 White Ensign | |
| Short name | RHADC |
|---|---|
| Founded | July 28, 1882 |
| Location | Pembroke Parish, Bermuda |
| Commodore | Roger Beach |
| Website | www.rhadc.bm |
The Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club (RHADC) is a private yacht club in the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda that was established as the Hamilton Amateur Dingey Association on, or before, 28 July 1882. It is the World's only Royal dinghy club.
There was already a Royal yacht club in Bermuda, the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club founded in 1845 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. [1] Members of that club, however, focused primarily on racing sloops and schooners. The Hamilton Amateur Dingey Association was created to promote the racing of dinghies, which in Bermuda meant the Bermuda Fitted Dinghy, a scaled down version of the traditional sloops used locally as work boats and yachts. Sloops and dinghies were fitted with tall, raked masts and long bowsprits, fitted with the Bermuda rig. [2] [3]
The association held its first races on 28 July 1882, with eight boats in the first class race, which was won by HC Masters in the Reckless, and four in the second class race, which was won by EW Cooper in the Ariel. [4]
In 1883, HRH Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria, visited Bermuda, conferring the Royal title and donating a trophy that was awarded to the winner of a dinghy race held on 8 March, which was restricted to boats both owned and steered by club members. A purse race was held after, which was open to all amateurs. Dinghies for this race were restricted to hulls of 12 feet (3.7 m) of keel, and 14 feet (4.3 m), 1 inch overall. A defaced White ensign was made for the club by Messrs. Lanff & Neeve, 97 Leadenhall Street, London. A change in the rules for Royal titles was made in 1890, restricting the authority to grant these to the reigning Monarch. As the title had been conferred on the club by the Queen's daughter, not the Queen, authorisation to use it ceased and it became the Hamilton Amateur Dingey Club 'til dropping the word Amateur in 1896. In 1953, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II confirmed the 1883 grant of the Royal title by Princess Louise and the club became the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club. [5] [6]
Yacht racing is a sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course marked by buoys or other fixed navigational devices or racing longer distances across open water from point-to-point. It can involve a series of races with buoy racing or multiple legs when point-to-point racing.
The Bermuda sloop is a historical type of fore-and-aft rigged single-masted sailing vessel developed on the islands of Bermuda in the 17th century. Such vessels originally had gaff rigs with quadrilateral sails, but evolved to use the Bermuda rig with triangular sails. Although the Bermuda sloop is often described as a development of the narrower-beamed Jamaica sloop, which dates from the 1670s, the high, raked masts and triangular sails of the Bermuda rig are rooted in a tradition of Bermudian boat design dating from the earliest decades of the 17th century. It is distinguished from other vessels with the triangular Bermuda rig, which may have multiple masts or may not have evolved in hull form from the traditional designs.
Dinghy racing is a competitive sport using dinghies, which are small boats which may be rowboats, have an outboard motor, or be sailing dinghies. Dinghy racing has affected aspects of the modern sailing dinghy, including hull design, sail materials and sailplan, and techniques such as planing and trapezing.
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 boat club specifically related to yachting.
The City of Hamilton, in Pembroke Parish, is the territorial capital of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is the territory's financial centre and a port and tourist destination. Its population of 854 (2016) is one of the smallest of any capital city.
Jolie Brise is a gaff-rigged pilot cutter built and launched by the Albert Paumelle Yard in Le Havre in 1913 to a design by Alexandre Pâris. After a short career as a pilot boat, owing to steam replacing sail, she became a fishing boat, a racing yacht and a sail training vessel.
Sir Charles Benedict Ainslie is a British competitive sailor. Ainslie is the most successful sailor in Olympic history. He won medals at five consecutive Olympics from 1996 onwards, including gold at the four consecutive Games held between 2000 and 2012.
A Bermuda rig, Bermudian rig, or Marconi rig is a configuration of mast and rigging for a type of sailboat and is the typical configuration for most modern sailboats. This configuration was developed in Bermuda in the 17th century; the term Marconi, a reference to the inventor of the radio, Guglielmo Marconi, became associated with this configuration in the early 20th century, because the wires that stabilize the mast of a Bermuda rig reminded observers of the wires on early radio masts.
A variety of sports are played in British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, from those brought by British and International relations, and sail racing). Some sports and events have greater historical and cultural significance whilst others are played for entertainment or competition.
The Newport Bermuda Race, commonly known as the Bermuda Race, is a biennial, 635 nautical miles (1175 km) sailing yacht race from Newport, Rhode Island to the British island of Bermuda. The Race is the oldest regularly scheduled ocean race in the world, and one of two regularly scheduled races "held almost entirely out of sight of land." The race is particularly popular among current and retired members of the United States Coast Guard, who regularly make up significant portions of the participants.
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.
The Royal Windermere Yacht Club is a sailing club which was founded in 1860, situated at Fallbarrow Road, Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria, England.
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.
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.
The Marion to Bermuda Cruising Yacht Race is a biennial yacht race held in odd-numbered years, from Marion, Massachusetts to the island of Bermuda, a distance of 645 nautical miles (1,195 km). The most recent race was held starting June 9, 2017.
The sport of sailing involves a variety of competitive sailing formats that are sanctioned through various sailing federations and yacht clubs. Racing disciplines include matches within a fleet of sailing craft, between a pair thereof or among teams. Additionally, there are specialized competitions that include setting speed records. Racing formats include both closed courses and point-to-point contests; they may be in sheltered waters, coast-wise or on the open ocean. Most competitions are held within defined classes or ratings that either entail one type of sailing craft to ensure a contest primarily of skill or rating the sailing craft to create classifications or handicaps.
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.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to sailing:
Chester Yacht Club (CYC) is a private yacht club located in Chester, Nova Scotia, Canada, established in 1902. The Chester Yacht Club is home to Canada's largest keelboat regatta, Chester Race Week, which occurs every August. Notable members of the Chester Yacht Club include Olympians Jacob Saunders and Graeme Saunders, who started sailing with the club's junior sailing school in 2002, and philanthropist Sir Christopher Ondaatje, who owns a nearby island. The club is also active in one-design racing, highlighted by the Bluenose one-design sloop and International One Design (IOD) fleet.
Mr. H. B. Small's letter to-day, gives an account of the first recorded Yacht race in Bermuda, some 150 years ago which is particularly interesting as recalling the sporting tendencies of the past.
AN OLD YACHT RACE
To The Editor of The Royal Gazette: Sir,—The recent Boat race here recalled to my mind that I had amongst my records, or Archives as I call them an account of the first yacht race held in Bermuda in the year of our Lord 1784, which is full of interest as affording an insight into life here in those "good old days of yore." Amongst the Garrison officers stationed at that time at St. George's, were a Captain Remington and a Captain Brown, both "wealthy and much addicted to sport. The former urged a Mr. J. Trott to "sail a race," and Captain Brown urged a Mr. W. Sears to accept the challenge,