 | |
| Founded | 1927 |
|---|---|
| Location | 99 Yacht Road, San Francisco, California & Tinsley Island, Stockton, California  United States |
| Website | www |
The St. Francis Yacht Club is a private sailing club located in San Francisco.
| | |
| Founded | 1927 |
|---|---|
| Location | 99 Yacht Road, San Francisco, California & Tinsley Island, Stockton, California United States |
| Website | www |
The St. Francis Yacht Club is a private sailing club located in San Francisco.
Founded in 1927, the Saint Francis Yacht Club (StFYC) was formed when some of the members of the San Francisco Yacht Club decided to move their clubhouse from Sausalito to Belvedere, California to escape the rapidly growing commercial activity of Sausalito. This was prior to the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, and travel to Marin County from San Francisco was entirely by water. A group of San Francisco Yacht Club members wished to relocate the club to the City of San Francisco to make it easier to access the Clubhouse. No agreement between the two factions was reached and the group favoring a San Francisco location split off to found StFYC. StFYC has become generally considered to be the most prestigious yacht club in the western United States. [1] Membership in the club is by invitation only.
StFYC hired the famous San Francisco architect Willis Polk to design their clubhouse which was then built on land leased from San Francisco by the club on the jetty off of Crissy Field in the Marina District, San Francisco, on landfill created for the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition. Polk died before the blueprints could be completed but his office finished them. The Mediterranean Revival-style building enjoys views from the Bridge to Alcatraz Island and beyond.
On December 21, 1976, the original Clubhouse caught fire during a party. One member was killed and seven badly injured. The membership rallied to rebuild the western half of the Clubhouse which had been destroyed in the fire. [2] On October 17, 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake damaged the Clubhouse and extensive foundation repairs were required. Once again, the membership rallied to repair the beloved clubhouse.
With some of the best water views in San Francisco, the StFYC Clubhouse has three eating venues: A formal main dining room on the second story, the Clippership bar also on the second story, and the Grill Room a snug gathering place on the ground . In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, StFYC has added two outdoor eating areas: The Race Deck, located on the rooftop of the Clubhouse, and the Courtyard, centrally located and protected from the strong winds of San Francisco Bay.
StFYC assembled a syndicate to compete for the 2000 Louis Vuitton Cup, with their entry, AmericaOne. Their entry was defeated in the semifinals by Italy's Prada.
StFYC sponsors numerous regattas and races for sailboats of all sizes. These include the Rolex Big Boat Series for large yachts of all kinds, Kleinman/Swiftsure Regatta, Elvstrom/Zellerbach regatta, Jessica Cup for classic yachts, and numerous one-design events. An annual highlight is the Opti Heavy Weather regatta sailed on the windy north shore of the City of San Francisco, right in front of the StFYC Clubhouse. Youngsters test their skill and stamina in this cherished event.
StFYC has hosted numerous World, Continental, and National Championships including the 5O5, Farr-40, Meges-24, Farr-30, Express-27, Express-37, and many others.
The St. Francis has had many flagships over the years including some historic craft.
StFYC maintains an outstation on Tinsley Island a few miles west of Stockton, California in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. Every year, the members of StFYC and their guests visit Tinsley Island for cruises, events, and sailing classes. Heavily used during the summer months, the outstation is open and staffed year-round. Many members cherish the peace and slower pace of winter months on Tinsley Island.
The facilities include dockage for boats, swimming, accommodations in a lighthouse built in the late 1800s and other buildings, small boats to sail and paddle, and various sporting events.
The St. Francis Yacht Club warmly welcomes sailors from all over the world.
Like many yacht clubs on the West Coast, St.FYC is a member of the Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association, which provides reciprocal privileges between members of hundreds of other yacht clubs. St.FYC also shares reciprocity with clubs around the world including: The New York Yacht Club, Outrigger Canoe Club, Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, Royal Thames Yacht Club, Société Nautique de Genève, Yacht Club de Monaco and Norddeutscher Regatta Verein.
If you wish to visit the St. Francis Yacht Club, visit their StFYC Home Page.
The club has had many notable members in its history
 |
Past Commodores of the St. Francis Yacht Club are:
Dennis Walter Conner is an American yachtsman. He is noted for winning a bronze medal at the 1976 Olympics, two Star World Championships, and three wins in the America's Cup.
The Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) is a San Francisco, California, U.S. based yacht club founded in 1939.
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.
San Diego Yacht Club is a yacht club located in San Diego Bay. It is located in Point Loma across from a spit of land known as Shelter Island.
Paul Pierre Cayard is an American yachtsman and professional sailor. He has competed at multiple world championship level sailing events, including the America's Cup, the Whitbread Round the World Race, the Volvo Ocean Race and the Olympic Games. In 1998 he was selected as the US Rolex Yachtsmen of the Year. He has won seven world championships, twice participated in the Olympic Games and seven times in the America's Cup. In 2011 he was elected into the US Sailing Hall of Fame.
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 Boat 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 Ocean Racing Club is a club in London with a further clubhouse and office in Cowes, Isle of Wight. It was established in 1925 as the Ocean Racing Club, as a result of a race to the Fastnet Rock from Cowes, finishing in Plymouth. It received royal approval by King George V in November 1931 since when it has been known as the Royal Ocean Racing Club.
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 National Sailing Hall of Fame is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes sailing and racing by recognizing individuals who have contributed to the sport, highlighting sailing's contribution to the American culture; and demonstrating its value as a hands-on tool for teaching math and science. The organization was established in 2005.
Jennifer J. Isler, best known as J. J. Isler and also known by her maiden name of J. J. Fetter, is an American yachtswoman. She is a two-time Olympic medalist and a world sailing champion. She was a starting helmsman in the 1995 America's Cup races. A pioneer in the sport of women's sailing, in 2005 she was the first woman inducted into the Sailing World Hall of Fame and in 2015, she was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame.
The 2nd Louis Vuitton Cup was held in Fremantle, Western Australia in 1987. The winner, Stars & Stripes, went on to challenge for and win the 1987 America's Cup.
Thomas David Blackaller Jr. was a world-champion American yachtsman, America's Cup helmsman, sailmaker, and racecar competitor. He was a two-time world champion in the Star class keelboat, a world champion in the international Six metre class, raced in three separate America's Cup campaigns, and influenced the careers of many other sailors.
The Sausalito Yacht Club (SYC) in the city of Sausalito, California on San Francisco Bay was founded in 1942 to promote yachting, both racing and cruising.
John Waldrip Kolius is an American sailor. He won a silver medal in the Soling class with Walter Glasgow and Richard Hoepfner at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. In 1987 and 2000 he competed at the Louis Vuitton Cup. Kolius began sailing at the age of 5 when his father introduced the family to sailing as a way to spend time together. John's first boat was a Sunfish and he grew up sailing at the Houston Yacht Club through the Ragnot program. In 1968, John won his first major championship, the US Sailing Triplehanded Championship for the Sears Cup. He was 17 years old. Two years later at the age of 19, Kolius won the US Sailing Senior Championship for the Mallory Trophy. It was not too long after that he began sailing Solings and preparing for the Olympics. In 1975, John won the Soling North Americans and in 1976 an Olympic silver medal. In 2023, he was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame
The San Francisco Yacht Club is a yacht club located in Belvedere, California, and the oldest on the Pacific Coast. They were formerly located in San Francisco.
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.
Stan Honey is an American professional offshore navigator with world sailing records and a businessman who founded Etak and Sportvision.
Tinsley Island is a small island in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, in San Joaquin County, California, next to the Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel. It was created in the 1930s, when dredging to improve the navigability of the San Joaquin River cut it off from Roberts Island. Since 1958, it has been owned by the St. Francis Yacht Club. In 1960, the club transported a lighthouse from San Francisco Bay to serve as its clubhouse, and in the same year began an annual "Stag Cruise"; as of 2023, the club still owns the island and maintains a clubhouse there.
Nicole Breault is American sailor who is a four-time winner of the U.S. Women’s Open Championship. As of 2021, she sails out of St. Francis Yacht Club.
Aileen Shields Bryan was an American sailor who won the 1948 United States' women's national sailing championship.
