Sailor’s Point, the club’s lake site, on a small-boat fleet of Optis, Sunfish, a 420, and an O’Day Widgeon. Flat, contained water for the first lessons; the open Atlantic for everything after.

That split is why the club can honestly welcome everyone from beginners to seasoned racers. Kids’ learn-to-sail and summer camp run at the lake with adult learn-to-sail alongside them, while the racing calendar, results, and an active cruising schedule carry the other half of the club’s life on the ocean side. Member meetings happen at the Sea Cadets building on SW 25th Street.

The lake site at 921 N. Northlake Drive reopened in June 2026 after a long rebuild: a new seawall and seawall caps, a concrete ramp, and floating docks with land ramps down to them. The boats there are for renting as well as for teaching, so a lesson isn’t the only way onto the water. Ask at Sailor’s Point on a weekend, or email the site directly, for what’s available and what it costs.

In a county where sailing mostly means either a private club or a charter operator, a volunteer-run nonprofit that will teach your kid on a Sunfish and race you out toward the Stream is its own category.