Royal Bombay Yacht Club

Last updated
Royal Bombay Yacht Club
Royal Bombay Yacht Club.png
Official Crest of RBYC
RBombayYC.png
The burgee of the Royal Bombay Yacht Club features a crown and the Star of India.
Founded1846;177 years ago (1846)
Location Mumbai, India
Website https://www.rbyc.co.in/

The Royal Bombay Yacht Club (RBYC) is one of the premier gentlemen's clubs which was founded in 1846 in Colaba (formerly Wellington Pier), an area of Mumbai in India. The building was designed by John Adams, who also designed the nearby Royal Alfred Sailors' Homes (now the Maharashtra Police Headquarters), and was completed in 1896. [1]

Contents

The club offers chambers for residence overlooking the Gateway of India, a bar, a lounge, a restaurant, ballrooms, a club shop, a men's salon, a library, a gymnasium with steam and sauna facilities, a cue sports room and members cards room, in addition to sailing facilities in the Arabian Sea. [2]

The club regularly conducts sailing events and championships for members and yachtsmen across the Mumbai region. [3] Admission to the club is reserved by exclusive membership.

History

Royal Bombay Yacht Club postcard, 1903, with the eastern 1881 building. Royal Bombay Yacht Club postcard (front).jpg
Royal Bombay Yacht Club postcard, 1903, with the eastern 1881 building.
Western 1896 club premises in Mumbai, as seen from the Gateway of India, 2018. RBYC.jpg
Western 1896 club premises in Mumbai, as seen from the Gateway of India, 2018.

The Bombay Yacht Club was founded in 1846 with Henry Morland as club commodore and 30 years later, on the recommendation of Sir Philip Wodehouse, Queen Victoria permitted it to add the word Royal to its name.

The seafront clubhouse, also called Old Yacht Club (OYC) later, was built in 1881 and received a number of prominent visitors within its first ten years, including Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, and his wife, Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia, and the railroad tycoon and yachting enthusiast William Kissam Vanderbilt – part owner of the 1895 America's Cup winner, the 37.5-m sloop Defender.

In 1894, the Commissioners of the Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom bestowed upon the club a Blue Ensign with a Star of India surmounted by the Imperial Crown of India.

Another clubhouse was built in 1896 (to the west, just across Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Road), a blending of Venetian Gothic architecture with Indian Saracenic, to provide accommodations for members and visiting associates.

Yachting received a major stimulus in 1911, when King George V and Queen Mary sailed to Bombay abroad the RMS Medina on her maiden voyage.

In 1958, the Club was temporarily closed for not accepting new Indian members. The club started then granting honorary memberships to all Bombay Club members and provided a new home for their furniture and other effects.

The 1960s saw a new race introduced after the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, visited the club and presented the Challenge Cup for a Combined Class race not less than 21 miles. The RBYC at that time owned a fleet of four 21-foot Seabird Half Raters, whilst its members’ owned boats including the Chindwin (Bermudian cutter), the Iona (a Gunter sloop), the Silver Oak (a Yachting World keel boat), the Tir (a yawl), the Merope (Stor-Draken class) and the Griffon and the Wynvern (two International Dragons). The club was selected to host the 6th National Regatta for the Yachting Association of India.

Member Philip Bragg, who built the Suhaili , the first yacht to sail solo non-stop around the world, died in 1984. Yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnson attended a reception in his honour at the club in 2004.

In 2006, the club was visited by the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, and his wife, Lady Sarah Band, as well as other senior officers of the Royal Fleet. This was shortly followed by a visit from Sir Jock Stirrup, the Air Chief Marshal of the Royal Air Force and Chief of the Defence Staff. In 2010, General Sir Michael Rose visited the club.

In 2013 the Royal Bombay Yacht Club Residential Chambers received an award of merit in the 2013 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Yacht Squadron</span> British sailing club

The Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) is a British yacht club. Its clubhouse is Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Member yachts are given the suffix RYS to their names, and are permitted to wear the White Ensign of the Royal Navy rather than the merchant Red Ensign worn by the majority of other UK registered vessels. The club's patron was Queen Elizabeth II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colaba</span> Neighbourhood in Mumbai City, Maharashtra, India

Colaba is a part of the city of Mumbai, India. It is one of the four peninsulas of Mumbai while the other three are Worli, Bandra and Malabar Hill. During Portuguese rule in the 16th century, the island was known as Kolbhat. After the British took over the island in the late 17th century, it was known as Kolio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yacht club</span> Sports club specifically related to yachting

A yacht club is a boat club specifically related to yachting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Yacht Club</span> Private yacht club in New York City

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Perth Yacht Club</span> Sailing club in Perth, Western Australia

The Royal Perth Yacht Club (RPYC) is a yacht club in Perth, Western Australia. It is the third oldest yacht club in Australia after the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria and the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. It is based at the Crawley Marina on Pelican Point and at the Fremantle Annexe in Challenger Harbour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Yacht Club</span> Yacht club in New Orleans

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Thames Yacht Club</span> Sailing association in the United Kingdom

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."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Canadian Yacht Club</span> Yacht club in Toronto, Canada

The Royal Canadian Yacht Club (RCYC) is a private yacht club in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1852, it is one of the world's older and larger yacht clubs. Its summer home is on a trio of islands in the Toronto Islands. Its winter home since 1984 has been a purpose-built clubhouse located at 141 St. George Street in Toronto, which includes facilities for sports and social activities. In 2014, the club had approximately 4700 members, about 450 yachts and a number of dinghies, principally International 14s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bermuda Fitted Dinghy</span>

The Bermuda Fitted Dinghy is a type of racing-dedicated sail boat used for competitions between the yacht clubs of Bermuda. Although the class has only existed for about 130 years, the boats are a continuance of a tradition of boat and ship design in Bermuda that stretches back to the earliest decades of the 17th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Harbor Yacht Club</span> American yacht club

The Indian Harbor Yacht Club is a private yacht club in Greenwich, CT with a long and storied yachting tradition. The club, founded in 1889 in New York City by a group of prominent sportsmen, is based mainly around personally owned yachts and pleasure boats, but also has a long history of competitive races. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. The New York Times noted that "Indian Harbor ranks among the most influential institutions of its kind in the country." Membership in the club is by invitation only.

Colaba Observatory, also known as the Bombay Observatory, was an astronomical, timekeeping, geomagnetic and meteorological observatory located on the Island of Colaba, Mumbai (Bombay), India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Bermuda Yacht Club</span>

The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) is a private yacht club that was established as the Bermuda Yacht Club on 1 November, 1844, after the sport of racing yachts had become established in Bermuda primarily as a pastime of idle officers of the Bermuda Garrison and the Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda. In 1845, Prince Albert consented to become Patron of the Club and in 1846 the club was permitted to add the adjective "Royal" to its name. The RBYC flies the blue ensign with the RBYC badge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sailing in India</span>

Sailing as a form of transportation and for fishing has a very long history in India, owing to the large coastline and many rivers. Vessels from all parts of the world sailed to India down the ages for trade and many Indian sailors served on these ships. Sailing as a sport in India can be traced back to the first recorded race being sailed on 6 February 1830 in the western city of Bombay. Till the time the British left India in 1947, there were five active sailing clubs located at Bombay, Madras, Bangalore, Barrackpore and Nainital. Today, there are clubs located in Kerala, Pune, Goa, Hyderabad, and Bhopal. The Yachting Association of India is the governing body for sailing, windsurfing and motorboating in India. The Yachting Association of India was formally constituted on 15 May 1960. In 2011, Peter Conway of England was appointed as the national sailing coach. India’s first National Sailing School (NSS) was opened at the Upper Lake in Bhopal in 2006, with support from the Indian Navy and the Yachting Association of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Britannia Yacht Club</span> Private social, yacht and tennis club in Britannia, Ontario, Canada

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.

<i>Trishna</i> (yacht)

Trishna is a Swan 37 yacht belonging to the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. The name Trishna means “to thirst for” in the Sanskrit language. The 1970-vintage boat, earlier known as Guinevere of Sussex, was purchased in 1984 from the United Kingdom. The yacht has since been used for long distance ocean sailing and training. The first of the yachts' journeys after it was acquired was its voyage from Gosport to Mumbai, India. Subsequently, the yacht embarked on its most notable voyage, the circumnavigation of the globe from 1985 to 1987. This was the first such achievement by an Indian crew. In subsequent years, the yacht has been used for international cruises primarily in the Indian Ocean region. The Yacht currently is decommissioned and is standing as an exhibit at the College of Military Engineering, Pune.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Indian circumnavigation</span>

The first Indian circumnavigation in a sail boat was undertaken in 1985-1987 by a team comprising officers of the Indian Army Corps of Engineers on yacht Trishna, a 1970-vintage Swan 37 sloop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heritage structures in Mumbai</span>

Many heritage structures are found in Mumbai, India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bosham Sailing Club</span> Building in Bosham, Chichester, West Sussex, UK

Bosham Sailing Club is the oldest sailing club in Chichester Harbour and was founded in 1907 It is located in the historic village of Bosham in West Sussex. Its clubhouse is the Old Mill on Bosham Quay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maharashtra Police Headquarters</span> Heritage building in Maharashtra

Maharashtra Police Headquarters building is a Grade I listed UNESCO World Heritage Site in South Mumbai that was built between 1872 and 1876, and designed by the British architect Frederick William Stevens, who also designed the Victoria Terminus. The building is often confused with Mumbai Police Headquarters, also built in Gothic Revival style, and several newspapers often carry the image of Maharashtra headquarters while reporting on the latter. The headquarters are located at Wellington Circle in Fort, and face the Wellington Fountain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nainital Yacht Club</span>

Nainital Yacht Club is a yacht club that was founded in 1910 by the British, and is located at the Boat House Club in Nainital, a hill station in India. Situated along Nainital Lake at an elevation of 2,084 m (6,837 ft), it is the highest yacht club in India and among the highest in the world.

References

  1. "Yacht Club will sail into an atomic world".
  2. "Royal Bombay Yacht Club, Colaba, Mumbai, Bombay, Maharashtra, Video, India". Indiavideo.org. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  3. "Mumbai: Three-day sailing fest from today". The Indian Express. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  4. "UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation" . Retrieved 17 October 2013.

18°55′24″N72°50′00″E / 18.9234°N 72.8333°E / 18.9234; 72.8333