Marine services in Christmas Hills

Sailing club

Melbourne's drinking-water reservoirs are not obvious places to find a sailing club, which makes Sugarloaf Sailing Club one of the more unusual operations in Victorian sailing. The club sails on Sugarloaf Reservoir at Christmas Hills, in the Shire of Nillumbik north-east of the city, and it does so under licence from Melbourne Water — the authority lists licensed sailing by the club as the only permitted water access on the reservoir. Everyone else admires the water from the surrounding park; club members get to race on it. The club's tagline is "Sailing for Everyone", and its own description backs the sentiment: many members arrive new to the sport, and new sailors often begin racing almost immediately rather than serving a long apprenticeship on the shore. Sugarloaf is an affiliated member club of Australian Sailing, and it maintains a strong commitment to Sailability — sailing for people with disability — through community partnerships that include Araluen Rosanna and the disability programs of Banyule City Council. Inclusivity here is not confined to a separate stream. Access dinghies race in the club's general weekly competition alongside classes running from Savage Dolphin