Helsingfors Segelsällskap HSS
Helsingfors Segelsällskap HSS is a traditional sailing club with its home port on the island of Liuskasaari off Kaivopuisto in central Helsinki. The club is one of Finland’s oldest and the fourth-largest sailing club, operating a full-service harbour with about 250 berths across seven docks and a guest marina. Members use the club restaurant, club rooms, sauna, mainland ferry link and the excursion islands Andö and Getören. The programme includes one of Finland’s largest children’s sailing schools, the HSS Sailing and Windsurf Center for adults, classic yachts and international regattas. Founded in 1893, HSS continues to shape Helsinki’s sailing scene with training, youth development and club life in Finnish, Swedish and English.
History
Helsingfors Segelsällskap HSS was founded in 1893 to give Helsinki’s growing Swedish-speaking middle class access to sailing, then seen as an elitist sport. Today the club is among Finland’s oldest and fourth-largest sailing clubs, with over 130 years of sailing history, more than a thousand members and over three hundred boats. In the 1910s and 1920s HSS supported the development of skerry cruisers, especially the 22-square-metre class, by donating trophies and competing keenly. For many decades the one-design Hai class initiated by HSS was the club’s largest classic fleet. Since 2011 the club has used Maxi SM40 boats for training and corporate sailing. The seniors’ group Harmaalokit (Helsingfors Segelsällskaps Seniorer) has existed for about 15 years and fosters contact among older members. Today HSS is an international community with training and club life in Finnish, Swedish and English, home harbour on Liuskasaari, the Nordic region’s largest classic fleet and one of Finland’s leading junior sailing clubs with Tähtiseura quality status.
Information
Facilities
Home harbour Liuskasaari with about 250 berths on seven docks, guest marina with water and shore power, club restaurant HSS Paviljonki, Restaurant Skiffer, sauna, club and event rooms, ferry to the mainland, SeaPoint fuel station, washing machine and dryer, excursion islands Andö and Getören
Activities
Junior sailing and summer camps, adult courses and weekly training at the Sailing and Windsurf Center, racing, corporate sailing, classic sailing, regattas such as the Helsinki Downtown Regatta, seniors’ group Harmaalokit
Youth section
Active youth section with one of Finland’s largest children’s sailing schools, summer camps, racing teams and Tähtiseura status
Guest berths
Yes, by prior reservation