 | |
| Short name | RYCV |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1853 |
| Location | Williamstown, Victoria, Australia |
| Website | Royal Yacht Club of Victoria |
The Royal Yacht Club of Victoria (RYCV) is one of Australia's oldest yacht clubs. It is based in the Melbourne suburb of Williamstown, not far from where the Yarra River flows into Port Phillip Bay.
The club was founded in May 1853 as the Port Phillip Yacht Club, and is the oldest yacht club in Australia. [1] By 1856, it had been renamed Victoria Yacht Club, and in that year it held its first regatta. [2] Early members included W.R. Probert and George F. Verdon, who ran a ship chandlery and commission agents business in Sandridge (now Port Melbourne), Dr. John Wilkins, the Surgeon for the Port of Melbourne, and Captain Charles Ferguson, the Harbour Master at Williamstown. [3]
Initially, the club's races were held mainly on Corio Bay, where many of the club's fleet was moored between 1856 and 1864, and at St Kilda. As the club lacked the funds to purchase its own clubhouse, meetings during the club's early years were held in at least six places around Melbourne and its suburbs. [4]
It appears that between 1865 and 1872, the club became moribund. At a meeting held at the Port Phillip Club Hotel in Flinders Street, Melbourne in 1872, the club was relaunched, and in that year it was also granted the privilege of flying the Blue Ensign of the Colony of Victoria. [1] [4]
The following year, 1873, the club moved its sailing activities to its present site at 120 Nelson Place, Williamstown, on account of the sheltered anchorage at that location. Club members' boats, masts, spars, sails and rigging were stored in a two-storey boathouse at the Williamstown site. Yachts on the club register were typically straight-stemmed, deep-keel cutters of from 6 to 40 tons; most were copper sheathed below the waterline, and painted black with gold embellishments. Club meetings continued to be held mainly at the Port Phillip Club Hotel, and later in the Old Temple Court, Collins Street. [1] [3] [5]
In 1886, the club received from Queen Victoria a grant of the privileges of a royal club, and the Admiralty granted a Full Warrant to fly the Blue Ensign of Her Majesty's Fleet. Since that year, the club has been known as the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria. In 1905, the club established its first clubhouse, by taking out a lease on Wickliffe House, on the Upper Esplanade in St Kilda. [3] [6]
Upon the expiry of the Wickliffe House lease in 1912, the club moved back to the city, at 375 Collins Street. [7] With its clubhouse in central Melbourne, it came to be regarded as more of a social than a sailing club. For that reason, a decision was made to build a clubhouse at the Williamstown site. In 1935, the new clubhouse was completed. [3]
During the Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956, the 5.5 metre sailing class was hosted at the Williamstown site. In 1967, the club began constructing a marina, and demolished the old boathouse to make room for an extended hardstand. Three years later, in 1970, the clubhouse was destroyed by a fire that began in the kitchen, spread rapidly through the wooden building, and also destroyed the majority of the club's treasured relics. Within just over a year, a new brick replacement clubhouse had been constructed. [3]
In 1983, the club took on possibly its most significant commitment ever, when it entered the 12-metre yacht Challenge 12 in the Louis Vuitton Cup, the winner of which was to be the challenger for that year's America's Cup. Although Challenge 12 was eliminated in the early stages of the Louis Vuitton Cup, she was used to prepare the winner of that contest, Australia II , for the America's Cup, and some of her former crew were co-opted as Australia II crew members. [3] [8]
At the beginning of the 21st century, extensions were constructed to the clubhouse and the hardstands. [3] In 2015, the club announced a plan to replace and extend its marina with a new floating structure that would provide berthing for 240 boats. Capital for the project was to be raised through the sale of long-term leases to sailing and motor boat owners. [9] In early 2017, the club decided to proceed with the project in stages, with stage 1 to comprise some forty-two berths. [10]
The Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) is a San Francisco, California, U.S. based yacht club founded in 1939.
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.
Williamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km (6.8 mi) south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Hobsons Bay local government area. Williamstown recorded a population of 14,407 at the 2021 census.
A yacht club is a sports club specifically related to yachting.
The Royal Brighton Yacht Club is located at Brighton, Victoria, Australia at 253 Esplanade Brighton.
The Sabre Dinghy is a class single-handed sailboat that is 12'4" or 3.76 m long. The boat was designed in 1974 by Rex Fettell, who also designed the Minnow. As of 2017 over 2,000 sail numbers have been issued.
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.
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.
Sailing/Yachting is an Olympic sport starting from the Games of the 1st Olympiad (1896 Olympics in Greece. With the exception of 1904 and the canceled 1916 Summer Olympics, sailing has always been included on the Olympic schedule. The Sailing program of 1956 consisted of a total of five sailing classes. For each class seven races were scheduled from 26 November to 5 December 1956 at Port Phillip Bay.
The Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club is one of the older yacht clubs in the Western Hemisphere, ranking 18th after the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron, New York Yacht Club, Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, Mobile Yacht Club, Pass Christian Yacht Club, Southern Yacht Club, Biloxi Yacht Club, Royal Canadian Yacht Club, Buffalo Yacht Club, Neenah Nodaway Yacht Club, Raritan Yacht Club, Detroit Yacht Club, San Francisco Yacht Club, Portland Yacht Club, New Hamburg Yacht Club, Eastern Yacht Club, and Milwaukee Yacht Club. It is located in Centre Island, New York, with access to Long Island Sound.
The Royal Hamilton Yacht Club (RHYC) is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, at the west end of Lake Ontario, and has been in existence since 1888. When the yacht club first opened, it was located on the Burlington Canal, along the beach strip that separates Burlington Bay from Lake Ontario. It later moved to the foot of Bay Street. Since its founding in 1888, RHYC has promoted local and international yacht racing. Its current general manager is Katrina Lewis.
Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron is a yacht club located at St Kilda Beach in the suburb of St. Kilda in Melbourne, Australia. The squadron was founded in 1876. It has occupied its grounds on Pier Road in St Kilda since prior to incorporation.
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 Kenosha Yacht Club of Kenosha, Wisconsin is located 50 miles north of Chicago on the western shore of Lake Michigan and is a adjacent to the Southport Lighthouse on Simmons Island in downtown. The Kenosha Yacht Club is a member of US Sailing, Lake Michigan Yacht Racing Association, Lake Michigan Sail Racing Federation, and the Regional Sailing Association.
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.
The Royal Cape Yacht Club is one of South Africa’s most active and oldest yacht clubs. Located in Cape Town, the Club plays host to many important national sailing events, including South Africa’s premier ocean yacht race, the internationally renowned Cape to Rio.
Vincent Marc Thierry Lauwers is an Australian round-the-world yachtsman. In 2000 he became the first paraplegic sailor to sail solo, non-stop around the world. In 2001, he won the Laureus Award for "Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability".
Sailing is a popular sport and recreational activity in Australia with its varied coastline and often warm climate.