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| Short name | RCYC |
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| Founded | 1720 |
| Location | Crosshaven, County Cork, Ireland |
| Website | royalcork |
The Royal Cork Yacht Club is a yacht club located in Crosshaven, County Cork, Ireland. Founded in 1720, it is a claimant to the title of the world's oldest yacht club, although this is challenged by the Neva Yacht Club in Russia. [1]
The predecessor [2] of the present-day Royal Cork Yacht Club was the "Water Club of the Harbour of Cork". It was established in 1720 by William O'Brien, 4th Earl of Inchiquin, a great-grandson of the 1st Earl of Inchiquin, who was a courtier of King Charles II. As a result, the Royal Cork Yacht Club is widely held to be the oldest yacht club in the world. [3]
On returning to England from exile, King Charles II developed an interest in sailing on the Thames, and his courtiers (including the 1st Earl of Inchiquin) subsequently followed his example. Upon the Earl's return to Cork, recreational sailing commenced. Some years later, the 1st Earl of Inchiquin's great-grandson, 26-year-old William O'Brien, and five of his friends formalised their activities and in so doing established The Water Club of the Harbour of Cork in 1720. [4] This body became inactive in 1765 and was re-established in 1802.
By 1806, it was known as the Cork Harbour Water Club. During the 1820s, it changed its name to the Cork Harbour Yacht Club. Later in that decade, it dropped the word "Harbour" and became the Cork Yacht Club. In 1831, the club received the privilege of using the "Royal" prefix from King William IV and became the Royal Cork Yacht Club. In 1966, it merged with the Royal Munster Yacht Club, [2] and the combined entity was known as "The Royal Cork Yacht Club, incorporating the Royal Munster Yacht Club". [4]
The club was originally located on Haulbowline Island in Cork Harbour. During the early nineteenth century, it transferred to Cove, subsequently named Queenstown, now Cobh. It is currently located in Crosshaven, near Cork City. [4]
By the mid 19th century, membership was keenly sought after due to the club's popularity, and club records show that many candidates were disappointed at not getting membership. [4] One who was admitted was Prince Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria, later to be Emperor of Mexico. Prince Ferdinand was the founder of the Imperial Austrian Navy and a brother of Emperor Franz Joseph. The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) attended several RCYC regattas, sailing his famous yacht Britannia . [5]
In 1872, the Munster Model Yacht Club was founded as a Corinthian Yacht Club to provide for amateur racing rather than racing for wagers on yachts of wealthy owners with paid hands. It eventually received a royal charter and became known as the Royal Munster Yacht Club. It settled in the clubhouse of the Cork Harbour Motor Yacht Club at Crosshaven during the 1930s. The Royal Munster Yacht Club merged with the Royal Cork Yacht Club in 1966. [4]
Cork Week is hosted by the Royal Cork Yacht Club and is held every two years, usually in late June or early July.
It was initially Ireland's largest sailing regatta, but has been superseded in popularity, in recent years, by the Dun Laoghaire biennial regatta, as determined by large entries in multiple classes and competitors [6]
Crosshaven is a village in County Cork, Ireland. It is located in lower Cork Harbour at the mouth of the River Owenabue, across from Currabinny Wood. Originally a fishing village, from the 19th century, the economy of the area became more reliant on a growing tourism industry.
Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other water-borne craft for as long as such watercraft have existed.
A yacht club is a sports club specifically related to yachting.
The Royal Irish Yacht Club is a yacht club located in Dún Laoghaire Harbour, County Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Republic of Ireland. The club was founded in 1831, with the Marquess of Anglesey, who commanded the cavalry at the Battle of Waterloo being its first Commodore. John Skipton Mulvany designed the clubhouse, which still retains a number of original architectural features since being opened in 1851.
The Shannon One Design sailing dinghy is an open centreboard sailing boat raced on the River Shannon, Lough Derg and Lough Ree in Ireland. The boats are 18 feet (5.5 m) long by 4 feet 10.5 inches (1.486 m) beam, drawing 4 feet (1.2 m) with her centreboard down. They have a sail area of 140 square feet (15.6m2) set in a single sail, giving the boat what is called a gunter rig.
The National Yacht Club is a yacht club located in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin, Ireland.
The River Owenabue, also spelled "Owenboy", is a river in County Cork, Ireland.
Events from the year 1720 in Ireland.
His Majesty's Yacht Britannia was a gaff-rigged cutter built in 1893 for RYS Commodore Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. She served both himself and his son King George V with a long racing career.
The Royal St. George Yacht Club is a yacht club housed in a Victorian style clubhouse, located in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland. Each season the Club hosts a number of National and International Sailing events.
William McWilliam O'Brien, 4th Earl of Inchiquin, 9th Baron Inchiquin, KB, PC(I) was an Irish peer and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1722 and 1754.
The Measle is a small sailing boat, popular in Ireland in the 1960s and 1970s.
The Twelve Foot Dinghy was designed by George Cockshott, an amateur boat designer from Southport, England in response to a 1912 design contest. It became the first one-design racing dinghy to achieve international recognition. The class was granted the 'International' status by the IYRU in 1919 and remained this status until 1964 when it was revoked by the same authority. The class was selected as the dinghy class for the Olympics in 1920 & 1928. In 1924 the French wanted to use an alternate French design.
Dún Laoghaire is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown.
John Somers Payne was an Irish sport sailor, doyen of Cork Harbour Sailing and double Olympian. Payne competed as a member of the Irish National sailing teams in November 1956 and again at the August 1960 Olympics, earning himself the title of a double Olympian. In the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia Payne competed in the Men's Finn single-handed dinghy category and placed 16th. Four years later at the Olympic Games held off the coast of Naples, Italy, he competed in the same category and placed 18th, in what was his final sailing competition. John Somers Payne, also simply known as 'Somers' was often described by family and friends as an ‘inspiration’, as he was one of the first individuals from the coastal Cork village of Crosshaven to sail into the olympics.
Situated on the waterfront setting of the Greenbank area in Falmouth, the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club (RCYC) was formed in 1871, and is the 15th oldest “Royal” yacht club in England.
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.
Lough Derg Yacht Club is a boat club based in the lakeside village of Dromineer in County Tipperary, Ireland. Founded in 1835, it is one of the world's oldest yacht clubs. The club is based in a modern clubhouse on the east shore of Lough Derg.
The Volvo Dún Laoghaire Regatta is a biennial sailing regatta hosted by the Dun Laoghaire Motor Yacht Club, National Yacht Club, Royal Irish Yacht Club, and Royal St George Yacht Club in Dublin Bay, Ireland. With 2500 sailors and 400 boats competing in 28 classes, it is the largest sailing regatta in Ireland and the second largest in the British Isles. The inaugural event was held in 2005, and the next event is scheduled for 6–9 July 2017.
Joe English was an Irish yachtsman, professional sailor and sailmaker. He competed at multiple world championship level sailing events, including the America's Cup, the Whitbread Round The World Race and Admiral's Cup race series. In 1989, English skippered Ireland's first entry to take part in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race.
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