Woods Reservoir at Arnold AFB plays host to Highland Yacht Club Fall Regatta

Courtesy Photo | Area boat racing enthusiasts vie for first place during the Highland Yacht Club’s Fall Regatta, held Sept. 21-22, 2025, on Woods Reservoir at Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. A regatta is a series of boat or yacht races held over a relatively short period of time. The Highland Yacht Club holds two regattas open to non-club members each calendar year – the Spring Regatta occurring around mid-May and the Fall Regatta that typically takes place in late September. The club was started in the 1950s to promote sailing on Woods Reservoir and to encourage interest in the hobby among Arnold AFB personnel, their families and members of the local communities. Currently, the Highland Yacht Club is comprised of about 40 families, most of whom are local to Arnold. (Courtesy photo)  

ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENNESSEE, UNITED STATES

11.19.2025

Story by Bradley Hicks 

Arnold Engineering Development Complex

ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. – With wind in their proverbial and literal sails, members of the Highland Yacht Club recently assembled for their annual Fall Regetta at Woods Reservoir on Arnold Air Force Base.
The two-day boat race kicked off on the morning of Sept. 21 and concluded in the afternoon of Sept. 22. The event is viewed as a friendly competition to determine which individual or crew can best navigate the wind and water on the lake. On the line is a certificate awarded to the winner and the respect of their fellow sailors.
According to Highland Yacht Club Commodore Steve Hancock, who earned top place in this year’s event, all was smooth sailing with the 2025 Fall Regatta.
“The weather, racing and camaraderie were all excellent,” he said.
A regatta is a series of boat or yacht races held over a relatively short period of time. During a typical regatta, the Highland Yacht Club holds five or so races over a weekend, each taking around an hour, between mid-morning on the Saturday it commences and noon on the Sunday it concludes. During the 2025 Fall Regatta, the club managed to squeeze in seven races.
Hancock said Woods Reservoir is an ideal site for boat racing, something sailing enthusiasts in the area have been aware of for some time.
“It’s an excellent place,” Hancock said. “Woods’ open sailing area, central location, lack of motorboat traffic, beautiful setting and hospitality make our regattas popular with sailors throughout the region.”
The Highland Yacht Club was started in the 1950s to promote sailing on Woods Reservoir and to encourage interest in the hobby among Arnold AFB personnel, their families and members of the local communities.
In the early days, club members set sail off trailers kept under a tree at what came to be the Gossick Leadership Center. Though the original club faded way over the ensuing years, it was resurrected in 1984 and has been active since. Following its revival, the club established its new home at the site of the old Arnold Research Organization lodge along Woods Reservoir.
Currently, the Highland Yacht Club is comprised of about 40 families, most of whom are local to Arnold AFB. However, Hancock said some members travel from as far as Nashville and Chattanooga to participate in club activities.
All Highland Yacht Club activities occur on Woods Reservoir, though some members travel elsewhere to participate in sailing events organized by other organizations or individuals.
For some, the word “yacht” may conjure images of absolute luxury – affluent, dressed-to-the-nines jetsetters crowded onto the deck on a large, lavish vessel, leisurely hobnobbing and sipping champagne while the sounds of Steely Dan, Christopher Cross and Michael McDonald fill the air.
However, Hancock urged folks to not let the “yacht” part of Highland Yacht Club give the wrong impression, as a club outing hardly resembles a scene from “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
“We’re a very family-friendly, low-key club,” Hancock said. “We’re much more of a T-shirt and shorts kind of place than a blue blazer and topsiders one that many imagine a yacht club to be.”
Hancock further noted the activity of yachting is much broader than the assemblage of wealthy people on a big boat, as it also includes racing and recreational sailing.
According to the Yachting News website, the term “yacht” is used to describe all recreational vessels, be they sailing or motor-powered, with at least one cabin that allows the crew to sleep on board. While there is no established boat length that earns a boat the designation of “yacht,” common usage defines a yacht as a vessel longer than 33 feet.
The Highland Yacht Club holds two regattas open to non-club members each calendar year – the Spring Regatta occurring around mid-May and the Fall Regatta that typically takes place in late September.
The most challenging directions to sail, Hancock said, are directly into the wind, also referred to as windward, and directly away from the wind, known as leeward. The Highland Yacht Club typically orients its regattas windward and leeward to put participating sailors’ abilities to the test.
“From the start-finish line, the first mark will typically be about half-a-mile to windward, then there will be about a 1-mile leg to leeward, and finally one-half mile back to windward to finish,” Hancock said. “We’ll typically do one or two laps on this course.”
There are typically one to four people on each vessel. One person acts as the skipper while the rest serve as the crew.
Spectators are welcome to attend the Highland Yacht Club regattas.
Steven Murphree, internal auditor for the Test Operations and Sustainment contractor at Arnold, was among those who took part in the Fall Regatta. Murphree became a member of the Highland Yacht Club a year ago after attending the 2024 Fall Regatta.
“My wife and I had sailed before,” he said. “We had a sailboat in Harrison Bay near Chattanooga before and also down in Lake Guntersville in Alabama. We moved to Tullahoma about three years ago, kind of knew the sailboat club was there, and a year ago was kind of our opportunity of, ‘Hey, let’s go try to get involved.’ We met some people there and wound up buying a sailboat from a member of the club. We’ve been sailing there ever since.”
Students from the University of the South in Sewanee, where the Highland Yacht Club supports a nascent sailing club, also competed in this year’s regatta.
Also participating was 11-year-old Kaylee Miller. The youngster said she took up sailing three years ago, cutting her teeth on Chickamauga Lake near Chattanooga before switching her preferred waterway to Woods Reservoir last year.
“The Woods Reservoir is much easier for youth sailors to learn to sail, and the people at Highland Yacht Club are very nice,” she said. “I think sailing is very fun and is my favorite hobby.”
Miller added sailing teaches confidence, attention to detail and strategic thinking.
“I recommend every kid on base or in the community come to Highland Yacht Club and learn to sail,” she said.
Murphree echoed this sentiment, adding anyone, regardless of age, interested in sailing should attend a Highland Yacht Club event or reach out to the organization.
“It’s beautiful out there,” he said. “It’s a really good location to learn how to sail. We’ve definitely got several people who are good at teaching sailing.”
In addition to its two yearly regattas, the Highland Yacht Club holds club races on Sunday afternoons from April through August. Murphree said these “informal” races are good time for anyone looking to take up the hobby to get their feet wet.
“If it’s good sailing weather, you can often crew on a boat,” he said. “You can say, ‘Hey, I’m here and I’m in interested in sailing and I’d like to get on the water.’ Usually it’s best to reach out to make sure somebody’s going to be there racing that day, maybe over social media, but that’s probably the best way to learn.”
And, Hancock said, the club is open to anyone interested in setting sail at Woods Reservoir.
“If you’re a sailor, you’re welcome. If you’re not a sailor, you are welcome too,” he said. “We’re happy to sail, teach or just hang out by the lake.”

• Date Taken: 11.19.2025
• Date Posted: 11.19.2025 15:00
• Story ID: 551789
• Location: ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENNESSEE, US