History
In the 1840s, young businessmen had organized the Mobile Yacht Club (earlier called the Mobile Regatta Club) and began holding regattas at the watering holes on Point Clear, Battles Wharf, and Howard's Landing. Mobile Yacht Club's first club house was located on the east bank of the Mobile River, opposite St. Francis Street.
The Civil War and the presence of the Union Fleet in the bay caused MYC to suspend its activities for several years. In 1868, the MYC was again holding regattas. In the 1880s, Mobile yachtsmen had reorganized their club and sold stock to build a clubhouse on a newly acquired plot on the Mobile River just opposite downtown.
The membership soon outgrew that small house, and at the 1897 annual meeting, the Commodore appointed a committee to consider a new building. A New Orleans architect and member of the Southern Yacht Club, Thomas Sully, designed the club house a few years later, and it was built near the old location on the Mobile River.
A hurricane on July 5, 1916, combined with a high tide, destroyed the club and set many yachts adrift.
By the end of World War I, the members had re-established the club on the bay's Eastern Shore, where it had re-established the club under the name of Mobile Yacht Club, and moved to Barret's Beach. In 1940, just north of the mouth of the Dog River, the club built a two-story house. After Hurricane Frederic in 1979, the current version of the Mobile Yacht Club was constructed.
A yacht club is a boat club specifically related to yachting.
The New York Yacht Club (NYYC) is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. As of 2001, the organization was reported to have about 3,000 members. Membership in the club is by invitation only. Its officers include a commodore, vice-commodore, rear-commodore, secretary and treasurer.
Lough Ree Yacht Club is a sailing club based in Ballglass, Coosan, near Athlone, Ireland. Founded in 1770, albeit under the name Athlone Yacht Club, it claims to be one of the oldest yacht clubs in the world, although another Irish yacht club, The Royal Cork Yacht Club has proven to be the world's first and oldest yacht club. In any event it is probably the oldest club based on an inland lake.
The Detroit Boat Club was established in 1839, as a sport rowing club. It was first created on the Detroit River during a time in which Detroit was just starting to grow. The Detroit Boat Club is a member of the Detroit Regional Yacht-racing Association (DRYA).
The Southern Yacht Club is located in New Orleans, Louisiana's West End neighborhood, on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. Established on July 21, 1849, it is the fifth oldest yacht club in the United States and a founding member of the Gulf Yachting Association.
The Royal Thames Yacht Club (RTYC) is the oldest continuously operating yacht club in the world, and the oldest yacht club in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are located at 60 Knightsbridge, London, England, overlooking Hyde Park. The club's purpose is "to provide the members with outstanding yacht cruising, racing and social opportunities in the UK and internationally, building on the club's unique heritage, central London facilities and close reciprocal relationships with other leading yacht clubs around the world."
The Atlantic Yacht Club is a family-oriented yacht club located on the shores of Gravesend Bay in south Brooklyn. A storied member of the New York sailing community, the club is perhaps best known for its contributions to New York sailing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when it featured prominently as one of the leading yacht clubs of its day.
The Biloxi Yacht Club (BYC) is located in Biloxi, Mississippi, USA, on the shores of the Mississippi Sound. The BYC is a founding member of the Gulf Yachting Association, as well as the Mississippi Coast Yachting Association. Established in 1849, it is the fourth oldest yacht club in the United States.
The Wawasee Yacht Club was formed in 1935 and is located at 6338 E Trusdell Ave. on the northeast shore of Lake Wawasee, Indiana. It currently has 75 families and 35 social members sailing 28-foot E-Scow, 19-foot Lightning, and 13-foot Sunfish class boats in three regattas held from June through early October.
The Chicago Yacht Club is located in Chicago, Illinois. "CYC" is well known as being the Organizing Authority for the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac held each July. CYC also organizes dozens of other sailboat races and regattas throughout the boating season, which is usually considered May 1 to October 31 in the Chicago area. CYC has two club houses or stations, one at Monroe Harbor and one at Belmont Harbor.
The Royal Findhorn Yacht Club is located in a waterfront setting at Findhorn, on the coast of Moray in Scotland, on a site overlooking the sheltered inshore waters of Findhorn Bay.
The Poughkeepsie Yacht Club (PYC) is a small private yacht club based in the Hudson River Valley in upstate New York. The club is one of the earliest yachting institutions in America and founded in 1892. The club is located on the eastern shore in the heart of the Hudson Valley, on a part of the Hudson River about halfway between New York City and Albany. It shares a close proximity to the Hyde Park historic sites and the town of Rhinebeck. Its officers include a Commodore, Vice-Commodore, Rear-Commodore, Measurer, Secretary, and Treasurer.
The St. Francis Yacht Club is a private sailing club located in San Francisco.
The Britannia Yacht Club (BYC) is a private social club, yacht club, and tennis club based in Britannia, a neighborhood in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1887 by a group of cottagers.
North Shore Rowing Club is the oldest sporting club on the north side of Sydney Harbour in Sydney, Australia formed in 1879. It has occupied its current site on the Lane Cove River at Yacht Bay, Longueville since 1933. The club has a focus on masters, juniors and social rowing. The club conducts an annual corporate regatta and a learn-to-row program.
The Santa Cruz Yacht Club (SCYC) is a yacht club founded in 1928 and is the oldest, and currently the only, yacht club in Santa Cruz, California.
The Harlem Yacht Club, currently based on City Island in the New York City borough of The Bronx and incorporated in 1883, is the third oldest continuously functioning yacht club in the City of New York, the first being The New York Yacht Club, and followed by the Williamsburgh Yacht Club. The club currently has over 100 enrolled members in various membership categories.
Port Curtis Sailing Club Clubhouse is a heritage-listed club house at 1 Goondoon Street, Gladstone Central, Gladstone, Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Philip Hanman and built from 1949 to 1959. It is also known as Gladstone Yacht Club. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 26 June 2009.
The Raritan Yacht Club (RYC), located in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, is the second oldest yacht club in New Jersey, and is thought to be one of the oldest yacht clubs in the United States.
The New York Yacht Club Building is a seven-story Beaux-Arts clubhouse at 37 West 44th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Opened in 1901, the building was designed by architect Whitney Warren of Warren and Wetmore as the sixth clubhouse of the New York Yacht Club (NYYC). The clubhouse is part of Clubhouse Row, a concentration of clubhouses on 44th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. The building is a New York City designated landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark.
