Marina service
Royal Perth Yacht Club - Fremantle Annexe
About
Royal Perth Yacht Club - Fremantle Annexe at a glance
RPYC's ocean-side annexe at Fremantle, originally constructed to be home to the America's Cup defence, with 96 fixed berths for vessels from 10 m to 27 m, 23 hardstand bays for vessels up to 10 m and 12 tender racks.
Service area: Perth Metro
- Marina type
- yacht club marina
- Operator
- Royal Perth Yacht Club
- Region
- Perth Metro
- Water body
- Indian Ocean
- Wet berths
- 96
- Dry storage
- 23 hardstand bays
- Maximum vessel
- 27 m
- Berth types
- casual berthing, permanent berthing
Facilities and services
- power & water
- hardstand
- licensed club
- tender racks
- post cranes with operator accreditation
- dinghy launching ramp
- visitor overnight berthing
- wifi
About Royal Perth Yacht Club - Fremantle Annexe
On the ocean side of Fremantle's boat harbour precinct, at 51 Mews Road, sits the salt-water annexe of the Royal Perth Yacht Club, a club whose principal base has been on the Swan River at Crawley for well over a century. The annexe was built as part of Fremantle's preparations to host the 1987 America's Cup defence, the series that followed Australia II's famous 1983 victory in Newport, and it gave the club a deep-water toehold right beside the racing action of that summer. Today it functions as the club's cruising arm on the coast: 96 fixed berths take vessels from 10 to 27 metres, a scale that suits the keelboat and power cruiser fleet rather than the dinghy sailors who dominate at Crawley. The atmosphere is that of a club facility rather than a commercial marina. Berth holders are members first and customers second, and the place runs on the rhythm of weekend departures for Rottnest Island and Sunday evening returns. Its position is a large part of the appeal. The berths sit within Fremantle's sheltered harbour waters yet only minutes from open ocean, and the pubs, fish-and-chip bars and chandleries of the Fishing Boat Harbour precinct are a short walk away across the footbridge. The working port next door supplies constant background theatre: container ships sliding past the entrance, pilot launches, and the Fremantle sea breeze rattling rigging every summer afternoon. For a club with more than 150 years of history, the annexe is a comparatively young asset, but it has become central to how Perth sailors use the coast.
Marina facilities
Berthing is the core offering: 96 fixed berths accommodating vessels from 10 metres to 27 metres, each with shore power and water, accessible 24 hours a day. Berths are held by club members on a permanent basis, but casual and visitor berthing is a genuine part of the operation. Members from the Crawley marina can overnight at the annexe free of charge before crossing to Rottnest, and the club publishes a visitor booking schedule and an annexe visitor diagram; stays are arranged through the Fremantle Marina Supervisor so space can be allocated for each boat. Ashore, the annexe maintains 23 hardstand bays for smaller vessels, served by post cranes and a dinghy launching ramp that let members store, launch and retrieve trailer-sized boats without a travel lift. Use of the post cranes requires completion of the club's accreditation process. Twelve tender racks are available to rent, and centreboard sailors are welcome to bring dinghies and use the ramp. The licensed clubhouse gives berth holders bar and meal service, and toilets and showers are provided on site. It is worth noting what the annexe is not: there is no fuel berth or lift-out facility of its own on the Fremantle site, with fuel available elsewhere in the harbour precinct. Club members needing slipping use the hardstand at the Crawley base, where a 32-tonne boat lifter with a 5.1-metre beam serves 22 concrete hardstand bays, each with 240-volt power and water, plus three-phase supply, a wash-down pad with high-pressure hose, sidearm cradles for antifouling, an outboard flushing tank and a workbench area. The on-site shipwright Bay Marine Maintenance operates from that yard, giving annexe berth holders a straightforward path to hull and general repair work through the same membership.
Local sailing knowledge
The annexe's location puts some of Western Australia's best-used cruising water within easy reach. Rottnest Island lies roughly 11 nautical miles offshore, an easy half-day run, and the club's own visitor arrangements make the annexe a natural staging post for the crossing; Carnac Island and the anchorages of Cockburn Sound lie to the south. Approaching from seaward, vessels make for the Fremantle harbour entrance between the breakwaters, keeping clear of ship movements in the port channel, and then work south through the boat harbour complex. Skippers new to the area should respect the Success and Parmelia banks south of the entrance, and the afternoon Fremantle Doctor, which regularly pipes past 20 knots from the south-west in summer and makes marina manoeuvring interesting for bigger boats. Winter brings frontal north-westerlies and the harbour earns its keep as shelter. Fremantle itself supplies the shoreside half of the visit: the Cappuccino Strip, the markets, the maritime museum with Australia II on display, and the pubs and seafood restaurants around Fishing Boat Harbour are all walkable from the berths. The America's Cup connection still colours the place; the annexe exists because of the 1987 defence, and older members remember the summer when the harbour was the centre of the sailing world. Diesel and petrol are available within the harbour precinct, chandlery and marine trades cluster around the Fishing Boat Harbour and O'Connor industrial area, and the train back to Perth leaves from the station ten minutes on foot, which makes crew changes painless. For visiting yachts from interstate or overseas, the annexe is also a practical alternative to the commercial berths at Challenger Harbour next door, with the club able to place overseas visitors in berths when space allows. Racing sailors should note the club runs keelboat events offshore from here in season, and the annexe often hosts boats contesting coastal and Rottnest races, so weekend berth availability can tighten around the sailing calendar; a call ahead to the marina supervisor is essential rather than optional.