san diego yacht club membership initiation fee

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Haute membership: the san diego yacht club.

by Jennifer Graves

What exactly does one have to do, besides own a yacht, to become a member of The San Diego Yacht Club , or the SDYC as it’s called?

First off, know your history. According to facts, this club dates back to 1886, when a group of boating enthusiasts joined together and formed one of the very first, and still one of the uppermost cornerstones, in Americal yachting history. Back then, they didn’t have one designated spot for meeting, they bounced around locations until 1924 where they settled in the Point Loma location they still use today. Since then, it’s grown from a group of die-hard boaters, to an highly organized business based on a dedication to teaching and living by the Corinithian principles of yachting, as stated by their website.

The club operates all year, with no off-season, and has everything from tennis courts, dining rooms, banquet facilities, swimming pools, and of course, a plethora of boats. It’s a fantastic place to become a member, and to do so, one must prove that you have past yachting experience, and a desire to grow that experience and participate in yachting activities. In addition, you must follow a guideline of application submissions including six references from current SDYC members, two sponsors with appropriate membership status, and aside from the other requirements, the applicant may only be requested to join by the sponsors only. In other words, you better know somebody. The SDYC is elite, but for good reason, as they take their club very seriously, and are careful to select people who will continue to participate and thrive in the yachting community.

In addition to the leisure activities, The SDYC also operates the philanthropic program of the San Diego Yacht Club Sailing Foundation , which is a non-profit corporation operating to increase education and promotion of amateur sailing activities, competitions, and all kinds of related maritime education. With an active scholarship and awards program, this foundation is increasing the young interests in all things marine life and sailing related.  The SDYC was also recently recognized for their many programs that support the US military. The San Diego Military Advisory Council awarded them reocgnition in December for their continued suuport and dedication to our armed forces. They were honored with the Achievement Award by the Council and were recognized for all they do for active duty servicemen and women in the US, and their families.

The SDYC is an organization this city is very proud of, and many wish to become a member. From their yachting activities, to their philanthropic programs, to their ongoing military support and edcuation, this is a club that is worth it’s standards of admission. Very Haute, SDYC, very Haute indeed.

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San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC)

by evandiaz | May 19, 2023 | Yacht Club Members

San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC) sdyc.org 1011 Anchorage Lane San Diego, CA 92106 (619) 221-8400

Total: 2000 members – 40% power, 60% sail.

Facilities: Bar open daily 1000 to 2100. Dining room open daily 0730 to 2000. Snack bar open during summer/spring vacation. Pool. Tennis courts, jacuzzi. Member berths. Dry storage. 5000 lb. & 8000 lb. hoists. Sabot launch ramp. Guest docks. Reciprocal amenities: Banquet Rooms, Showers, Sauna, Guest Docks, Sabot Launch Ramp and 6000 lb. Hoists. SDYC member only amenities: snack bar, pool, jacuzzi, tennis courts, gym, wet slips, and dry storage.

Membership: Accepting applications. 2 sponsors plus 6 references. Initiation: sliding scale based on age. None for juniors.

Monthly dues: $150/flag, $75Jr Flag, $23/ Juniors. $150 quarterly food and beverage minimum.

Junior program: Exceptionally strong year round program for members.

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OPEN SEAS? : Yacht Clubs Argue That They’re Not Just for Rich Men

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What’s the first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions yacht clubs?

Do you think about the America’s Cup or about Dr. I. M. Rich sipping Dom Perignon and eating caviar while playing in the water with his million-dollar toy?

Do you think about the Congressional Cup and other regattas or about some millionaire drifting along in I Have More Money Than You, a mile-long boat with more luxuries than some Caribbean nations?

The stereotype of yachting as a rich man’s sport exists, although yachtsmen say it is, in many cases, unwarranted.

Despite their protests, however, yachting continues to be perceived as the stuffy sport of the pretentious--so much so, in fact, that the United States Yachting Assn., yachting’s governing body, has been trying to change its name to the U.S. Sailing Assn. in an effort to escape the perception and attract more members.

In reality, however, yacht clubs, as do the members and their boats, come in all shapes and sizes--although there isn’t quite as much variety in the sport’s color, lily-white.

Yes, there are ritzy, ostentatious clubs but there are also modest, uncomplicated ones. In fact, of the 73 yacht clubs in Southern California, you can find one that is ideally suited for Thurston B. Howell III and then, just across the marina, another that is perfect for Gilligan.

There is, for example, the Newport Harbor Yacht Club, which keeps its membership fees confidential, reasoning that if you have to ask, you can’t afford it. And then there is the South Bay Yacht Racing Club, which charges only $35 annually and gives members a $10 discount if they work actively in the club.

There is the Catalina Island Yacht Club--with its $6,000 initiation fee, $600 annual fee and a five-year waiting list--which refuses to share its popular facility in Avalon with other clubs. And then there is the Belmont Shore Sailing Assn.--$15 initiation fee, $20 annual fee, no waiting list--which doesn’t even have a facility to share.

There is the Long Beach Yacht Club, which has a state-of-the-art facility, complete with a spacious room for wedding receptions and a ballroom in which live orchestras entertain every weekend. And then there is the Los Angeles Yacht Club, which has little more than 40 blue plastic chairs for meetings and which is sandwiched between a federal prison and a tuna cannery that gives off a pungent odor.

There are big clubs such as the California Yacht Club with its 1,225 members, and small ones such as the Buccaneer Yacht Club with its 70. There are formal clubs such as the San Diego Yacht Club, which requires two sponsors and six references, and informal ones such as the Pierpont Bay Yacht Club, which has a rule against neckties.

There are specialty clubs such as the Cerritos Bahia Yacht Club, consisting of all powerboaters, and diverse ones such as the Chula Vista Yacht Club, which is 43% powerboaters, 29% percent sailboaters and 28% non-boat owners.

“The average yacht club member is offended by the stereotype,” said Paul Frazier, who next year will become the Long Beach club’s commodore, or highest ranking officer. “There are all sorts of clubs, ranging from full-service clubs with fancy restaurants to so-called paper clubs, which own little more than a post-office box.”

For the most part, paper clubs are designed for those of average income. They usually have modest fees and, although they do not have facilities, they often use those of the bigger clubs through reciprocal privileges offered by clubs in the Southern California Yachting Assn. There are 17 paper clubs in the 73-member SCYA, 14 of which have fewer than 100 members.

“I started in yachting in an eight-foot boat,” said Harold Romberg, commodore of the 43-member Marina Yacht Club of Long Beach. “I moved up to a 14-foot boat and thought it was a huge boat. I was king of the sea. This is about fun, not money.”

Ironically, however, the most popular clubs are also the more expensive ones.

For example, although it is unusual for a club with an initiation fee of less than $1,500 to have a waiting list at all, the 1,100-member San Diego Yacht Club, which has an initiation fee of up to $10,000, has a four-year wait just to get an application. And there usually is another year’s wait after that. Likewise, the 500-member Del Rey Yacht Club, which also has an initiation fee of $10,000, has a waiting list of more than three years.

“We don’t need any more members,” said Joan Semper, manager of the Del Rey Yacht Club. “We don’t need John Q. Public standing at the door, wanting to mingle with some of our wealthy and famous guests.”

About that stereotype . . .

“There is a lot of arrogance in this sport,” said Vic Pollard, commodore of the Westlake Yacht Club in Marina del Rey. “There is a snobbiness, and it is even stronger in some of the bigger clubs that get an elitist attitude because of their wealth and possessions.”

Perhaps that atmosphere explains why yacht clubs have so few black members. David Poe, editor of a monthly Southern California sailing magazine, estimates that there are “less than a dozen blacks” who belong to area yacht clubs, a surprisingly low number considering that there are more than 20,000 SCYA members overall.

There are other minorities heavily represented--Asians, for example--but blacks are almost entirely absent. In fact, many commodores say that Poe’s less-than-a-dozen estimate might even be a little high.

The common explanation is that blacks simply don’t apply, but Larry Ambrose, commodore of the Belmont Shore Sailing Assn., offers another. “Blacks have not gotten into this sport, and I would say it’s because they are not warmly received,” Ambrose said.

Although his 94-member club doesn’t have any black members, Ambrose said it’s because they haven’t applied, and that they would be welcome if they did.

Said Willis Edwards, president of the Beverly Hills-Hollywood branch of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People: “It is a silent, unspoken code, not blatant racism. In order to get into a club, you have to be invited into it. You have to know people. Will a white person sponsor a black person?”

Nathan Johnson, a pharmacist, and his wife, Dorothy, are the only black members in the 1,225-member California Yacht Club. Their 21-year-old son, Eric, is also applying for membership and the Johnsons say they have never encountered any instances of racism.

But Dorothy does offer an explanation as to why there are so few black members.

“Perhaps black people are going on past information and rumors concerning rejection of minorities in those places,” she said. “But we have been very well accepted.”

Some other Yacht club members agreed with Ambrose, saying that that blacks simply don’t apply for membership and that they would be welcome if they did. Other explanations for the lack of blacks include that yachting is too expensive and that inner-city black children haven’t been brought up on yachting.

There have been, however, other kinds of blatant discrimination in yachting. Less than a year ago, for example, women weren’t allowed in the bar area of the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, one of the most prestigious clubs in the United States. And even today, women aren’t allowed in the bar at the New York Yacht Club, perhaps the nation’s most prestigious club.

Here in the Southland, in nearly any yacht club, prominently displayed are pictures of white male commodores, past and present, lined up on the wall, usually right next to the shrine-like glass cases where the racing trophies are kept.

The California Yacht Club is an exception. There hangs a picture of Betta Mortarotti, who this year became the first female commodore of a major yacht club.

“Stepping into a man’s world is quite a big step,” she said. “For many years this was a sport for rich males, but that has changed in the last 10 years.”

Mortarotti is at least half right. Yacht clubs are still dominated by males, but they are no longer necessarily dominated by rich males. Although there are many yachtsmen like Roy Disney, owner of a 50-foot and a 70-foot boat, there are also many like Matthew Portz, owner of no boat.

Portz said he used to own a boat but can’t afford one now, so he simply continues to spend his free time at the Long Beach Yacht Club soaking in the sun and the atmosphere, just as he used to do when he had a boat.

Portz, a retired aerospace worker, may be something of an extreme case, but so, too, are the members with million-dollar boats.

The average yacht club member, according to the SCYA, owns a boat 24 feet or shorter, although there are boats as small as eight feet and as large as 120. The SCYA estimates that the average yacht club member has owned his boat for more than five years and that it is worth less than $8,000. Also, the average cost to join a non-paper club is $1,913 for initiation fees and $76 a month.

It costs about $5,000 for a good, used sailboat in the 20- to 30-foot range. Powerboats of the same size can cost up to twice as much, but sailboat owners make up more than 65% of Southern California yacht club members.

More than the club or boat costs, however, it is the upkeep that usually drowns the modest-income members in expenses. Rent for an aquatic parking space, known as a slip, costs about $8 monthly per foot of boat, so a 25-foot sailboatcosts about $200 a month to park. “Slip costs are what is sort of pushing the little guy out,” said Frazier, the Long Beach commodore-to-be. “Slip rates have been going up much faster than inflation rates, more at the rate of medical insurance.”

Slips, in fact, have become so expensive that many people try to get the most out of them by doing what is known as slip sailing--that is, using the boat to get some sun, or simply to get out of the house, without ever leaving the slip.

Other people, as did 16 members of the California Yacht Club, simply sell their houses and live on their boats year-round.

“We raised five children and always lived in spacious houses with swimming pools,” said Bunny Rippel, who lives with her husband, Bob, in a cramped 41-foot powerboat. “We gave the kids everything and moved into the boat, and we’ve loved it.

“It’s a marvelous way of life, to be surrounded by neighbors who are, so to speak, in the same boat. And, hell, we look at our beautiful back yard and don’t even have to cut the lawn anymore.”

There are other ways for rank-and-file yacht club members to cut the costs. Many yachtsmen cut corners by simply storing their boats on trailers at home, avoiding slip expenses. They then have to pay only launching fees. And many families purchase boats together, sharing it and the expenses.

“That yachting is a rich man’s sport is a big misconception,” said Robert Mole, a 12-year member of the Los Angeles Yacht Club. “I’m a retired naval officer and retired naval officers don’t make a lot of money.”

Mole was saying this in the club’s rickety main building, which used to be blue and white before the paint started chipping. The club has been operating since 1903, making it one of the oldest in the area, and it’s obvious from the surroundings that it hasn’t changed much over the years.

There are no Jacuzzis here, no tennis courts, no ballrooms, no dining facilities. The floors are wood. The boats aren’t even in slips but rather anchored in the middle of Fish Harbor, making for a view that belongs on a postcard. If this were a movie, it would be in black and white.

“It’s simple here,” Mole said. “Sailing itself is an old way of propulsion, so it represents the past and that makes it comfortable. This is one of the few clubs where grandfather, father and grandchildren have been members.”

Middle-class members, he made sure to note before getting up and walking to his car at the end of a dusty, dead-end street.

And there, he was parked between an apple-red Porsche and a dented station wagon.

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How Much Do Yacht Club Memberships Cost? (5 Helpful Examples)

Joining a yacht club is an important milestone in your life. It marks a certain degree of success and allows you to enjoy plenty of luxurious amenities. Setting sail on a yacht is the ultimate way to unwind from a hectic work week while you try to climb the corporate ladder.

Fortunately, there are yacht clubs all over the country that would love to welcome you as a brand-new member. You can enjoy an afternoon on the water with a beautiful yacht in exchange for a small sum of money.

But how much do Yacht Club memberships generally cost?

Prices for Yacht Clubs will vary based on your location, the fleet, and even the amenities that are offered at the marina. The average annual membership price is between $900-$4,000 depending on your level of luxury and needs.

To give you an idea of what you could expect to pay for your yacht club membership, here are some numbers gathered from across the country:

Table of Contents

What Does Each Yacht Club Offer?

Each yacht club is going to offer something that sets it apart from the others on this listing. To give you a better idea of where your money is going, here is a brief synopsis of what you can expect at each location.

Related Article: How Much Does Yacht Insurance Cost? (4 Examples)

Charleston Yacht Club

Charleston is a premier cruising destination with plenty of waterways for you to explore. They offer a launch hoist, dry slips, day dockage, free parking, and a long list of events scheduled throughout the year.

You also gain privileges at other yacht clubs around the world. If you don’t own your own yacht, they have plenty of members who often have room on their boats to accommodate a few extra passengers.

Florida Yacht Club

The Florida Yacht Club is a relatively exclusive club that features amazing amenities like fine dining and an array of aquatic activities.

You can play tennis, enjoy a spa treatment or massage, or get in a rousing game of croquet from the shore. They also host events and permit you to extend your privileges to other locations scattered around the Florida coast.

Atlanta Yacht Club

The Atlanta Yacht Club is primarily geared toward sailors who are interested in racing. They have a fleet of more than thirty different boats that are designed to help you further your knowledge of sailing.

If you still have a lot to learn, you can even take classes at this location. Prospective members must be sponsored and co-sponsored by two club members for entrance.

Related Article: 7 Boat Clubs in Florida You Should Know (Before Choosing)

Chicago Yacht Club

Members of the Chicago Yacht Club will find plenty of opportunities to get involved. With more than forty different committees, you can find a circle of friends that have common interests beyond just sailing and racing.

You also receive transient docking at both the Belmont and Monroe harbors, exclusive invites to private events, and reciprocity at more than 900 clubs across the country.

Related Article: Boat Clubs in Boston: 5 Clubs You Should Know

California Yacht Club

The California Yacht Club is home to both national and world championship regattas.

They host plenty of events from scuba club to book club to wine tastings. If you want to find a true community of like-minded sailors, this could be the place for you.

One of the best features is the reciprocity at locations not just across the United States but across the world. You can feel free to travel the world with your yacht and experience some of the same fellowship globally.

Related Article: Boat Clubs In Los Angeles: 7 Clubs You Should Know

What are the Cheapest Yacht Clubs?

The cheapest yacht clubs charge just under $1,000 per year for membership. While this does give you access to different types of experiences, you may be disappointed by the overall amenities.

Some yacht clubs are known for their extravagant country club styles that help you to embrace a particular lifestyle. They include Olympic-sized swimming pools, state-of-the-art tennis courts, and fine dining.

Everything has a beautiful waterfront view. It can feel like you are in the middle of an idyllic paradise without ever even having to leave the shore. If this is what you can gain from the most expensive yacht clubs, you should set your expectations much lower for the cheaper yacht clubs.

The cheaper yacht clubs lack the community aspect of these exclusive options. They feature dry slips and the occasional party, but not much more.

Some of them may have the feel of a county park with some picnic benches, outdoor grills, and a moderately sized swimming pool. Expect a much more casual atmosphere when you choose to go with a cheaper yacht club.

It is even possible that they are simply “paper yacht clubs” that do not even maintain a physical building of their own.

How Much Do the Most Expensive Yacht Clubs Cost to Join?

The most expensive yacht clubs can vary a great deal in price. Most of them will cost between $3,000 and $4,000 per year. However, you can certainly find more exclusive clubs that will cost above and beyond this.

Keep in mind that these more expensive clubs generally are not open to the public. They are offered by invitation only and you must have a member sponsor you to be considered for entrance.

When you are paying for a more expensive yacht club, you should make sure that you are really going to get your money’s worth. These expensive clubs promote a certain type of elegant lifestyle.

Make sure that you are planning to take advantage of all the amenities available from one of these clubs before you sink too much money into the membership fees. The social aspect of these expensive yacht clubs is extremely important.

If you plan to simply rent a boat from time to time, you might be able to go with a cheaper yacht club.

Related Article: How Long Do Sailboats Last?

What Is Generally Included in the Membership Fee for Yacht Clubs?

Have you been wondering why you should join a yacht club? Many potential members want to know what they can expect from their membership fees before they commit to a year-long contract. There are many advantages to signing up for a membership with a well-known yacht club.

Amenities and Activities

First and foremost, you get access to activities and cruises planned by board members. These might be various sailing activities, dinners, get-togethers, tennis matches, or other events that take up a lazy Sunday afternoon.

You also gain access to any amenities that surround the yacht club’s marina. For many programs, this means a fitness center, pool, and tennis courts. Several locations also offer fine dining, meeting rooms, and more.

It is like a private oasis where you can get away from the hustle and bustle of the regular world. Time moves slowly when you’re enjoying the amenities here.

Many yacht clubs have programs that introduce children (and adults!) to sailing. Take classes to learn more about improving your technique, sailing safety, and other important aspects of life on the open water.

Access to the Fleet

The main reason why most people join yacht clubs is to be able to rent out boats instead of purchasing their own. Joining a yacht club may give you access to an entire fleet of yachts that can be reserved for a day or weeks at a time. Some yacht clubs allow you to rent boats for up to ten days at a time.

Others do not allow you to rent out ships. They are primarily geared toward individuals who already own a yacht or will own a yacht in the future. Make sure you know the difference in advance.

Are There any Additional Costs Besides the Membership Fees?

Unfortunately, the membership fees are not the only cost associated with joining a yacht club. Most of the clubs in the United States also have a one-time initial fee that tends to cost thousands of dollars. Many will range from $1,500 to $5,000 depending on the location and the exclusivity of the yacht club.

This one-time fee should be the only additional money you pay except for fuel. Most yacht clubs do not cover the cost of the fuel used in the ship during your rental if renting is an option. Be prepared for what this could cost you.

If you cause damage to the ship, you can also expect some out-of-pocket costs. Insurance should cover the damage, but you will likely be asked to cover the cost of the deductible.

Be sure to inquire about how much you may be on the hook for before you sign up for any particular yacht club. Accidents can happen, even to the most experienced sailors. Make sure that you can afford the mishap in advance.

Is a Yacht Club Membership Right for You?

Understanding what the real cost of a yacht club membership is can be the first step toward determining if this is right for you. Many people love the luxuries available through the more expensive yacht clubs, but they may not be able to afford it. Consider what is most important in a club to you before deciding to sign on the dotted line for an annual membership.

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Yacht Club Membership Fees

• Thread starter doug748
• Start date 11 Jan 2019
• 11 Jan 2019

Well-known member

Our comrades in the Motor Boat section are discussing Yacht Clubs and one contributor suggests that the San Diego club manages to do rather well. It's yearly fees seem to be in the order of 3,000 dollars but the good news is that that includes a set $600 of food or drink - thus making sure that the bar and restaurant are kept busy. This is the clincher - there is a initiation charge, they don't put your head down the bog but do operate a sliding scale - from nothing if you are under 26 rising, by great big lumps, to $24,000 if you are over 60. :nonchalance: There must be some serious high rollers there. My club is 66 quid a year with £20 joining fee. But you do have to pay for your own pies, unless they run out of course.  

My yacht club's annual membership fee is, I think, only about £33. But, although it has moorings it does not have a clubhouse. "Our clubhouse is our cockpit".  

I was just looking at the Chichester Yacht Club membership fees before opening this thread... At £450 per annum, it would make a very expensive private pub and restaurant - and I know that that is the only use I would make of it. A pity really - it's a nice site and I would like to join, but I simply can't justify that sort of price for access to a bar.  

capnsensible

Poignard said: My club's yacht club's annual membership fee is, I think, only about £33. But, although it has moorings it does not have a clubhouse. "Our clubhouse is our cockpit". Click to expand...

• 12 Jan 2019

doug748 said: Our comrades in the Motor Boat section are discussing Yacht Clubs and one contributor suggests that the San Diego club manages to do rather well. It's yearly fees seem to be in the order of 3,000 dollars but the good news is that that includes a set $600 of food or drink - thus making sure that the bar and restaurant are kept busy. This is the clincher - there is a initiation charge, they don't put your head down the bog but do operate a sliding scale - from nothing if you are under 26 rising, by great big lumps, to $24,000 if you are over 60. :nonchalance: There must be some serious high rollers there. My club is 66 quid a year with £20 joining fee. But you do have to pay for your own pies, unless they run out of course. Click to expand...

Our local sailing association costs £5/year. We have regular meetings and summer events but no premises.  

Yearly fees are very similar to Marina fees..... although the initiation fee sounds a bit ouch.  

£120/year, with free tea & coffee though!!  

jamie N said: £120/year, with free tea & coffee though!! Click to expand...

Praxinoscope

As an OAP my £20 annual membership (£30 for members under retirement age) is great value to use the clubhouse and facilities. The club owns the freehold premises in a prime position on the seafront with views over the harbour and sea. Unfortunately the local council control the moorings. I used to belong the The Little Ship Club, (did my Ocean YM shorebased there) but as I rarely get to London nowadays I sadly can no longer justify the fees.  

Lightwave395

I've sadly just quit the Island Sailing Club with our renewal arriving at £445. We ate half a dozen very nice meals there last year and that was that. I'd have been happy to be a 'social' member but they don't have those so that's it.  

Lightwave395 said: I've sadly just quit the Island Sailing Club with our renewal arriving at £445. We ate half a dozen very nice meals there last year and that was that. I'd have been happy to be a 'social' member but they don't have those so that's it. Click to expand...

maby said: I was just looking at the Chichester Yacht Club membership fees before opening this thread... At £450 per annum, it would make a very expensive private pub and restaurant - and I know that that is the only use I would make of it. A pity really - it's a nice site and I would like to join, but I simply can't justify that sort of price for access to a bar. Click to expand...

When I got my first boat I joined a club to get a mooring. There were those who went to the bar and those that went sailing, If you don't live on the doorstep then it's hard to do both. I've never bothered with a club since then.  

My club's £50 annual sub has bought me many friendships amongst a very nice sociable bunch of people, all enthusiastic and active sailors. I went to the San Diego YC once, many years ago. Didn't seem that special.  

• 13 Jan 2019

Some of us suspect that high joining fees are/were merely a way of keeping out the riff raff and not for covering cost of any administration, why anyone should get reduced membership subscriptions , simply for being old, is also a mystery. Any discounts should be going to youngsters and beginners to encourge them in. ?  

oldgit said: Some of us suspect that high joining fees are/were merely a way of keeping out the riff raff and not for covering cost of any administration, why anyone should get reduced membership subscriptions , simply for being old, is also a mystery. Any discounts should be going to youngsters and beginners to encourage them in. ? Click to expand...

Orion Jim said: Membership, as does golf club memberships, opens a lot of doors to the rarified air of the upper echelon of the business community. Consider membership a business investment Click to expand...

Resolution said: The case for reduced subs for (very) elderly members is that once your active life has diminished to a sad reclusive dribble, keeping up a full rate subscription is an easy expense-cutting target. By offering to discount subs for the elderly many will just keep on paying long after their ability to come and enjoy the club has reduced almost to zero. Click to expand...

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Membership has its privileges, and for the very wealthy and their extended families, having membership in an elite private yacht club offers prestige and rank among their peers. These private clubs are legendary with outrageous initiation fees, strict dress codes, luxurious clubhouses, gourmet restaurants, family activities, and overnight accommodations.

Many members are not as focused on having a place to dock their yachts as they are interested in the social life and activities provided by the clubs. Most of us will never have the chance to become a member, as waiting lists are many years long, or you need to be nominated and vetted by current members.

Dennis W. Burns, Executive Director, Club Leaders Forum & Platinum Clubs, tells me, “Platinum recognition in the Yacht Club world recognizes excellence in all areas of the operation, membership, and facilities. This year, it is a privilege to welcome 15 new clubs into the Platinum Yacht Club family, which acknowledges the 50 finest Yacht Clubs in the World from 14 different countries.”

These are the 50 Most Exclusive Yacht Clubs of the World, Asia-Pacific, and Europe honored by Club Leaders Forum with Platinum Status for 2022-2023. (Listing is alphabetical only and not by rank.) *Indicates new additions to honor roll.

Annapolis Yacht Club

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One of the oldest yacht clubs in the country and internationally recognized with its long history of sailboat racing and world-class events.  The club organizes the famed Annapolis to Newport race, one of the most iconic races in America.

Location: Maryland, Established: 1883 - Members: 1,600+ Fees- $12,000+

Balboa Yacht Club

* Balboa Yacht Club

One of the oldest clubs on the Pacific Coast, it operates a year-round facility including a full-service restaurant and bar, marina and a Catalina Island facility. 

Location: California, Established: 1922, Members: 800 Fee: Sponsored invite

Bay Head Yacht Club

* Bay Head Yacht Club

This wealthy Jersey Shore enclave has survived many storms and retains its historic family focused Club which is known for its yachting and rowing programs.

Location: New Jersey, Established: 1888, Members: 850 families

Beach Point Club

Located on Long Island Sound, the Club offers a full service marina, a day camp, tennis courts, tennis complex, a beach bar & outdoor dining pavilion, swimming pools, cabanas and a beach.

Location: New York, Established: 1890, Members: 600

* Carolina Yacht Club

This sailing and social sailing Club was built in an old cotton factors office, and is one of the oldest in the United States. With access to Charleston Harbor, it is known as one of the best in the US.

Location: South Carolina, Established: 1883 - Members: 1,500

Chicago Yacht Club

One of the oldest and most respected yacht clubs in the world. The Club members include a winning America’s Cup skipper, and Olympic medalists.

Location: Illinois, Established: 1875, Members: 1,400

Eastern Yacht Club

* Eastern Yacht Club

One of the oldest yacht clubs on the east coast, the Club boasts significant involvement in the history of American yachting. A major renovation of the Clubhouse included a formal Dining Room, and outdoor porch dining overlooking the harbor. There is an aquatics facility, three paddle tennis courts, six tennis courts, a junior sailing program, children’s summer camp, and two full-service bars.

Location: Massachetts, Established: 1870, Members: Fees- $300+

Grosse Pointe Yacht Club

The Italian Renaissance-style clubhouse and 200-foot bell tower are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Club also offers a bowling alley, Olympic-sized outdoor swimming pool, multiple tennis courts, and a sailing center.

Location: Michigan, Established: 1914, Members: Fees- $3,500 plus monthly dues for social only

* Key Biscayne Yacht Club

The private club, with its opulent decor, restaurants and newly renovated 40,000-sq.ft. clubhouse also offers a dining room, clay tennis courts, and pool. Membership holds a financial equity interest in the club’s property and assets.

Location: Florida, Established: 1955 - Members: 1,000 Fees- invitation only

Larchmont Yacht Club

The Club was originally purchased by Benjamin A. Carver, a railroad magnate. The original Carver residence was smaller than the present clubhouse – the east and west wings were added following the purchase. The Junior Clubhouse was the Carver stable: the basement was the cow barn, while the first floor housed the horses.

Location: New York Established: 1880

Lauderdale Yacht Club

With 65 dock slips, the club is also home to one of the most elite junior sailing programs in the nation.

Location: Florida, Established: 1938, Fees- invitation only

Naples Yacht Club

The Club has the proud distinction of being the city’s first and oldest private club and its marina has 75 concrete floating docks.

Location: Florida, Established: 1947, Members: 530

Newport Harbor Yacht Club

The Club is located on the Balboa peninsula with a newly remodeled clubhouse created to replace the original building.

Location: California, Established: 1915, Slips- 150, Members: 1,050 Fees- $20,000+

* Newport Yacht Club

The Club is located in the heart of Newport, and has been heavily involved in yachting on Narragansett Bay.

Location: Rhode Island, Established: 1894, Fees- Sponsored invite only

Palm Beach Yacht Club

Palm Beach Yacht Club takes great pride in their restaurant, which won several prestigious international awards.

Location: Florida, Established: 1890, Slips - 45, Fees- dockage includes membership.

Pelican Isle Yacht Club

With direct access to the Gulf of Mexico, the club can accommodate vessels up to 55 feet.

Location: Established: 1996, Slips- 190, Fees- $15,000+ annual dues

Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club

The club has been part of the Boca Raton landscape for over 50 years with a state-of-the-art Marina boasting a TimberTech floating dock system, accommodating vessels up to 130 feet. 

Location: Florida, Established: 1959, Fees- Invitation only

Sailfish Club of Florida

Sailfish is the oldest continuously operating private club in the town of Palm Beach. It is a premiere fishing and boating club that has survived multiple hurricanes and has been renovated several times.

Location: Florida, Established: 1914

San Diego Yacht Club

The club started as a small gathering of boating enthusiasts in 1886, and has become a world-renowned yachting community recognized for bay sailing, ocean racing, predicted log racing, cruising, angling, and its support of youth programs at all levels. Also offering tennis courts, swimming pool, and waterfront dining. 

Location: California, Established: 1886, Slips- 700, Members: 2,000 Fees- $24,000+dues

San Francisco Yacht Club

One of the oldest yacht clubs on the West Coast, it was moved several times, until it finally settled in Belvedere Cove. The move split the membership and one group decided to form a new club, called St. Francis Yacht Club. The new location however allowed the club to create world-class amenities for its members and their guests.

Location: California, Established: 1869, Slips- 190, Fees- Sponsor invite

Sarasota Yacht Club

Facilities include marina, fitness center, heated pool, two indoor bars, a pool bar, a grand dining room, and waterside terrace.

Location: Established: 1907, Slips- 110, Fees- Invitation only

Savannah Yacht Club

The Club includes a figure 8 pool, an Olympic size swimming pool, as well as floating docks.

Location: Established: 1869, Members: 1,000, Fees- Invitation only

St. Francis Yacht Club

Formed by the dissatisfied members of the San Francisco Yacht Club who opposed the Clubs move to Belvedere, St. Francis Yacht Club is located near the Golden Gate Bridge and is considered the most prestigious yacht club on the Western coast. 

Location: Established: 1927, Members: 2,300

St. Petersburg Yacht Club

* St. Petersburg Yacht Club

The yacht club is famous for its standard of race management and events year round. It is one of the oldest yacht clubs in the United States, with two clubhouses, pool, fine dining, three marinas, and beach club.

Location: Florida, Established: 1909, Slips- 120, Fees: Invitation only

Tampa Yacht & Country Club

The club has welcomed generations of families and includes many amenities. The tennis complex is considered to be state-of-the-art and features nine har-tru courts. The club stables on the west side of Interbay consist of riding rings, four barns and a clubhouse.

Location: Florida, Established: 1904, Slips- 31 covered and 50 open, Fees: Member sponsored

Sandringham Yacht Club

Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron

Royal Perth Yacht Club

Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron

Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron

* Sandringham Yacht Club

Cat Cay Yacht Club is on a private island, owned by its members.

* Cat Cay Yacht Club

Nassau Yacht Club

Royal Bermuda Yacht Club

Royal Canadian Yacht Club

Royal Vancouver Yacht Club

Royal Victoria Yacht Club

* Royal Gibraltar Yacht Club

Royal Thames Yacht Club

Royal Yacht Squadron

Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club

* Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club

Location: Kellet Island, Established: 1849, - Berths- 46, Members: 12,500, Fees-$95,000+monthly dues

Royal Cork Yacht Club

Royal Irish Yacht Club

Yacht Club Italiano

* Royal Malta Yacht Club

Club de Yates de Acapulco

* Club de Yates de Acapulco

Yacht Club de Monaco

NEW ZEALAND

Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron

SOUTH AFRICA

* Royal Cape Yacht Club

Real Club Nautico de Vigo

* Ocean Marina Yacht Club

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WELCOME ABOARD!

PLYC’s members are very active in yacht racing as a member of Southern California Yachting Association and San Diego Association of Yacht Clubs and PHRF racing fleet. We believe as a member, you will also participate in racing with your own boat or as a crew on one of the many club boats. We host four races each year: The Bob Kearns Memorial Race in May, The Jimmy Rogers Memorial Race in June, The Crew of Two Race around the Coronado’s in July and The Big Boat Charity Race in August. There is a special trophy for points in these races and a Club party following each. We also host the International Order of the Blue Gavel (IOGB) Charity Race in September.

For our Cruising members, we have three main raft-ups annually, Memorial Day in La Playa Cove, 4th of July in Glorietta Bay and Labor Day in Mariner’s Cove-Mission Bay. These events are well attended by PLYC members and are a great opportunity to meet other boaters.

Our club has many events that its members can enjoy. Some of those include but not limited to: Woody’s Whale Watching in January, Opening Day in April, Commodore’s Ball in November and the Holiday Party in December. Events not to miss are FFHH (Final Friday Happy Hours) at different locations monthly and Sunday BBQ’s at our new waterfront clubhouse

Join us and you will enjoy the world of boating. We will welcome you aboard and share the Corinthian Spirit of yachting and Point Loma Yacht Club with you.

We Are Currently Accepting Applications For Membership.

Initiation Fee: $300 Membership Dues:  $360 Paid Annually

Membership Applications May Be Submitted By eMail: [email protected]

If you Email the application, please follow up with a Signed Copy. We accept payment by check for Membership Initiation and Membership Fees.

Download Your Membership  Application in word doc

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call us…write us…we’ll get one to you Call Us: (619) 800-0178

Become a Member

Southwestern Yacht Club is continuously welcoming new applicants for membership who share boating interests, want to socialize or enjoy themselves as part of our active community. We have a variety of memberships that allow for everyone, individuals, couples and families, to have fun at Southwestern Yacht Club. Take a virutal tour of the Club!

As you fill out the   application , some questions may arise. We hope this will help clarify matters for you.

• Flag membership is available to any person 21 years of age or over who owns a boat not less than 14 feet overall in length. A Flag member is eligible to vote at meetings of the membership, hold elective office, and enter his/her boat in Club races.
• Regular membership is available to any person 21 years of age or over who does not own a boat. Regular members are not eligible for elective office nor shall they be entitled to vote on proposals other than dues and assessments.
• If you do not fall into either of these categories, please contact our Membership D irector   at 619-222-0438 x 111.  We can help you determine your membership category.
• Date of birth, employer and Social Security number are needed for the person in whose name the membership will be held.  We would like you to know that every attempt is made to keep your personal information private. Before your application is submitted to the Membership Committee or posted on the Club bulletin board, your date of birth and Social Security number are removed. SWYC will obtain a credit report as part of your application. Only the Club Manager, Club Treasurer and Membership Chair will review this report.
• Personal reference should be someone who is not a member of Southwestern Yacht Club.
• Yacht Club Sponsors must be two members in good standing, at least one of whom must hold a separate Flag, Regular or Life membership. They are required to fill out a confidential Southwestern Yacht Club Sponsor Form for you.
• Finally, you will get to the fun part - on the last page, circle the activities that interest you. Please include a short letter describing your boating experience and your interest in SWYC. Upon approval of your application, you will be placed in a Conditional membership for 12 months. Initiation fees must be paid in full when you are approved for Conditional Membership. During this first year, you must meet certain requirements, including involvement in two Club activities. You can meet this volunteer requirement by contacting the activity chairs who will be happy to involve you in their functions.

We hope the process goes smoothly for you. The Membership Committee looks forward to meeting you and processing your application. We wish you fair winds and following seas!  Cora Curry , Membership Committee Chair

Fee Schedule

Southwestern Yacht Club Bylaws require a 2/3 vote of the Flag members to raise its fees. Please see Article V, Section 15: A. Charges.  All initiation fees, dues, assessments, surcharges, dry storage fees, slip rental fees and locker rental fees shall be established by the Board of Directors, subject to approval by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Flag Membership, except that the Regular Membership may vote on dues and assessments only. A special meeting must be called for this purpose.  SWYC Fee Schedule

Sea Trial Program

For a limited time only, you can take a “Sea Trial” at Southwestern Yacht Club to see if membership is for you.

That’s right! A NO RISK TRIAL as our guest for six months with virtually all the benefits and pleasures of membership. You’re invited to partake of all the wonderful activities outlined in the New Member Information Package and, in addition, you’ll have the run of the bar and galley, the small boat hoist, use of the guest dock for your boat and the opportunity to meet all of the wonderful people who call Southwestern their “boating family”.  When your Sea Trial ends, we are sure you’ll want to continue to enjoy all that Southwestern has to offer. At this point you may convert your six month Sea Trial as our guest to Full Membership at Southwestern Yacht Club.  SEA TRIAL FLYER For more information contact the Membership Director about our Sea Trial Participant Program at 619-222-0438 ext 111 or by  email . 

To start the application process, please complete and send in the following membership application with two completed confidential sponsor forms.  

• PROSPECTIVE MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
• SPONSOR FORM & GUIDELINES
• 2024 SCHEDULE OF FEES
• MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES
• SEA TRIAL PARTICIPANT INFO
• JUNIOR MEMBERSHIP

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Please review the rules and complete the form below to apply for J/22 Fleet Membership.

The J/22's are durable, safe and fun. They appeal to all ages and skill levels, easily sailed by two people, but with a cockpit large enough for four people to enjoy. Responsive, but stable at 1800 lbs with a fixed lead keel and self bailing cockpit, it is easily driven with a mainsail, 100% jib, and spinnaker. Since its introduction in 1983, the J/22 has blossomed into an International class now with 1,550+ boats sailing in 65 fleets in 18 countries.

Still, the J/22, while not large or overly complicated, is a small keel boat that can overwhelm a completely novice sailor. We want to make sure you have the necessary basic skills to safely operate the boat before you set out to sea!

Complete the information on this form and you will be contacted by a fleet member to discuss the necessary skills and arrange a time to meet and take a test sail. Required skills include tying a few simple knots while rigging the boat, demonstrating some basic sailing skills (tacking/gybing and stopping the boat) and boat maneuvers including leaving and returning to the dock.

The annual membership fee for the J/22 fleet is $600 and supports the operation and upkeep of the boats. Lifetime Memberships are available and go toward boat replacement. Anyone can join the J/22 fleet with the payment of the membership fee, even if you haven’t taken the test sail yet.

As a member, your SDYC membership account will serve as a ‘damage deposit’. In the event there is damage that needs repair, you may be liable for up to $1000. Coverage for the boats beyond that is under the club’s umbrella insurance policy.

Upon passing the skills check and test sail, you will be listed as a ‘qualified’ member and are free to reserve the boats, as available, for the entire calendar year. There is a reservation window that allows for reservations up to 30 days ahead. We also ask you give us 48 hours minimum notice, especially for weekend reservations, to coordinate launching and leave the dock with no more than five (5) souls aboard.

Membership Rules

• Memberships are good for 365 day periods until you cancel.
• Flag Memberships are $600 and Junior Flag memberships are $300. Members may arrange a payment schedule with the SDYC Accounting Office over a 12 month period ($50/mo). However, once the payments are started the member shall be responsible for the full amount until their next anniversary - NO EXCEPTIONS.
• Membership allows you to use the boat on any non-black-out days.
• Membership does not exempt one from boat use fees during a regatta (match race or team race) where the fleet is being used.
• Memberships are for an individual and that individual must be on board the boat when it is out sailing.
• The daily rental rate for non-fleet members is $150/day.
• The daily rental rate for non-fleet Junior Flag members is $75/day.
• Junior Sailors who wish to use the J/22s must be entered in a sanctioned event or practice session through the SDYC Jr. Program or their High School sailing team.
• Two daily rental fees ($150/day) may be credited towards the purchase of a fleet membership, however the membership will have been considered active from the first rental date.

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YACHTING: Its History In San Diego

by Summer Furzer | Oct 1, 1974 | | 0 comments

The Journal of San Diego History SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY Fall 1974, Volume 20, Number 4

By Linda M. Pearce Nolte

Images from the article

“Yacht” is an English word derived from the Dutch word jaght meaning a hunt or to pursue, and is short for jaghtschip. The name was given to any of various relatively small ships for pleasure cruising and racing. Sailing for pleasure originated in Holland during the late 1580s when the country grew in wealth. The numerous waterways and canals intersecting Holland provided the opportunity for wealthy residents to use their boats for both private conveyance and commercial reasons. The word jaght grew in stature and eventually signified a splendidly equipped state or private vessel, handsomely and comfortably furnished.

San Diego’s link with the sea has been continuous since its founding, and while boats and ships have been important throughout its history as a means of trade and transportation, for military purposes and in the fishing industry, it was not until 1852 that an organized yacht club was formed for the purpose of boating for pleasure. On March 16, 1852, the first local yacht club, the Pacific Pioneer Yacht Club, was founded. According to the San Diego Herald there were fifteen members, seven of whom were United States military officers, with a variety of sizes of sloops and schooners. 2

The yacht club held its first regatta on April 10, 1852. The Herald reported that it was a gala day for the entire area:

… streets were crowded with lovely ladies and gentlemen decked out in their finery. The streets were crowded with carriages, and excitement was the order of the day. An Indian sac-race was an added attraction. The fleet gathered at Long Wharf, and the commodore set his pennant at 8 a.m.; the yachts moored at 10:30; members were forbidden to accept bids after 11. The vessels were under way at 11; booming-out was allowed, but no sweeping; the race started at 11:30 but the wind died before 12. A light breeze came up at 12:10. At Ballast Point the order was Fanny, Piutus, Gen. Hitchcock, Major Allen, Josephina . At 3:30, the Lavinia was second. The Josephina went aground on the flats abreast of the Playa (Point Loma) but soon got off. The Lavinia was aground for 1/4 hour. The Piutus turned the stake post at 3 1/2, with the Lavinia second. First prize was a magnificent gold-chased drinking-cup valued at $250; second was a silver speaking trumpet; third, a suit of colors. The sac-race was announced at 4 o’clock by the booming cannon from the Plaza in New Town, and was run in three heats. Dinner for members of the yacht club was held at 6 p.m. at the club; admission for gentlemen, $10; for ladies, $5. 3

Nothing more is known about the activities of the Pacific Pioneer Yacht Club. No mention of the club or its dissolution is found in local San Diego newspapers nor is it listed in city directories for this period.

It is not until the late 1860s that reference is found in any significant degree to boating for pleasure. On April 15, 1867, the tiny steamer Pacific arrived from San Francisco with six passengers and some freight. 4 One of the passengers was Alonzo Erastus Horton who was to spark the development of New San Diego. The city grew and prospered under Horton’s guidance. As the population increased, the fishing industry became an important enterprise, requiring boats designed for ocean sailing.

The Columbia River salmon-boat proved a most efficient fishing craft. Its design, which included a beautifully shaped double end, was modeled after those used in European countries bordering on the Mediterranean. Soon several of the fish markets developed similar boats and either sold or rented them to fishermen.

Opportunities for entertainment were sparse during this period in San Diego. Aside from legitimate stage shows which came once every two or three months and a Charter Ball held once each year, there was very little else to do socially. Thus people were inclined toward the natural sports such as boating. Fishermen did not fish on Sundays, and people began borrowing or renting their fishing boats for picnics and eventually for racing or pleasure sailing. A small racing fleet eventually was organized for racing on Sundays.

A local butcher, Charlie Hardy, decided that he would take the lines of the salmon-boat, perfect it, and build the fastest boat he could. When the fish were running it was used as a fishing boat, and when other larger vessels sailed into San Diego Bay, Hardy would sail out, take their orders for fresh meat, sail back to his market, load the meat on his boat, sail back out and deliver it. Hence, he named his boat the Butcher Boy. Hardy also raced the Butcher Boy on Sundays against other boats and completely outclassed them. Deciding that he wanted a boat that would be even faster than the Butcher Boy, Hardy built the first power driven boat in the San Diego area. His meat market was called the Bay City Market, and consequently, he named his power boat the Bay City.

Kent Howell bought the Butcher Boy , and converted her into a true yacht or pleasure boat. She is thought of as the first real yacht on San Diego Bay, and her conversion marks the beginning of true yacht racing in San Diego. 5

Even with the double use of boats for both fishing and yachting, pleasure sailing in San Diego during the middle 1800s was not as developed as it was in Europe during the same period. People in San Diego enjoyed sailing, but did not adopt the traditional accouterments of the gentleman sailor. The white flannel trousers and blue coats were missing. It was not only a lack of wealth, but a lack of people that prevented the development of yachting. The population of the city in 1870 was 2,300, in 1880, 2,637, and by 1887, around 4,000.

By 1885, the Santa Fe Railway Company finished a single track line to San Diego for the purpose of transporting cargo from San Diego to Los Angeles. (Los Angeles did not have a nearby port until 1899 when the city developed San Pedro harbor.) This gave San Diego an advantage since it was the only marine terminal in Southern California capable of handling large amounts of commercial cargo. Those who wanted to take advantage of the anticipated prosperity began investing their money in real estate and new businesses.

As the city’s population increased and as its residents became more affluent, yachting grew in popularity. According to E. J. Louis, an early member of the San Diego Rowing Club, as early as 1883 there was great interest in boating on San Diego Bay which led to the formation of many boating clubs. 6 On June 8, 1886, fifty-five people met in Horton’s Hall to organize the San Diego Yacht Club. W. H. Pringle became the first commodore. This was the first of many boating clubs to form in San Diego after the completion of the railroad, even though the boats were still used primarily for fishing.

The first home of the San Diego Yacht Club was the northerly of the two keeper’s lighthouses at Ballast Point. It was here, on Admission Day, 1891, that the members first displayed their burgee. The club used these quarters until 1898, when, for military reasons during the Spanish-American War, the United States government withdrew the privilege. The club had no regular clubhouse from then until 1903.

On June 1, 1905, the San Diego Yacht Club merged with the Corinthian Yacht Club which had been organized in 1902 and had purchased the D Street boathouse as a headquarters. As a result, the financial difficulties that both clubs were experiencing were eliminated. The burgee of the Corinthian Yacht Club, a red star on a white field, with blue border, and the name of the San Diego Yacht Club were adopted.

Five years later, in 1910, the land adjacent to the Broadway Pier was filled in (D Street Pier), and the club was forced to move again. This time the club purchased the old ferry steamer Silvergate from Coronado Tent City and located it at the foot of Hawthorne Street for its new home. 7 It remained there for four years until an extension to the seawall forced another relocation; and in 1914 the Silvergate was towed to a point west of the ferry slip on Coronado Island.

Many members of the yacht club feared the club would not be able to survive when it was located in distant Coronado. In an attempt to bolster its sagging membership, in 1916, the San Diego Yacht Club accepted the membership of the Coronado Yacht Club. However, this did not prevent the club’s total membership from dwindling.

With the approach of World War I, local yachting activity suffered. According to one yachting enthusiast, the club’s difficulties were multiplied by “discriminatory taxes and senseless red tape.” 8 During the war, the yachtsmen turned their attention to the war effort. Some 29,000 windjammers and motorboatmen throughout the country joined the Navy, and many of them volunteered their yachts for military uses. The San Diego Yacht Club donated the copper sheathing on the Silvergate to the war effort. Soon after, the ferry began to sink and was sold to a wrecker; now, for the fourth time, the club was without headquarters. Toward the end of the war, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels expressed his appreciation for the large number of yachtsmen who had joined active service. He believed that their previous experience in yachting had been of real value as preliminary training for participation in the Navy. 9 Lawrence Perry wrote that,

… no recreative form of activity was in a position to be of so much practical value to the Government when we [the United States] entered the war as was yachting. Passing the fact that there were hundreds of yachts which the Navy Department found of inestimable value, we note the thousands of men familiar with navigation, practical seamanship, or boat handling, who were qualified at once—or with very little training—to enter Government service; there were men who were not only familiar with coastwise waters, tides, currents, and other details essential to patrol duties, but yachtsmen who held the best sort of pilot’s certificates …. 10

With the Silvergate no longer available as a clubhouse, for the next six years the San Diego Yacht Club held its meetings at the Coronado boathouse, in the Chamber of Commerce rooms, in a garage, at private homes of members, and eventually at the Navy Militia Armory located at the foot of Twenty-eighth Street. During these years, as interest in yachting increased, members investigated the financing of a new clubhouse and searched for a location that would provide a sheltered and safe anchorage. The site chosen was in Coronado below Tent City. Finally, on August 18, 1923, the members raised their burgee over the completed clubhouse. The 100 members elected George S. Gay as commodore.

During the remainder of the 1920s interest in yachting in San Diego continued to increase. In 1924, the fourth annual Southern California Yachting Association and the Pacific Coast Yachting Association Regattas were held at the San Diego Yacht Club. There were 112 yachts representing clubs from Vancouver to San Diego and over 1,500 yachtsmen attended the event. The week of racing went so well that improvements were made on the clubhouse and the Roseville Wharf on Point Loma became the headquarters for the larger vessels of the San Diego Yacht Club fleet. In 1926, the San Diego Union newspaper presented a perpetual trophy for a New Year’s Day Race. Oswald Zahn, sailing in Gretchen , won first place, and Joseph Jessop won the Pacific Coast Star Championship in his yacht Windward.

Because of the successful volunteer yachting activity during World War I, the Navy’s interest in yachting increased significantly. In 1927, Jessop asked the Navy if the San Diego Yacht Club could put their boats on the U.S.S. Gannet to be transported to Santa Barbara for that city’s annual regatta. The Gannet , originally a tug, had been converted a few years earlier into a dormitory to carry mechanics and was assigned as a seaplane tender. The Navy agreed, and five Star class boats were on the Gannet’s stern. The crews lived in the dormitory. When they reached Santa Barbara the yachts were lowered into the water for the regatta, and brought aboard when the race was over.

As a result of the successful trip of the San Diego Yacht Club to Santa Barbara on the Gannet , the Navy agreed to transport four boats and twelve men to Honolulu. There the men spoke about their yachts, sold them, and returned to San Diego on a Navy vessel.

In 1928, six boys, ages twelve to fourteen, approached Jessop and said, “we would like to start a Junior Division of the Club.” Having learned to sail at a young age himself, without any money or help, Jessop empathized with the boys. The proposal was almost unheard of because children around a yacht club were considered a nuisance. However, a meeting was held between Jessop, Gordon and Al Frost, Bob Merit, Grant Stone, and Walter Fisch. Jessop remembers that he almost was thrown out of the club because some of the older members did not want those “kids” running around, but the division was formed anyway, and its members were supported with enthusiasm and given financial assistance from the Yacht Club. 11

It was also during this year that the members realized that the sandbar on Coronado was too shallow for sailing in large boats and that the club was too far away from some of the club members’ residences. The people from San Diego were not going to cross on the ferry to Coronado in order to sail. Consequently, the club operated two yachting stations; one was located on Coronado, the other at the Roseville Wharf on Point Loma. Both clubhouses were supplied with restaurants and caretakers. However, it was not until 1932 that the San Diego Yacht Club seriously considered moving the Coronado clubhouse to the Roseville Wharf. By this time nearly all of the members lived in San Diego or on Point Loma. Finally, on January 14, 1932, the clubhouse at Coronado was picked up, put on barges, and floated across to the Roseville site where it was placed on pilings at the end of the dock three blocks from land. This move was a “touch and go” operation because the barge which held the clubhouse had to float high enough so that when the tide went out the clubhouse would rest on the pilings set up on Point Loma. The members were late getting started and had only thirty minutes to spare.

On October 25, 1934, the Federal Government and the San Diego Harbor Commission initiated dredging of San Diego Bay which also provided a channel 200 feet wide and 20 feet deep from the main harbor to the San Diego Yacht Club clubhouse. The dredged material was pumped out and deposited in such a way that it was possible to place the clubhouse on dry land. A sand spit was built up in front of the clubhouse dividing the main channel and the yacht anchorage, forming what is now called Shelter Island. Before the spit was built up, the area known as Shelter Island could be seen only at low tide.

Many San Diegans wanted to establish picnic grounds and an outdoor park on the newly formed Shelter Island. Conversely, others wanted nice clubhouses and first-class resorts with entertainment. Fortunately John Bates, harbormaster at the time, supported both groups. As a result, one side of Shelter Island was reserved for picnic spots and park land, while the other was to have marinas, motels, and restaurants.

As the San Diego Harbor was improved, the San Diego Yacht Club also grew and prospered. In 1935, the club held the Southern California Yachting Association (SCYA) summer regatta. There were over 100 entries, and during the races, Wallazz B. Eaton, who was to be the club’s commodore the following year, broadcast by short wave from the ocean course for the first time in San Diego history.

It was an active period in the club’s history. New tennis courts were built and a bathing beach and game room were completed. In 1932, an intensive drive was launched to refurbish the interior with new drapes and new rattan furniture. A fireplace was added and area rugs were purchased with $1,000 raised by the women members of the club.

In 1937, club member Milt Wegeforth won the International Star Championship (ISC). The San Diego Yacht Club had the honor of hosting the ISC the following year. On September 10, 1938, the club held the first race of the International. There were twenty-two entries with eight countries represented. The winner was Walter von Hutschler from Germany.

As the yacht club gained status in international racing circles, it also continued to enhance its clubhouse. In 1939, a new dining room, lunch counter, ladies lounge, and an office were added. In March, the club held its first tennis tournament.

During September of this same year, although war loomed menacingly over Europe, the United States sent three Star crews and their boats to Kiel, Germany, for the International Star Championship. Milt Wegeforth represented the San Diego Yacht Club. One of the yachts arrived in Holland instead of Germany and had to be towed by taxi to Kiel. The international races began with thirty boats. Unfortunately, by the start of the third race, Hitler threatened other European countries by establishing his “Polish corridor.” In an attempt to complete the international competition more rapidly, two races were held each day. Soon after the seventh race Wegeforth and his fellow sailors discovered there was no way to ship their Stars back to the United States. The American sailors took the train to Copenhagen and booked third class passage on a neutral Norwegian ship bound for New York. Before leaving, one last attempt was made through custom house brokers to have their boats shipped to the United States. Eventually, a broker said he could do it if no questions were asked. One week after they arrived in New York, the three American Star boats arrived on a neutral Danish freighter.

Twenty-seven months after the International Star Championships were held in Germany, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii. One day later, on December 8, 1941, Congress declared war on Japan and three days later the Axis powers declared war on the United States. By 1942, San Diego Yachtsmen found buoys blacked out and sailing areas limited, with registration of boats and identification of all yacht personnel required.

CHULA VISTA YACHT CLUB

Three years after the formation of the San Diego Yacht Club, another club was formed. Irene Phillips, in The Chula Vista Story , dates the Chula Vista Yacht Club as early as 1889.

…. a Fourth of July picnic was held in 1889. There was a makeshift landing at the undeveloped foot of “F” Street which was used by a small group that called themselves the Chula Vista Yacht Club. In 1897 they asked the Land and Town Company to help them build a wharf. The Company responded by giving railroad iron and heavy flooring which they took from the railroad wharf in National City. The club held an annual Regatta each year … they incorporated on February 24, 1914 for “mutual improvement, social intercourse, and to encourage sports.” Greg Rogers became President. 12

At the end of the wharf the club built a redwood building and used the southern part of San Diego Bay as their racing and sailing area, an area much deeper at the turn of the century than it is today. Members of the yacht club sailed over to Brickyard Cove (now Coronado Cays) for picnics, or sailed further north to Glorietta Bay at Coronado. In the early 1900s Chula Vista was regarded as a gentleman’s farming area and was considered the principal lemon growing area for the United States. The yacht club provided social status for many of the farmers in the area as well as the city residents. The members developed the largest one-design club on the Pacific Coast. (All boats were constructed to the same set of specifications and measurements). The fleet consisted of eleven, thirty-foot sailboats. 13

In August, 1901, the first race for the Montebello Loving Cup, donated by Mrs. Cook to the club, was held. The six entrants were: Captain Remert in Josephine ; Captain Belcher in Hobo ; Captain Berger in Lark ; 14 Captain Daschbach in Kelple ; Captain Gould in Frolic ; and Captain Howe in the Adah B . The winner of the three-mile triangle race was Captain Remert in Josephine. 15

On March 3, 1915, members of the club announced that the wharf was in need of repair and appealed to the City of Chula Vista for financial assistance. The city council refused their request because they felt the landing was too far from town to be patrolled by the marshal. Less than a year later, however, the city council changed its mind. On January 28, 1916, excessive rainfall washed away the Otay Dam and eroded earth from the sides of the Sweetwater Dam. Soon after, Sweetwater Valley was flooded, water mains destroyed and Edgemere Road and the railroad tracks to Chula Vista washed away. Eventually the National Avenue Bridge collapsed, isolating Chula Vistans from the rest of the county except for a few boats which were able to bring mail and supplies from San Diego. One of the boats which brought provisions to Chula Vista was the Sea Queen , owned by the Crescent Boat Company. These boats used the wharf of the Chula Vista Yacht Club. When the emergency was over, the city council was grateful and offered to repair the wharf. Instead, the yacht club agreed to repair the wharf and the city graded “F” Street all the way from the town to the pier. 16

Unfortunately, debris from the 1916 flood filled the South Bay area, and it was impossible for the larger keeled boats to sail there. 17 On February 24, 1924, the yacht club property was sold to the City of Chula Vista for $1,500, and the club relocated to the wharf of the Hercules Powder Company. 18

In the late 1920’s there was another heavy rainstorm. The Otay River carried so much debris and dirt into San Diego Bay that the area became too shallow for sailing. Even today the only boats able to sail successfully on the southern part of San Diego Bay are the shallow hulled boats such as hoby cats or skiffs.

The Chula Vista Yacht Club like the Pacific Pioneer Yacht Club faded into obscurity, and the last known about the club is that its clubhouse was dismantled on March 18, 1934, and taken 250 miles south to Scammons Lagoon in Baja California where it was used for loading salt. 19

JUNIOR YACHT CLUB

Sometime between 1910 and 1913, Dr. Joseph E. Gahan broke away from the San Diego Yacht Club and formed the Junior Yacht Club. 20 Gahan believed the San Diego Yacht Club was becoming too socially oriented with less and less interest in sailing. Cecil Burwell assisted Gahan in obtaining permission from the United States Navy to build a boathouse at the end of the Naval Militia Wharf located at the foot of Twenty-eighth Street. This was the only yacht club which admitted boys as young as sixteen years of age. Prior to this, the usual age was twenty-one.

Today the Junior Yacht Club is remembered by only a very few old yachtsmen who cannot recall when the club ceased to exist. It is probably a good assumption, however, that the club disbanded shortly after 1917 when the United States declared war on Germany.

CORONADO YACHT CLUB

The Coronado Yacht Club was first organized between 1913 and 1916, but with the start of World War I, the club was dissolved and it was not until 1932 that it was reorganized. The club’s original members, however, joined the San Diego Yacht Club, after all debts were paid. 21

In 1932, with the reorganization of the club, Henry Weston was elected commodore. Members rented the boathouse from the Hotel Del Coronado for $15 per month. (This boathouse is now the Chart House restaurant in Coronado.) Meetings were held there until 1947, when the members moved to their present location at the head of Glorietta Bay 22 .

In 1947, two old WAVE barracks were purchased from the Navy, floated to the head of Glorietta Bay, and installed as the new clubhouse. Teddy G. Ackerman recalled that “Mrs. Elmer Muhl, other women members, and myself, painted the clubhouse, bought plants with our own money and landscaped the club grounds.” 23 The club’s charter was granted from the State of California soon afterwards.

In 1941, the Coronado Yacht Club hosted the James Craig Predicted Log Contest, but the event was not held again until 1946, after World War 11. 24 From 1946 to 1971, the ceremonies pertaining to the first half of the contest were hosted by the Coronado Yacht Club, with arrangements made for the awarding of trophies to be held at the Hotel Del Coronado. This contest, held on the yacht club’s annual opening day, represented one of San Diego’s biggest yachting events. In recent years the San Diego Yacht Club has hosted the event.

In January, 1948, the club’s first newsletter, the Whisker Pole , originated and named by club historian Ackerman, was issued. In the 1950s and 1960s, the club membership steadily grew, and, by January, 1974, club membership had reached 400. 25

SOUTHWESTERN YACHT CLUB

In 1924, there were no yacht clubs on the San Diego side of the bay, the San Diego Yacht Club having moved to Coronado. Mud flats extended from the embarcadero all along the shore. A year later, Dr. Ernest Percy Chartres-Martin and Stanley Hobson, disgusted with the lack of facilities for yachtsmen in San Diego, decided to organize a club and build a pier for yachtsmen only, because fishermen had priority for the best locations on the piers already in existence. Chartres-Martin and Hobson called a meeting in March, 1925. 26

According to Sea and Pacific Motor Boat , the charter members of the Southwestern Yacht Club were: Dr. E. Chartres-Martin, J. Stanley Hobson, Graham Shand, Dr. McKellar, R. G. Fenn, Al Stewart, and Michael Eff. 27 However, according to the memory of Graham Shand in 1947, the charter members were: Dr. Chartres-Martin, Graham Shand, Dr. McKellar, Earl Mencke, Roger Bryan, Bob Bowman, and William Rolfe. 28 Because no records were kept during the years previous to 1947, accurate data is not available. Perhaps the first group consisted of the original organizers and the latter were the true charter members.

The first meeting was held in a shanty at the head of Mencke’s pier. “Ways and means were discussed, and Shand and Hobson were appointed to locate a site for the club, and to get the approval of Joe Brennan, who was Captain of the Port at the time.” 29 Eventually, Hobson suggested the club be named the Southwestern Yacht Club. 30

Subsequently, while exploring the bay and shore in a skiff, Shand and Hobson discovered that the only feasible spot in which the club would be able to locate was at the foot of Grape Street. Upon further investigation, it was decided by Brennan that this site was available for a rental charge of $1 per month.

Through the influence of Chartres-Martin, the Street Railway Company donated rails for construction of a pier. Heavy timbers and 2 x 4’s four feet long were purchased from Whiting-Mead Company for $27. Club members obtained additional timbers needed to complete the pier from a sea wall originally built by the city. Shand recalled, “[we] decided that the timbers would serve a better purpose on our pier than holding back the tide water on the flats, which were fast filling in anyway.” 31 Within one month, the pier was completed and ready for operation.

In the late Fall of 1926, the first clubhouse, 20′ x 40′ enhanced by a large fireplace and a tower housing a flashing light, was completed at a cost of $700. Consequently, the club membership increased to 42 by the end of the year. Dues of $3 per month were established, and a second 100 feet of frontage added.

In January, 1927, the club ground was landscaped by member F.A. Bode. (Bode had been responsible for landscaping at the 1915 Exposition in Balboa Park.) The club ground was San Diego’s first landscaped waterfront area. 32

Southwestern’s first regatta, under the banner of the Washington’s Birthday Handicap Invitational Race, was held on February 27, 1927. 33 The Chamber of Commerce supported preparations and local merchants donated six cups for prizes.

In 1934, the San Diego Yacht Club proposed a merger of the two clubs. Their proposal was turned down by one vote. Nevertheless, many of the larger boat owners were allowed to join the San Diego Yacht Club without paying an initiation fee. Five years later, in 1939, the Washington’s Birthday Handicap Trophy was deeded to the San Diego Yacht Club after a request by former Southwestern Yacht Club members. Today, however, this decision has been greatly regretted. 34

With the start of World War II, Port Captain Brennan hinted to the members of the Southwestern Yacht Club that they would have to relocate. As a result, members requested that the new site be at the foot of Qualtrough Street on Point Loma. This request was denied because the site had already been leased to sport-fishing groups.

In 1941, the members chose to move to a location near what later became the Harbor Boat and Yacht Yard. On October 31, 1941, the clubhouse at the foot of Grape Street was sold to the Lemon Grove Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars for $550. With this money and a loan from the San Diego Trust and Savings Bank, the building of a second clubhouse began. However, progress was impeded due to the rationing of material brought on by World War II. Construction had barely begun when members were notified that they would have to relocate for the third time. Consequently, the building was constructed on skids with flexible utility connections in anticipation of a future move. Finally, in 1946, the land on which the clubhouse was located was leased by the City to the Harbor Boat and Yacht Yard, and the Southwestern Yacht Club moved 400 feet westward. In 1948, with a membership of 160, a 20′ x 50′ addition to the clubhouse was constructed.

On March 27, 1951, the clubhouse was relocated to its present site at the foot of Qualtrough Street. Rent was established at $1 per member or $250 per month, whichever was greater. The club grew to 250 members by 1955, the construction of a fifth dock began, and an electric hoist was installed.

In 1970, the club faced severe financial problems and possible dissolution because of inflationary taxes and rent levied by the San Diego Unified Port District. It was during this time that members considered relocating to Mariner’s Point in Mission Bay or be forced out of existence. Fortunately, in 1971, a provision was written into the club’s lease with the Port District recognizing the value of the club’s recreationally oriented activities and calling for a rental charge of one-half of the normal commercial rate on their leased tideland property.

With the lease approved by the Port District, Southwestern Yacht Club members began to implement new building plans. However, before a loan was procured, a title search was necessary. According to Edward S. Soltesz, “this was not an easy thing to get done. Major insurance firms in San Diego refused help when it became known that Southwestern’s property had never been recorded in the official records of the County Recorder.” 35 Eventually, however, assistance was obtained from the First American Title Insurance Company of Los Angeles. The title company’s investigation proved that Southwestern’s lease was clear. With the title company’s guidance, members then sought to make sure that the lease was in conformance with the laws of California regarding the leasing of public lands to private concerns. It was then necessary to present club by-laws to the State Lands Commission for review and approval. The Commission requested the club to change certain sections of the by-laws considered not in accord with State laws. After these changes were made the Commission declared the club’s lease valid and a Title Insurance Policy was granted, thus enabling the club to borrow money successfully. 36

With a current membership of 400, the Southwestern Yacht Club is preparing for events which will commemorate their Golden Anniversary in 1975.

THE MISSION BAY YACHT CLUB

The Mission Bay Yacht Club was chartered in 1927, with Thomas O. Scripps serving as the club’s first commodore. According to Scripps, the yacht club was started by his brother-in-law, Austen T. Brown. 37 While visiting Coronado’s Tent City in 1925 Brown and Scripps noticed a small, dirty, neglected flapper (a popular boat at that time, built by Phillips and Stewart, one of the larger boat building firms in Los Angeles) tied to a float in front of the San Diego Yacht Club. Brown inquired and learned the boat belonged to the widow of a naval officer, and that it was for sale. Because it was so dilapidated, he paid $50.00. When new, the boat sold for $150.00. Brown and Scripps took the boat to Mission Bay where they started cleaning the moss out of it, only to discover that they were working with, as Scripps recalls, “a boat that was almost destroyed before we started.” 38 They continued, however, until the little flapper was again seaworthy.

Brown sailed almost every weekend. His competitive spirit prompted him to challenge other sailors to race on Mission Bay. This was the only flapper on Mission Bay at the time, and because the other boats were much larger, they always won, but, according to Scripps, “Austen could not have cared less; all he was interested in was whether he was closer than the last time when he finished.” 39

Brown and Scripps approached Alonzo de Jessop, Scripps’ uncle, who suggested they form a yacht club with provisions for a race committee chairman. There was a big promotion in those years of Mission Bay real estate. Brown and Scripps thought they could get the real estate investors to support a yacht club financially and in return make them life members of the club. They spoke with numerous people and found a real interest in the project, especially among members of the San Diego Yacht Club who had considerable experience. Then they contacted the people of Pacific and Mission Beach to encourage their participation. When Scripps and Brown called an organizational meeting, the response was enthusiastic and the Mission Bay Yacht Club was formed.

The new club raised $2,000 and built the first clubhouse—four walls and a roof built on stilts—on Crown Point where members obtained a fifty-year lease from the State of California.

Leo Carroll, who worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad, became the first race committee chairman. F. T. Scripps, Tom’s father, gave Carroll an old ten-gauge, double-barrel shotgun to use. At first Carroll took the shot out of the shells, however, the gun would not make any noise and the shot had to be put back in. “Although Leo would shoot the gun up in the air, it would still rain bullets.” 40

After World War II, the club secured a lease on three acres of land and three acres of water on El Carmel Point, the club’s present site. Plans were made to float the clubhouse from Crown Point to El Carmel Point, but “a closer look at the old lease revealed the improvements could not be moved.” 41 The members of the club then decided to build a new clubhouse on the new site.

During this same period Carl and Teddy Ackerman brought to the San Diego area the first Lightning class sailboat, the Tu Tu, which had originally been located at Pearl Harbor during the bombing in 1941. Two fleets were organized in the San Diego Bay area before Bill Pirie and other members of the Mission Bay Yacht Club secured a charter for Fleet No. 194 at the club. These larger boats could not be introduced to the Mission Bay area until dredging began.

Today, with Mission Bay fully dredged and beautifully developed, the Mission Bay Yacht Club is the only yacht club on the bay. According to Pirie,

The club has always been a small boat sailing club, primarily. We do have a number of motor boats. It has always been quite a family club and we have always encouraged juniors. The club is respected for its small boat sailing around the world. In fact, one of the most famous yachtsmen from the Mission Bay Yacht Club is Earl Elms. He has been five times world champion in the Snipe division. 42

Club members feel they have lived up to the original aim of the charter members, “A Corinthian Yacht Club where, regardless of station in life, we meet on a common ground—our favorite pastime, yachting.” According to Joe Hill, past commodore, the Mission Bay Yacht Club is still made up of amateur yachtsmen, people who have joined for the pleasure of sailing rather than for the prestige of belonging. 43

SILVER GATE YACHT CLUB

On March 5, 1952, nearly twenty-five years after the formation of the Mission Bay Yacht Club, twelve men met at the Point Loma Anchorage Lounge to organize the Silver Gate Yacht Club. According to Jack A. Fulton, a club founder, “John Bates attended this meeting and was instrumental in inspiring the club’s formation. Although not present at our first meeting, Alonzo de Jessop, who was usually known as the father of yachting in San Diego, gave us a lot of encouragement and help.” 44

The members received their charter from the State of California in November, 1952. 45 Charter members were: Beverley E. Alexander; Harvey L. Beagle; Wynne Bowen; Kenneth C. Brown; Charles W. DeWitt; Kenneth E. Eaton; Mildred Elder; Bruce K. Englehorn; Jack A. Fulton; Robert L. Gates; Lieut. Clarence U. Gebson; William P. Hall, Jr.; M. R. Hutchison; M. Dean Kennedy; Lawrence C. McArthur; D. C. Mitchell; John E. Nissen; B. L. Rhode; William J. Rumsey; Maxine Updegraff; Charles D. Willits; and Roy Miles Wood.

Most of the original club members were yachtsmen who chose not to join the established yacht clubs because of high initiation and membership fees. Silver Gate Yacht Club fees at that time were $10 for initiation and $9 per month dues.

In April, 1954, the club became a member of the Southern California Yachting Association, and one month later, a member of the Southern California Cruiser Association. By the end of 1954, plans for a clubhouse and dock were completed. Charter member Robert Gates contracted to build the docks, and another charter member, Roy Wood, contracted to build the clubhouse.

In 1960, “Doc” Shorts started the Wheelchair Regatta to take handicapped persons for a cruise on San Diego Bay. Shorts became ill the following year and James Spade has run the regatta since then. According to Lawrence W. Baldwin, “at the last regatta [usually held on the last Sunday in June] over 300 handicapped persons participated.” 46

The Silver Gate Yacht Club, according to Baldwin, is known along the coast as a cruising club. Yachtsmen have come from Canada, Washington, Oregon, and Northern California seeking cruising information from club members. Presently, the yacht club is not only the smallest yacht club on San Diego Bay, with a membership of approximately 150 (the club’s maximum due to their limitation in land space), but it is also the only non-commercial operation on Shelter Island. 47

POINT LOMA YACHT CLUB

In 1960, the Point Loma Yacht Club was organized with articles of incorporation filed on January 17, 1961. The club was created by yachtsmen whose boats were docked at local commercial anchorages, but who desired to race with the established yacht clubs in San Diego.

The club was headquartered at the Half Moon Inn with a unique arrangement whereby members were allocated an entire finger of slips. A locked gate was built across the finger at the point where the occupancy of the club members began. As membership grew, more slips were required, necessitating the moving of the gate further up the finger. Each move became an occasion for celebration. Major club activities centered around club cruises to Catalina Island and the Coronados.

Eventually, club membership grew to 73 with 35 yachts, until April, 1962, when it merged with the Southwestern Yacht Club.

CORONADO CAYS YACHT CLUB

In June, 1972, Joe Fitzpatrick addressed an open letter to the residents of the Coronado Cays community inviting them to attend a meeting at the Jamaica clubhouse for the purpose of organizing the Coronado Cays Yacht Club. At the meeting, officers were elected including Arthur W. (Bud) Holderness, commodore; William H. Dennick, vice commodore; Guy Chilberg, rear commodore; Wrenn H. Lawrence, fleet power captain; and George A. Lasko, fleet sail captain. The Coronado Cays Company assisted in efforts to organize the yacht club and offered the former office suite of developer Cedrick Sanders for use as a temporary clubhouse. 48

The club’s first race, the Coronado Cays Classic, was held on September 10, 1972. It was then included in the regular program and held once a month. An annual Ranger Round-up Regatta was started on May 11, 1974, with twenty-one yachts entered. In January, 1973, the Cays Company moved the club facility to its present and permanent home on Grand Caribe Isle. Early in 1973, the club’s charter was granted by the State of California. By 1974, membership increased to 150. Most members are residents of the Coronado Cays Community. Initiation fees are $100 per year with $24 dues collected each quarter. 49

ROWING CLUBS AND CREWS

SAN DIEGO ROWING CLUB

In 1888, the Excelsior Rowing and Swimming Club was formed with its first quarters at the foot of E Street, now Pacific Highway and E Streets. On July 11, 1891, an agreement was signed by President Walter Carnes, Captain J. G. Decatur, and Secretary W. J. Parker with L. A. Chandler. Through this agreement, Chandler was to provide accommodations for the club at a rental of $15 per month. He was also to alter his boathouse on the Fifth Street Pier for the club’s uses. In 1892, the members changed the name to the San Diego Rowing Club so it would be more representative of the entire city. The membership count was 112, total available assets were $243.62, and the club ordered two new shells of “the latest approved design” from Al Rogers of San Francisco. 50

In July, 1895, three years after the name change, the San Diego Rowing Club was incorporated with four of the original signers and life members still active—Edgar 0. Hodge, W. W. Whitson, E. J. Louis, and Albert E. Johnstone.

In 1900, the club moved to the Pacific Steamship Landing Dock at the foot of Fifth Street. From the dock there was a little railroad which carried passengers up to the beginning of Fifth Street where they could catch streetcars for other parts of town. Directly opposite the rowing club on the other side of the dock was the Johnson Swimming pool. Adjacent to the pool was the Zlac women’s rowing club. 51

Members of the rowing club originally rowed in skiffs which were open cockpit boats with sliding seats. Later they rowed in barges, a heavier open cockpit boat, four-oared with a coxswain. In 1892, they began rowing in shells which were four-oared without coxswain, marking the beginning of competitive shell racing for the club. Today the club has single-, double-, and four-oared shells for its members to use, and one eight-oared.

By the early 1900s the rowing club was the most important men’s club in San Diego. The membership grew at one time to 1,200, and it was said that anyone of importance was a member of the San Diego Rowing Club; the mayor, councilmen, president of a bank, and the president of the gas company all belonged. Membership was much more restricted then than it is today. Four hundred of the members were involved actively in rowing.

The club became a training ground for young athletes. There were boxing teams, four handball courts, canoes, basketball games, horseshoe pitching, bowling, and one of the best swimming teams in the nation. Along with these activities were dances, suppers on Brennan Island, and watermelon festivals.

Rowing became a prestigious activity. It was an honor to make the crews. There were junior, intermediate, and senior classifications. Most of the regattas were held on July 4, sometimes in San Francisco, and occasionally a regatta was held in Alameda around the estuary near the University of California rowing course.

When the regattas were out of town, rowing club members volunteered equipment and money to the crews sent to represent the club. Depending on where the regatta was located, the crews travelled by steamship or train.

These regattas were originally raced in barges and the courses were three-quarters to one and one-half mile turning courses. When the shells came into the use the races became straight-aways. The distances varied until the course was set at 2,000 meters, which is now the Olympic standard.

The regattas in San Diego were usually held off the Coronado shore. However, some took place on the main bay from North Island to the rowing club. The main bay course was the toughest because of the rough water created by commercial vessels. Eventually the courses were relocated to the lee side of North Island.

Rowers in the club were augmented at times by college and high school boys who wanted to continue the sport. Some eventually became coaches for the club, including Del Beakley, Frank Balhon, Max Winter, Dick Jessop, Louis Volsel, Anderson Borthwick, and Ted Stymen.

The San Diego Rowing Club at the present is having difficulties. San Diego citizens have available a wide variety of recreational opportunities; consequently, interest in rowing has decreased and the club’s prestige has dwindled. With the increase of commercial vessels on San Diego Bay, the present location for rowing is unsuitable. The large wakes made by these vessels make rowing impractical. In negotiations with the City of San Diego, the rowing club has expressed its desire to relocate to Santa Clara Point on Mission Bay where there are long stretches of protected, smooth water where the crews can work at least five miles in order to develop the necessary stamina. The City is hesitant to lease any more land in Mission Bay at this time, but has suggested that the San Diego Flood Control Channel adjacent to Mission Bay is adequate for rowing purposes and suitable for the club’s activities.

Long-time club member Anderson Borthwick points out that the channel is a poor site for rowing because of the hazards. There are abutments on bridge pilings that can ruin a shell in seconds. “Peculiar as it may seem, if there is an obstruction in the waterway, even though you are watching all of the time, the boats [might] collide.” 52 Also, National, Intercollegiate, or Olympic tryouts or contests cannot be held on a course that has obstructions such as those found in the Flood Control Channel.

ZLAC ROWING CLUB

Four years after the commencement of the San Diego Rowing Club, four girls, Lena, Agnes, Carolyn, and Zulette formed a small club for teenagers, a club which rowed on San Diego Bay in a leaky skiff. 53 Lena, Agnes, and Carolyn were the daughters of Captain Albert Alexander Polhamus, who was a pilot on the California coast for thirty-six years. During that time he was also a port captain in San Diego and captain of the Spreckels Company tug, the Santa Fe . He was also one of the men who encouraged the dredging of San Diego Bay’s main channel. Zulette Lamb was a good friend of the three Polhamus girls. In 1895 this small club was incorporated, becoming the first woman’s rowing club in San Diego. Eventually the girls’ interest in rowing inspired others in the community to take up the sport as a recreation.

Soon there were many crews on the bay, the State Normal School crews, the Colombia (1899), the Gondoliers (1895), the La Felucca (1895), the L’Esperance (1895), the Water Babies (1897), the Mariners (1899), the La Sierna (1899), the Las Corsarias (1901), the Olympia (1901), the Oceanic (1901), the White Caps (1901), the Nereids (1901), the YMCA (1904), the Nautilus (1904), and the YWCA (1905). Zlac is the only club that has survived. 54

Zlac invited the White Caps and the Mariners to merge with them. Fortunately, these two crews accepted the invitation because Zlac had only five cents in its treasury and some outstanding debts. According to Marjorie N. Breitenbach, past Zlac historian, “the club has been almost broke several times but never quite that broke.” 55 The clubhouse was originally located at the foot of Market Street about where the Navy pier is now.

In 1933, Mrs. F. D. Scripps donated a piece of land on Mission Bay to the club. There was a great deal of disagreement at that time about the location. Mission Bay was wild and isolated, and transportation from town to the clubhouse was a problem. The club moved in spite of these disadvantages.

During the World War II, club membership suffered from a severe attrition rate, the major cause being gasoline rationing. Many members did not want to retain membership in a club they would not be able to enjoy.

Today there are 750 members from ages 15 to 80. One of these members is Mrs. Patty Wyatt whose father is Clem Stose, past commodore of the San Diego Yacht Club. Mrs. Wyatt and Anderson Borthwick of the San Diego Rowing Club were two of the .people responsible for the San Diego 1973 Crew Classic which was held on Mission Bay on April 7, 1973. It was a national invitational regatta which featured the first appearance of the United States Naval Academy crew on the West Coast. The competition also included the University of Washington, the Western Sprint Champion in 1972. 56

The club is divided into crews. Thirty girls age fifteen are admitted every June and are classified as sub-juniors. When these girls reach college age they are classified as Mariners. Memberships in these crews can be opened and closed periodically by their participants.

Through the years Zlac has retained its prominence as the only women’s rowing club in San Diego. However, even now, when the club seems to be at its peak, it is facing a problem which might cause another severe drop in membership. The club’s tideland lease is about to expire, and the City of San Diego does not intend to renew it because it wants public access to the bay at the site. There is also talk of taking down all the piers. This would create a hardship for the club’s participants because their pier is used to hoist the shells into the water.

STATE NORMAL SCHOOL CREWS

The San Diego Rowing Club and the Zlac Rowing Club were inspiring factors for encouraging rowing. Within one year after the organization of the State Normal School in 1897, rowing became an active part of the collegiate physical education program as well as the school’s social structure. Mr. Lewis B. Lesley, professor of History at the school, wrote,

In the early days of the State Normal School the physical education program was indeed a problem. No facilities were available in the original home of the school … But there was San Diego Bay … Thus there came into being the first rowing club, renamed the San Diego State Normal Rowing Association in 1898. During the first years, almost all of the social life and physical activity of the school centered around the Rowing Association. The three original crews were known as the Sylphs, the Octopus, and the Asparas. 57

A school yearbook, the White and Gold , lists six other Normal School rowing crews; the Pristis (1898), the White Ducks (1902), the Rhine Golds (1904), the Dog Watch (1899), the Argonauts (1905), and the Glaucus (1904). 58

[These crews] were made up exclusively of girls, although the faculty, including President Black, formed a crew to join in the activity. A few crews were formed by boys, but the male members of the student body never reached the stage of formal crew organization. (By 1906) the physical education department had been divided into three groups: the Rowing Association, the Girls’ Athletic Association, and the Boys’ Athletic Association. By 1921 the women’s rowing crews at this time had become very selective in their choice of girls. Miss Tanner decided to correct this tendency… In 1923, she brought the Women’s Athletic Association … on campus … and the rowing crews, as social organizations, went out of existence. Rowing became merely one of the sports offered in the physical education program. Many of the old crews were reorganized as sororities through the years 1923, 1924, and 1925. By 1934 rowing was dropped from the curriculum because of the distance from the bay, and gone was the last connection of the women with one of the college’s oldest and finest traditions. 59

Today, although there are relatively fewer yacht clubs in San Diego than at the turn of the century, club membership has increased, and people are joining the existing clubs for the pleasure of sailing rather than for the prestige of belonging.

Interest in yachting has increased so much that local colleges and universities now offer many forms of boating as part of their physical education curriculum. Marinas offer lessons through boat rentals. Some boat dealers provide free lessons with each boat they sell. There are also two free land-based boating courses offered by the United States Power Squadrons, a non-profit organization dedicated to boating education. The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary is devoted to safe boating and offers lessons on rules of the road, safety, knots, and handling line. The City of San Diego offers lessons on Santa Clara Point in basic and advanced sailing. For military dependents, courses are given at the Naval Training Center, and at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. Moreover, during every Easter vacation period the American Red Cross offers courses on sailing on Glorietta Bay at Coronado.

Yachting has become an important part of the San Diego economy, culture, and physical environment. The benefits of yachting have increased significantly in the last twenty years. The San Diego Union, in 1950, reported there were 2,300 pleasure boats in San Diego County. 60 According to Ken L. Fairbrother, Acting Manager, Vessel Registration Section of the Department of Motor Vehicles, in 1960, there were 12,071 vessels; in 1970, there were 22,327 vessels; and, by 1972, boat registrations increased to 25,054, ranking San Diego County fifth statewide in total vessel registration. Of these boats, 24,193 were registered as pleasure vessels. 61

Economically these yachts provide a source of revenue for San Diego County. They also provide a yearly income for many of the residents in San Diego; ship chandlers, boat builders, and sail makers, to name but a few.

Commercial marinas have been built so those without their own boats may rent boats by the hour or day. Thousands are attracted year round to San Diego Bay and Mission Bay Aquatic Park solely for yachting, adding to the city’s tourist income. The city in return has created nine public launch ramps for interested yachtsmen.

Aesthetically, yachts have added beauty to the San Diego landscape, especially when the rainbow-colored spinnakers are billowing out from ships’ bows. Even when these delicate but sturdy vessels are moored, docked, or on trailers, they have a tailored appearance.

Recreationally, yachting has branched out in many areas. Along with pleasure sailing, there are informal races, organized regattas, and marlin derbies to name a few. Yachting truly “offers a varied play of nature’s beauties” complementing San Diego’s natural amenities, contributing to its economic welfare and generally enhancing the lives of the city’s residents.

1. Manfred Curry, Yacht Racing: The Aerodynamics of Sails and Racing Tactics (rev. ed.; Diessen-Munich, Germany: Jos C. Huber, 1930), p.3.

2. San Diego Herald , April 10, 1852, p. 10.

4. Elizabeth C. MacPhail, The Story of New San Diego and its FounderAlonzo E. Horton (San Diego: Pioneer Printers, 1969), p. 11.

5. Joseph F Jessop, private interview at the San Diego Yacht Club, San Diego, January, 1973.

6. San Diego Rowing Club, San Diego Rowing Club, 1888-1947 (San Diego: San Diego Rowing Club, 1947), p. 1.

7. The Tent City, south of Hotel del Coronado, consisted of more than 600 tent houses, palm cottages and bungalows, a dance pavilion, amusement row, main office, band pavilion, cafeteria, grocery and ice cream parlor. There was also a news stand and information bureau located on the main street opposite the office building which included the telegraph and post office. Telephones were also situated in different parts of the resort for the convenience of the patrons.

8. Joseph E. Jessop, private interview at the San Diego Yacht Club, San Diego, February, 1973.

9. Lawrence Perry, “They’re in the Navy Now; Yachting Has Gone to the War in Earnest,” Country Life , August, 1918, p. 33.

11. Jessop, private interview, January, 1973.

12. Irene Phillips, The Chula Vista Story , 1868-1968 (National City: South Bay Press, 1968), pp. 55-56.

13. Jessop, private interview, January, 1973.

14. The design of the original Lark, owned by a Mr. King of the New York Yacht Club, was printed in the 1898 issue of Rudder.

15. San Diego Union , August 30, 1901, p. 6.

16. Phillips, op. cit., p. 56.

17. Today, flat bottomed boats, however, have very little problem sailing on this portion of the bay.

18. Phillips, op. cit., p. 56.

20. Jerry MacMullen, telephone interview, San Diego, February, 1973.

21. “History of the Coronado Yacht Club,” Sea and Pacific Motor Boat , March, 1956, p. 1.

22. Teddy G. Ackerman, private interview aboard her yacht Bluebird , San Diego, August, 1974.

24. The James Craig Predicted Log Contest is the oldest Power Boat race in the world. It was organized in Boston in 1914. Prior to 1941, yachtsmen on the West Coast were not racing for its beautiful trophy. C. King Brugman convinced these men that the race could be held successfully on the West Coast. As a result, the contest has been run annually since 1946. The first half is from Long Beach to San Diego, with trophies awarded; the second half from San Diego to Long Beach, with trophies awarded.

25. Ackerman, private interview, August, 1974.

26. “History of the Southwestern Yacht Club,” Sea and Pacific Motor Boat , December, 1956, p. 1.

28. Graham Shand, historical notes given to the Southwestern Yacht Club, 1947.

30. According to the San Diego Union , November 21, 1916, there was a Southwestern Yacht Club organized by a group of men in which J. Stanley Hobson’s father, J. C. Hobson, was a member. Unfortunately, this club’s demise shortly followed. It is believed, however, by current members of the Southwestern Yacht Club, that J. S. Hobson’s suggestion of this name was from his past association as a boy with his father’s club.

31. Shand, op. cit.

32. Edward S. Soltesz, “Reflections From Our Historian,” Mooring Line , June 1974, p. 6.

33. Soltesz, Mooring Line , July 1974, p.6.

34. Soltesz, private interview at the Southwestern Yacht Club, San Diego, August, 1974.

35. Soltesz, private interview at his home, August, 1974.

37. Thomas O. Scripps, private interview at his home, San Diego, March, 1973.

41. William Pirie, private interview at his home, San Diego, February, 1973.

43. Joe Hill, private interview at the Mission Bay Aquatic Center, San Diego, January, 1973.

44. Jack A. Fulton, private interview at the Silver Gate Yacht Club, San Diego, August, 1974.

45. “History of the Silver Gate Yacht Club,” Sea and Pacific Motor Boat , March, 1957, p. 1.

46. Lawrence W. Baldwin, private interview at the Silver Gate Yacht Club, San Diego, August, 1974.

48. George A. Lasko, private interview at the Coronado Cays Yacht Club, Coronado, August, 1974.

49. Lasko, telephone interview, August, 1974.

50. San Diego Rowing Club, San Diego Rowing Club . 1888-1947 (San Diego: San Diego Rowing Club, 1947), p. 1.

51. An acronym from Zulette Lamb, Lena, Agnes, and Carolyn Polhamus, the original charter members of this club.

52. Anderson Borthwick, private interview at his home, San Diego, March, 1973.

53. This was probably the beginning of women’s rowing in San Diego.

54. Marjorie N. Breitenbach, private interview at the Zlac Rowing Club, San Diego, March, 1973.

56. San Diego Union , March 15, 1973, p. COI.

57. Lewis B. Lesley, San Diego State College , The First Fifty Years (San Diego: San Diego State College, 1947), p.77.

58. San Diego State College, White and Gold (San Diego: San Diego State College, 1898-1905).

59. Lesley, op. cit ., pp. 77-78, 80, 82.

60. Marguerite Sullivan, ed., “Sailing Tips for Beginners,” reprints from the San Diego Union , 1972, p. 1.

61. Letter from Ken L. Fairbrother, Acting Manager, Vessel Registration Section of the Department of Motor Vehicles, January 15, 1973.

Linda M. Pearce Nolte received her B.A. in recreation administration and a M.A. in physical education from San Diego State University. Mrs. Nolte has worked as a subsitute teacher for San Diego City Schools, taught as a graduate teaching assistant for one year at San Diego State University, and is currently on the part-time faculty at Grossmont College. This article was adapted from her Masters Thesis at San Diego State University.

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37º 01' 12.52" N 76º 20' 38.43" W

Why join our club?

Annual Race Management Seminar for those members who are interested in working on the Club’s Race Committees. This supports the Sailboat Racing Program.

Periodically, lectures and general interest programs are presented after monthly membership meetings.

Two annual clam digs followed by a clam bake on the docks.

Annual Pig Pickin'.

Special parties and dinners on Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and other special occasions.

Annual Fishing Tournament and Fish Fry.

Sail training for adults using the clubs Sonar Fleet.

An active sail training program for juniors. Training courses range from beginner to advanced racer with children starting the program as early as age 6.

Children’s Christmas party.

Organized Club cruises for both sail and power boats. In addition, many spontaneous cruises with associated parties are enjoyed by HYC members.

Members and their guest are invited to two large parties sponsored by the club each year, the annual Christmas party and the spring Flag Raising party.

The Mainsheet is a monthly newsletter sent to all members that provides timely news on the club’s activities, treasurer’s report, dining room specials, racing results, and much more.

What Members Say

"I can't imagine any club, anywhere that provides the level of amenities, hospitality, service and friendship that this club continues to present to its members and visitors"

APPLICATION Process

Individuals desiring election to membership in the Hampton Yacht Club must, through their primary sponsor, submit a completed Hampton Yacht Club application form to the Club Secretary. An application may be signed by the primary sponsor. The candidate must complete and return the application along with the initiation fee to the primary sponsor, who then returns the application to the Club. Each completed application shall contain the signatures of the primary and secondary sponsors as well as the names of two additional member references. The application must also be accompanied by a letter of recommendation from the primary sponsor.

The application is presented to the Board of Director at the following board meeting. If approved by the Board of Directors, the Secretary shall post the candidate’s application for thirty days after which the Board of Directors shall act on the application with eight affirmative votes required to elect the candidate.

RECIPROCITY

Like most US yacht clubs HYC is a member of Yachting Club of America ( ycaol.com ).  Registered clubs normally offer reciprocity to other club’s members which typically includes use of the club’s facilities and the ability to rent transient dockage on a space available basis. The YCoA  book which lists member clubs and their offerings is available in the club office. Member clubs include Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans, San Diego Yacht Club, and many more.

Additionally, HYC has historically had special arrangements with a few Bay clubs which offer limited free dockage.

One Free Night Per Year

One free night per month.

Fishing Bay YC Mathews Yacht Club Rappahannock YC Two Rivers YC Warwick YCC

ONE FREE NIGHT PER QUARTER, PLUS COURTESY BILLING

Norfolk YCC

SECOND NIGHT FREE

Indian Creek YCC Gibson Island Sailing Squadron

COURTESY BILLING

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