About Us

The Harper Lake Model Yacht Club (HLMYC) is a Denver area club whose members build and race model yachts. The club is sanctioned by the American Model Yachting Association (AMYA) as club #56. We meet to race our boats every Saturday from 10:00am - 1:00pm, lake and weather conditions permitting, at Harper Lake in Louisville, Colorado.

Our racing season runs from the first Saturday in April to the third Saturday in November, but we continue sailing for fun and practice December through March as long as the lake is not covered in ice and there is not enough snow on the banks to make for hazardous footing.

We sail three standard One Design Class club boats: the Thunder Tiger Victoria, the ODOM, a slightly larger higher performance class boat, and the DragonForce 65 that was added to the fleet in 2018. These boats rely completely on the wind for their propulsion and have only two small servo actuators on board - one to control the position of the sails, and another to control the rudder. The models are operated from shore using radio-control (R/C) transmitters. Visit our Boats page for pictures and more information about these boats.

The principles involved in sailing these models are exactly the same as for full sized yachts. If you've sailed before, you'll find that the models handle amazingly true to life. If you don't know how to sail, the skills come quickly and easily, and it's great fun.  Our members are encouraged to review the HLMYC Sailing instructions which cover some of the rules and procedures we use in our regattas.

For more information, check out our club flyer (PDF Word).

Take a few minutes to explore our site and learn more about model sailing and the Harper Lake Model Yacht Club!

News

May 17, 2025 - April / May ODOM Regattas

Today we held another double header regatta, this one for the ODOMs. We are now caught up with the regular regatta schedule. The weather was mostly cloudy and temperatures were a bit on the cool side starting in the 50s and slowly going up into the 60s. When we had a breeze, it definitely felt on the cool side. We had a great showing of 11 skippers for this regatta, like the April Victoria regatta.  See the Regatta Results page for the full report and results. 

May 3, 2025 - April / May Victoria Regattas

Today we held our first and second Victoria regattas of the season with a double header regatta since the April regatta had to be postponed due to high winds. The weather today was superb with sunny skies and temps in the 70s. Eleven skippers came out for the first (April) regatta, which contained 8 races, and we had 9 compete in the May regatta, which contained 7 races.  See the Regatta Results page for the full report and results. 

April 26, 2025 - April DF65 Regatta

Today we were finally able to hold our first regatta of the 2025 season. The DF65 turnout was quite good with 9 skippers coming out to compete in the great spring weather. The regatta started with cloudy skies and temps in the 50s, but by the end of the racing, the skies were mostly sunny and temps were in the 60s. We got in 13 races.  See the Regatta Results page for the full report and results. We also welcomed a new skipper to the club, Dick Denzler. As you will see in the results, he made a most impressive showing for his inaugural regatta. Welcome Dick!

April 19, 2025 - April ODOM Regatta (POSTPONED)

Postponed and rescheduled to May 17, which will be a double-header regatta.  The first regatta runs from 10:15 to 11:45 (Note slightly earlier start time) and the second from 12:00 to 1:30.  The time between can be used to swap batteries and/or eat a quick lunch.

April 5, 2025 - April Victoria Regatta (POSTPONED)

Postponed and rescheduled to May 3, which will be a double-header regatta.  The first regatta runs from 10:15 to 11:45 (Note slightly earlier start time) and the second from 12:00 to 1:30.  The time between can be used to swap batteries and/or eat a quick lunch.

Old News

News from previous years can be found here: 2024 2023