The story of the beginning of our Yacht Club starts in 1956 when local boat builder, Terry Swarbrick purchased a small yacht from a visitor who was staying at Rest Point. Terry sailed his yacht with friends from Walpole and soon the community was buying boats and establishing a Yacht Club! The Club became formal in 1958 and moved to its location at Coalmine Beach on the Nornalup Inlet in 1959. The
Walpole Yacht Club is nestled amongst a forest of magnificent Karri, Red Flowering Gum and weeping Peppermint Tree’s in the heart of the Walpole Nornalup National Park. It is also privileged to be the only Yacht Club in Australia in the middle of a Marine Park. It is fondly known amongst sailors from far and wide to be one of the Top 10 sailing locations in the world! The Nornalup Inlet on which the club sits, has two rivers feeding into it, the Frankland and the Deep, which are World renowned by canoeists for their beauty and untouched natural wilderness environment. The club is supported by the community of Walpole and surrounding areas of Manjimup and Denmark Shires, and is committed to not only promoting the sport of sailing to individuals and families, but also swimming, canoeing, fishing, and power boating. Due to the love and respect that the community has for their Yacht Club it has had a long, prosperous and spirited history, and punches well above its weight in running events like the Walpole ‘In the Trees’ Regatta, which is held on the Labour Day long weekend every March. This will be one of the biggest regattas in the 2013 West Australian sailing calendar, and will be Walpole Yacht Club's 41st Regatta. If you are a traveller from Australia or any other part of the world, you must make Walpole, its mountains, rivers, coastline and its Yacht Club a ‘must see’ on your trip. One to Two weeks is needed to truly to discover and explore our beautiful natural waterways and forests. The community has much to offer, and activities are endless.
