newport yacht club burgee

Association of Orange Coast Yacht Clubs

Member clubs.

Burgee Pride

as one of the oldest yacht clubs in the country, you might think that the Newport Yacht Club would be home to the true bluebloods of New England. That is not the case here.

The Club’s building is an inviting place, reminiscent of a weekend beach retreat, a casual atmosphere for friends to gather. Doing just that are five older gentlemen shooting the breeze over coffee one morning downstairs. Decades-old photos and wooden plaques with the engraved names of generations of race winners cover the walls, and a fireplace at the far end of the room is flanked by two display cases filled with silver cups and platters from many regattas won over the years.

Upstairs is a small bar with an exquisite water view, where hundreds of colorful burgee pennants line the ceiling perimeter while others are preserved under glass tabletops, representing other yacht clubs’ visits. “They come from all over the world,” says Commodore Stewart Abramson. The Newport Yacht Club is part of a network of yacht clubs that offer transient dockage to visitors, who often trade burgees. He points out the bar top, one of their recently repurposed wooden piers, inlaid with the letters “NYC” and glossed to a high shine that will withstand celebrations and getting-to-know-you meetings alike, served up by Fran the bartender. The Club is a reflection of its membership, which takes pride in being a welcoming group that is also mindful of their civic duty to the city, and hosts some exciting racing and recreation on Narragansett Bay. And now that it’s celebrating 120 years, members and leaders are taking that to the next level.

An International Sailing Destination Revisited

Newport is reinforcing its reputation as the sailing capital of the world as the state has been attracting major international regattas like the America’s Cup qualifying trials in 2011 that brought a reported $40.7 million to Rhode Island. The Club benefited from some of that windfall, hosting members of the Oracle team, providing meals and offering dock space for their support boats for the three weeks that they were here. It was a successful venture and one that Abramson would like to repeat.

With Newport hosting the Volvo Ocean Race in 2015—a first for the city and the only site in North America—the Club looks forward to contributing to the success of the event, though it does not currently have a representative on the Rhode Island Sailing Events Commission. Abramson says definitively, “We will be involved with Volvo,” and offered its hospitality to Team SCA, the only all-female entrant, which passed through Rhode Island on a practice run in mid-May. “We want to be involved as much as we can.”

A Century and Beyond

Organized in April 1894, the Club was founded with the simple objective of “the encouragement of yachting in and around Newport.” With that decree, the nine founding members elected John H. Scannevin as the first commodore and held its first regatta a few months later. At the time, only men were allowed to become members. Early on, the focus was to organize one-design races and join other yacht clubs at their races. The clubhouse was originally located across the harbor near Perrotti Park, but was moved in 1957 to its current location on Long Wharf. A collage of black and white photos on the wall of the club depicts the event, which enlisted the help of a Navy crane.

The first half-century included a lot of racing but also hard times too. While members raced Newport Dories in the ’30s and Indian class in the ’40s, meeting minutes from around the time of World War II tell of the time they had to pass a hat around to collect money to pay the electric bill.

It has its share of multi-generational families, too, one of which is Pam Grant’s family. “I was born into it, so to speak,” she says, noting that she was 10 days old the first time she came to the yacht club—the daughter of former Commodore James Barter, who served from 1940 to 1942.

Grant became an official member in the late 1950s at the age of 12. A few years earlier, the club began to offer sailing lessons to anyone who was interested, and she recalls becoming friends with a group of kids who took lessons. They also became members and 50 years later, they are still her good friends. As teens, they built Blue Jays together, raced them during the week and sold them to other yacht clubs on Fridays. “And that’s how we lived in the summer. We just sailed all the time,” says Grant. “We also were a group of children whose parents were involved in the yacht club. So while we were footloose and fancy free and sailing around, the parents would come up in their powerboats on Friday nights and collect us all, and keep us out of trouble! After we raced on Saturday and Sunday, they would tow the boats home, and we’d start all over again.”

By the 1990s, the club had come a long way from restricting its membership to men. Grant was chosen by her peers to serve as commodore during the Club’s 100th year, becoming its first female commodore. The night before the meeting, she recalled looking at the plaque of past commodores and she realized that she had followed in her father’s footsteps just 50 years later.

Summer is for Sailing

Today, the Club has 740 members in all tiers, ranging from juniors to young adults to full members. While a prospective member must still be sponsored by two current members and have an interview, very seldom is someone turned away, says Abramson. Above all else, a prospective member needs to have an interest in boating. The club is required to have at least 60 percent of their membership be boat owners; Abramson estimates about 80 to 90 percent of their members currently fit that bill. The remainder are able to use the club’s boats or charter them for racing.

A number of onshore and transatlantic races are sponsored or hosted by the Club. In addition to the regular Tuesday and Wednesday, there are the more challenging Offshore 120- and 160-mile races, and for the really adventurous, there are the Bermuda One-Two and The Jester Challenge, OSTAR and Twostar—races partnered with Royal Western Yacht Club of England. Although some might argue the truly treacherous are the Frostbite Fleet races January through April.

The club enjoys regattas and activities with other yacht clubs, and is an active participant in the community. When it is not hosting the Ida Lewis Yacht Club for cocktails or sailing long weekends at Wickford and Bristol Yacht Clubs, or cruising to Boston with the East Greenwich Yacht Club, the Club is participating in Newport’s Parade of Lights sail and making soup for the Seamen’s Church Institute in the winter. “We are a volunteer organization. A lot of what we do is people contributing [to the greater good] … Over 120 years, we’ve carried on the same tradition all the way through,” says Abramson.

Spyglass is

on the Horizon

Sometimes, a new venture can lead to old friends. Every spring, the Club has a new members’ reception and this year, there were two new members who came to the event and were introduced—and then realized they went to high school together and hadn’t seen each other since they graduated 30 years earlier. Says Abramson, “It goes to show you it’s just a small world of people who are interested in the same thing.”

Attracting new and younger members to the Club can sometimes be a challenge. As for the young adult members in their 20s and 30s, Abramson admits, “It’s a tough age. People are busy doing a million things and they are scheduled to the hilt.” The Young Adult Committee is charged with helping to create balance and has had success with an evening dinner/trivia night in the spring and a picnic with children’s activities in the summer.

Still, the Strategic Planning Committee is continually aware that membership needs to be sustained in order to thrive. For the first time, the club hosted an open house in June for anyone interested in becoming a member. “We welcome everybody with open arms,” says Abramson.

The backbone of the Club has been its 60-plus years of sailing and seamanship classes for children and adults, regardless of their membership status. Their focus is teaching children the fun of sailing while emphasizing safety. Those who continue on in the program can learn how to sail competitively and enter local regattas. The sailing classes often attract a hundred or more students in some years. The Club has a strong commitment to youth sailing, and also hosts Middletown and Rogers High Schools’ sailing teams, offering them a membership.

Whether it’s lending assistance to international yachting teams or the welcoming atmosphere they exude to the local boaters interested in sailing Narragansett Bay, the Newport Yacht Club is easily poised to remain a Newport institution for the next 120 years with an open door to those who love to feel the wind at their backs.

For over fifty years, the Gulf Harbors Yacht Club has warmly welcomed everyone interested in boating events, dining in a friendly atmosphere, and meeting new friends. Boat ownership is not a requirement for joining Gulf Harbors Yacht Club; neither is living in the Gulf Harbors neighborhoods.

Gulf Harbors Yacht Club has activities for every member of your crew! Get involved today.

Community Service

Gulf Harbors Yacht Club provides services to our Club and our Community.

Meet new friends, enjoy the outstanding view, partake in social events, support the community and enjoy the best food and drinks in the area.

Chef Dave prepares a new Burgee Menu each week. Each entree includes homemade soup, fresh salad and dessert.

Interested in joining Gulf Harbors Yacht Club?

There are several ways to get in touch with us.

727-849-4559

No products in the cart.

• Login / Register
• Member Area

Yacht Club Burgees

On the following pages are the yacht club burgees historically enrolled with the Register.

It is generally accepted that any new burgee or change to an enrolled burgee will not be accepted by the Register if it too closely resembles another enrolled burgee.

Kindly contact us in the event of changes.

 D - L

File : Burgee of Newport Harbor Yacht Club.svg

File history, file usage on commons, file usage on other wikis.

Original file ‎ (SVG file, nominally 500 × 300 pixels, file size: 1,004 bytes)

Summary [ edit ]

Licensing [ edit ].

• to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work
• to remix – to adapt the work
• attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
• share alike – If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same or compatible license as the original.

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

You cannot overwrite this file.

The following 3 pages use this file:

• User:OgreBot/Watercraft/2014 February 9-13
• File:Burgee of Newport Harbour Yacht Club.svg (file redirect)
• Category:Newport Harbor Yacht Club

The following other wikis use this file:

• Sarah Glaser
• Star World Championship
• Newport Harbor Yacht Club
• List of yacht clubs that have competed for the America's Cup
• List of International Council of Yacht Clubs members
• List of yacht clubs
• 1965 Star World Championship
• United States Snipe National Championship
• NYYC Invitational Cup
• Campeonato de Estados Unidos de la clase Snipe

This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file. The timestamp is only as accurate as the clock in the camera, and it may be completely wrong.

Structured data

Items portrayed in this file, copyright status, public domain, copyright license, creative commons attribution-sharealike 3.0 unported, released into the public domain by the copyright holder, 10 february 2014, source of file, original creation by uploader, image/svg+xml, b2a3b7cba0ef97d37394bcda44161e8d12412c18.

• SVG burgees of California
• Inscribed flags, N
• Self-published work
• With insignia
• CC-BY-SA-3.0

Navigation menu

Newport Yacht Club

• Board of Directors
• Past Commodores
• Honorary Life Members
• Lounge Hours
• Room Rental
• Reciprocity
• NYC Vision Mission Values
• Identify the Burgee Contest
• Advertisers
• PHRF / Cruising
• Predicted Log
• NYC Regatta Schedule
• Race Committee
• Classic Yacht Regatta
• Bermuda 1-2
• Offshore 160
• New England Solo/ Twin
• Mitchell Memorial and Columbus Regattas
• Jester Challenge
• Junior Sailing
• Visiting Yacht Club Burgees

• Tuesday, March 5 2024

« All Events

US SAILING Road Show

March 21 @ 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm.

Join US Sailing’s Offshore team of Jim Teeters, Chris Tutmark, and Sydney Hough on Thursday March 21st at 6:30 pm for a visit to the club as part of the US Sailing Offshore Road Show. This event is an opportunity to have any questions related to offshore sailing and handicapping answered. The roadshow will include an informative Q&A session and continue with short presentations on the following topics: Services and Roles of the Offshore Office, Steps to obtain a Measurement Rule Handicap (ORC or ORR), Offshore Boat Measurement 101, Understanding the VPP (Velocity Prediction Programs), How to read a rating certificate, Scoring Methods, and much more.

This will be a interactive environment between attendees and the offshore team to foster an exchange of ideas, certification and measurement procedures, and information regarding Offshore Sailing. There will be cash bar. Please join us!

• Google Calendar
• Outlook 365
• Outlook Live

SeaGate Yacht Club

Burgee Exchange

The burgees are on display above the bar in our clubhouse.

It is traditional for yacht clubs to exchange burgees during the first visit by one yacht club to the other. It is the desire that our club continue this tradition. If you are planning to visit a yacht club with whom we have not yet exchanged burgees, be sure to take a SGYC burgee with you to exchange.

As we exchange with a club, we will post the photo of their burgee on these pages. Please review this list to be sure you are not exchanging with a club we have already visited. This list is in alphabetical order for easy review.

If you require a burgee to present, you can obtain one by contacting the Commodore or Shipstore. Please allow yourself plenty of time to schedule the pickup of your burgee.

When you visit a club, bring one of our burgees with you. Tell the person who greets you that you are interested in exchanging burgees with their club. They may perform the exchange at that time or they may put you in touch with one of their officers. If you are visiting the club during an event, they may even make the exchange as part of the presentations at the event. If you are calling ahead to advise them you are going to visit their club, it would be appropriate to mention at that time that your are interested in exchanging burgees.

Alameda, CA

Dennis & Peggy Huffman

American Legion YC

Newport Beach, CA

Staff Commodore Josef & Kim Davydovits

Staff Commodore Mike Courtway & Sharon

Bahia Corinthian YC

Staff Commodore Mike & Sharon Courtway

Benicia, CA

Vaughn & Pat Jenkes

Cabrillo Beach YC

San Pedro, CA

Staff Commodore Cliff & Sandy Meier

California YC

Marina del Rey, CA

Staff Commodore Mary Shebell & Merle McCormick

Catalina Island YC

Staff Commodore Cleve Sproule & Mark Arizmendi

Chicago, IL

Dan Torla & Pam Hays

Coronado Cays YC

Coronado, CA

Staff Commodore Ray & Jan Nagele

Coronado YC

Staff Commodore Cleve Sproule

Dana Point YC

Dana Point, CA

Larry & Carole Stelle

Dana West YC

Exchange by SGYC member

Marina Del Rey, CA

Golden Gate YC

San Francisco, CA

Huntington Harbour YC

Huntington Beach, CA

Staff Commodore Tom & Jan McKnew

Ithaca, New York

Ketchikan YC

Ketchikan, AK

King Harbor YC

Redondo Beach, CA

Kungl Svenska Segel Sallskapet

(Royal Swedish Sailing Association)

Curt & Sue Hermelin

La Mariana Sailing Club

Honolulu, HI

Lahaina, HA

Lake Gregory YC

Crestline, CA

Lake Havasu YC

Lake Havasu, AZ

Lerwick Boating Club

Lerwick, Shetland Isles, UK

Staff Commodore Les & Cathy Kelly

Lewes Yacht Club

Lighthouse Point YC

Lighthouse Point, FL

Jeff & Tina Haas

Loch Lomond YC

San Rafael, CA

Los Angeles YC

Marina Yacht Club

Long Beach, CA

Monaco Yacht Club

Mulberry Point Harbor YC

Stillwater, MN

Josef & Kim Davydovits

Nawiliwili YC

Nawiliwili, HA

Ron & Kay Nelson

Newport Beach YC

Fictitious YC (circa 2005) from the TV show "The OC”. The SGYC burgee hangs in the YC on the television set. Mary Shebell

Newport, RI

Oceanside YC

Oceanside, CA

Dennis and Peggy Huffman

Pacific Corinthian YC

Loretta Hollenbeck

Port Douglas YC

Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia

Staff Commodore Josef & Kim Davydovits and Jeff & Tina Haas

Royal Cork YC

Crosshaven, Co. Cork, Ireland

Gary & Sharon Young

Royal Jamaica YC

Kingston, Jamaica

Royal Swedish Motor YC

Stockholm, Sweden

Royal Vancouver YC

Vancouver, BC

Saint Barth YC

San Diego YC

San Diego, CA

Staff Commodore Jim & Jeannie Woods

San Francisco Yacht Club

San Luis YC

Avila Beach, CA

Santa Barbara YC

Santa Barbara, CA

Santa Cruz Yacht Club

Santa Cruz, CA

Exchange by Bob & Joanne McCormick

Sarasota YC

Sarasota, FL

Seal Beach YC

Tom & Jean Worden

Sheboygan YC

Sheboygan, WI

Diane Kaplan & Jack & Audrey Schulze

Sheridan Shore YC

Wilmette, Illinois

Caron & Guy Mount

South Milwaukee YC

South Milwaukee, WI

St. Petersburg YC

St. Petersburg, FL

Martha Baumel

Subic Bay YC

Transpacific Yacht Club

Vanuatu Cruising Yacht Club

Port Vila | Vanuatu

Cindy Shaw and Patrick Smith

Ventura, CA

Virgin Islands Charter Yacht League

St. Thomas, USVI

Staff Commodore Ed & Georgette Davis

Westlake YC

Westlake Village, CA

This web site is designed and maintained by Herb Halling

Copyright � 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 by Halling Enterprises, All rights reserved

Oxygen Party Bar Oxygen in a can OPB-Oxy2go   Burgees   Burgee Shoppe    Magnetic Hematite Shoppe    magnetic Jewelry   Beartrap Guide    Wilson High School    OPB Entertainment