seattle yacht club membership

Yacht On Sail

Live Rich. Yacht. Dream.

Discover the Best Yacht Clubs in Seattle: A Guide to Top Amenities, Membership, and Social Activities

Table of Contents

Introduction to Yacht Clubs in Seattle

Seattle, also known as the “Emerald City,” is a popular destination for boating enthusiasts. With its stunning waterfront views, diverse boating opportunities, and vibrant boating community, it’s no wonder why Seattle is a popular spot for yacht clubs.

Yacht clubs offer a range of benefits to boaters, including access to exclusive events, networking opportunities, and boating resources and services. Whether you’re a seasoned boater or a novice looking to get started, joining a yacht club in Seattle can enhance your boating experience and provide you with a sense of community.

But with so many yacht clubs in Seattle to choose from, it can be difficult to know where to start. In this series of blogs, we’ll explore the best yacht clubs in Seattle, the benefits of joining a yacht club, and factors to consider when choosing a club. We’ll also provide a detailed review of the top yacht clubs in Seattle, and a comparison of their features, amenities, and membership fees.

So whether you’re looking for a yacht club to join, or simply curious about the boating scene in Seattle, this series of blogs will provide you with all the information you need. Let’s dive in!

Benefits of Joining a Yacht Club in Seattle

Joining a yacht club in Seattle comes with a range of benefits for boaters. Let’s take a closer look at some of the advantages of becoming a yacht club member:

Networking opportunities

Yacht clubs provide a platform for boaters to connect and network with other like-minded individuals. Whether you’re looking to socialize, share boating tips, or discuss your latest boating adventures, a yacht club can provide you with a community of fellow boaters.

Access to exclusive events

Yacht clubs often host a range of exclusive events, such as regattas, boat shows, and social gatherings. These events provide a great opportunity to meet other boaters, learn new skills, and enjoy the boating lifestyle.

Boating resources and services

Many yacht clubs offer a range of boating resources and services to their members, such as boat storage, maintenance, and repair. This can save boaters time and money, and ensure that their boats are always in top condition.

Discounts and perks

Yacht club members often enjoy discounts and perks on boating-related products and services, such as boat rentals, fuel, and dockage fees. This can help offset the cost of membership and provide additional value to members.

Overall, joining a yacht club in Seattle can enhance your boating experience, provide you with a sense of community, and offer a range of benefits and services. In the next blog, we’ll explore factors to consider when choosing a yacht club in Seattle.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Yacht Club in Seattle

Choosing the right yacht club in Seattle is an important decision that can have a significant impact on your boating experience. Here are some factors to consider when selecting a yacht club:

Location and accessibility

The location of a yacht club is an important factor to consider, especially if you plan to use your boat frequently. Look for a yacht club that is conveniently located and easily accessible, with ample parking and transportation options.

Membership fees and requirements

Yacht club membership fees can vary significantly, so it’s important to find a club that fits your budget. Additionally, some clubs have specific membership requirements, such as a minimum age, boating experience, or sponsorship from an existing member.

Amenities and facilities

Yacht clubs offer a range of amenities and facilities, such as restaurants, bars, swimming pools, and fitness centers. Consider what amenities are important to you, and look for a club that offers the facilities you need.

Social activities and events

Yacht clubs often host social activities and events, such as parties, dinners, and guest speaker series. Look for a club that offers a range of activities that align with your interests and hobbies.

Here is a video related to this post:

Culture and atmosphere

Each yacht club has its own unique culture and atmosphere, so it’s important to find a club that aligns with your values and personality. Consider visiting the club and speaking with members to get a sense of the culture

Review of the Seattle Yacht Club

The Seattle Yacht Club (SYC) is one of the oldest and most prestigious yacht clubs in Seattle, founded in 1892. Located on Portage Bay, SYC offers a range of amenities and services for boaters, including boat storage, maintenance, and repair. Here’s a closer look at what the Seattle Yacht Club has to offer:

The Seattle Yacht Club has two locations, one in Portage Bay and the other on the shores of Lake Union. Both locations offer easy access to popular boating destinations in Seattle, with ample parking and transportation options.

The Seattle Yacht Club has a tiered membership structure, with different levels of membership based on boating experience and age. Membership fees start at $550 per year and increase based on the level of membership. The club also requires sponsorship from existing members for new members to join.

The Seattle Yacht Club offers a range of amenities and facilities, including a restaurant, bar, fitness center, and swimming pool. The club also has a full-service marina, with 180 slips for boats up to 70 feet in length.

The Seattle Yacht Club hosts a range of social activities and events, including regattas, cruises, and guest speaker series. The club also has a youth sailing program, offering sailing lessons and camps for children and teenagers.

The Seattle Yacht Club has a strong sense of community and camaraderie, with a focus on boating and water-related activities. The club also has a rich history and tradition, with a commitment to preserving the maritime heritage of the Pacific Northwest.

Overall, the Seattle Yacht Club is a top choice for boaters in Seattle, with its range of amenities, services, and social activities. However, the club’s membership requirements and fees may not be suitable for everyone. In the next blog, we’ll explore another top yacht club in Seattle.

Review of the Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle

The Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle (CYC) is another top yacht club in Seattle, with a rich history and a strong commitment to boating and water-related activities. Here’s a closer look at what the Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle has to offer:

The Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle is located in Shilshole Bay, with easy access to popular boating destinations in Seattle. The club has ample parking and transportation options, including a shuttle service to and from downtown Seattle.

The Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle has a range of membership options, including full membership, social membership, and junior membership. Membership fees start at $500 per year and increase based on the level of membership. The club does not require sponsorship from existing members.

The Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle offers a range of amenities and facilities, including a restaurant, bar, fitness center, and swimming pool. The club also has a full-service marina, with 150 slips for boats up to 65 feet in length.

The Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle hosts a range of social activities and events, including regattas, cruises, and guest speaker series. The club also has a youth sailing program, offering sailing lessons and camps for children and teenagers.

The Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle has a strong sense of community and camaraderie, with a focus on boating and water-related activities. The club also has a commitment to environmental sustainability, with initiatives to reduce the club’s carbon footprint and promote sustainable boating practices.

Overall, the Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle is a top choice for boaters in Seattle, with its range of amenities, services, and social activities. The club’s flexible membership options and commitment to environmental sustainability make it an attractive choice for boaters who value these qualities.

In conclusion, Seattle is home to several top-notch yacht clubs, each with its own unique history, culture, and amenities. Whether you’re a seasoned boater or just starting out, there’s a yacht club in Seattle that’s right for you.

The Seattle Yacht Club is one of the oldest and most prestigious yacht clubs in Seattle, with a range of amenities and services for boaters. The Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle is another top choice, with flexible membership options and a commitment to environmental sustainability.

When choosing a yacht club in Seattle, it’s important to consider factors such as location, accessibility, membership fees and requirements, amenities and facilities, social activities and events, culture and atmosphere, and overall reputation.

No matter which yacht club you choose, you’ll have access to some of the best boating and water-related activities that Seattle has to offer. So grab your boat, gather some friends and family, and join one of Seattle’s top yacht clubs for an unforgettable boating experience.

For more information on Yachts, we suggest reading this article !

Hope this helps! If you liked reading this article then you’ll surely love reading this article too!

Related posts:

• Discover the Best Yacht Clubs in New York State | Top 5 Clubs to Visit
• Discover the Best Yacht Club in San Francisco: A Comprehensive Guide
• Discover the Top 6 Yacht Clubs in San Diego for Boaters
• Discover the Best Yacht Clubs in Fairfield County, CT: A Comprehensive Guide

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

How Much To Join Seattle Yacht Club?

Table of Contents:

The Seattle Yacht Club offers two types of memberships, with the initiation fee determined by the age of the new member on the date the application is completed. Membership fees start at Club hours from Monday to Sunday and are based on boating experience and age. The club welcomes Northwest boaters ages 10 who wish to join its active community. Members are entitled to various benefits, including the top 5% membership, which has a U.S. income threshold of 290,185, about one-third of the income needed to be a one-percenter.

The club hosts a world-class clubhouse, with the first clubhouses built in 1892 and 1909 in West Seattle. The Portage Bay clubhouse between Lakes is currently the clubhouse. The cost of an annual yacht club membership can vary widely depending on factors such as the location of the club, amenities offered, and exclusivity of the club.

The Seattle Yacht Club has reciprocal moorage with over 70 yacht clubs in the Puget Sound and Canada. The initiation fee is only 100 for a social membership. Membership with SYC offers use of Elliott Bay clubhouse facilities, discounted Elliott Bay moorage (subject to availability), and access to 10 Outstations.

Membership dues range from $100 for Yeoman (ages 10-17) to $200 for Bosun (ages 18-29). Unlimited day sailing all boats in the fleet is available. Membership dues vary based on age, seniority, honorary life, non-resident, and business membership. Joining the Seattle Yacht Club is an investment in lifestyle, camaraderie, and camaraderie.

📹 Freedom Boat Club – What does it cost to belong and is it right for you?

Joining Freedom Boat Club might be a better choice for you to be able to enjoy boating if the cost of membership is within your …

Is 40 too old for yachting?

Superyacht crews are usually brimming with youth and energy. An older person can dream of working on a superyacht—a lavish, luxurious environment with high-end standards and wages. However, they may feel like they are too old to ‘fit in’ on a superyacht. Well, let us tell you this: there is no upper age limit to work on a superyacht. The only thing that’s holding you down from pursuing this opportunity is your self-esteem. So, if you are feeling too old to work on a yacht, this article will convince you otherwise.

Especially if you have experience working as a seafarer on a different vessel type or have rich experience in the hospitality industry. While you are never too old to work on a superyacht, you are still expected to bring relevant experience. If you are someone like that, then fret not. The superyacht industry welcomes a mature, experienced candidate onboard.

So, What makes an Older Person a Valuable Asset on a Superyacht?. There are plenty of reasons. Some of them could be personal but we will be focusing on objective reasons in this article.

Is 55 too old to be a yacht stewardess?

40+ Can Find Work On A Yacht. A lot of it comes down to your personality, if you are hard working, well presented and can get on well with people then you will find work. If you are slightly older, it may take you slightly longer to find work but it is certainly not impossible.

A lady in her 40’s trained with us a few months ago to become a yacht stewardess and she found work no problem.

Being older does mean you can offer extra maturity and experience to the role, which may help you progress up the ladder quicker to a management or more senior role.

Is a yacht club worth it?

You can justify the price at the end of your cruise. Overall, the best way to explain my enthusiasm for my MSC Yacht Club experience is this: it’s better to book an interior stateroom in the Yacht Club than a luxe cabin outside the Yacht Club. It’s worth the splurge and you return home feeling truly pampered and it’s money well-spent. And I make this prediction: Once you try a ship-within-a-ship concept like the MSC Yacht Club, you won’t want cruise any other way. Bon Voyage!

What is the average age of yacht club members?

Notice that in 1960, the average age of a new club member was 32 years old. By 1993, the average newcomer was over 60, and the age has hovered around 55 ever since. So during the heyday, when sailing was growing, its advocates were right in the middle of the years of active parenting. They were bringing their kids. And they were recruiting their friends who were often about the same age. And they were bringing their kids.

Over the years, as the core group aged, the same advocates no longer had kids at home and their good efforts to introduce new friends resulted in newcomers of about the same age (and also without kids.) So clubs (and sailing) began to shrink when the typical club newcomer became an empty-nester or a retiree, and now sailing is no longer a sport enjoyed by families.

It’s also telling that at this specific club, where today there is a strong commitment to a junior sailing program, there is only one member child in it. The rest of the kids who participate arrive via schools or other youth clubs, or their non-member, non-sailing parents drop them off.

What is the largest yacht club in the United States?

The Detroit Yacht Club The Detroit Yacht Club, founded in 1868, is the largest and one of the oldest most prestigious private Clubs in North America.

The historic Detroit Yacht Club was founded shortly after the Civil War in 1868 and has served as host to over 100 years of U.S. Presidents, local Statesmen, Royalty and the Hollywood elite. It has remained viable through the Great Depression while serving five generations of members and families. The health and vitality of the DYC is evident in the beautifully maintained 1920s Mediterranean-style villa that continues to be the largest yacht club in the United States while being the twelfth oldest.

A small clubhouse and sailing shed were built at the foot of McDougall Street, just south of Jefferson Avenue in the late 1870’s. In the early 1880’s, dissension tore the Club apart concerning the expansion of the Club’s social activities. A faction formed the Michigan Yacht Club in 1882. This caused the membership to revitalize the DYC and elect James Skiffington as the Commodore in 1884. A sail racing schedule was introduced and the DYC was here to stay.

The first clubhouse was erected on Belle Isle in 1891 at a cost of $10,000, with an additional $2,000 spent on furnishings. It was destroyed by fire in 1904. A new clubhouse was erected immediately on the ashes of the old clubhouse.

How do you become a yacht member?

Q: What qualifications do you need to work on a yacht?. A: The necessary qualifications vary depending on the role you aspire to fill. The STCW certification is a minimum requirement for all yacht crew members. Additional qualifications such as deckhand training, culinary courses, or engineering certifications may be necessary for specific roles.

Q: How much do you get paid to work on a yacht?. A: Salaries in the yachting industry can vary greatly depending on factors such as the size of the yacht, the level of experience, and the role you hold. Entry-level positions typically start around $2,000 to $3,000 per month, while senior positions and specialized roles can earn significantly higher salaries.

Q: Can I work on a yacht with no experience?. A: While having prior experience in the maritime industry or hospitality can be advantageous, it is possible to get yacht jobs with no experience. Entry-level positions such as deckhand or stewardess roles are often available for individuals willing to learn and work their way up.

How much does it cost to be on a yacht?

Therefore, yacht charters have a wide range of base prices. That’s why charters can cost from $10,000 per week on smaller sailing yachts and catamarans, up to $150,000+ per week on the most luxurious motor superyachts.

What else can you expect to pay? This overview – a part of our planning resource, the Charter Advice Guide – offers an in-depth look at charter yacht costs.

Yacht Charter Price Structure: “All-Inclusive” vs “Plus Expenses”. In the world of yachting, two types of crewed yacht charters are available to you – “All-Inclusive” and “Plus Expenses” charter experiences. What do these terms mean exactly? Here’s a quick look:

How much do yacht members make?

In general, though, there are standard ranges that you can expect for each of the main yacht crew jobs. They are: Captain: $65,000 per year to $125,000 per year. First Officer or First Mate: $48,000 per year to $80,000 per year.

Even though most people that work on yachts do it primarily because they love the lifestyle, it is still a job and the pay and benefits associated with it are important. Working on a yacht is not easy, and depending on the type of yacht and whether it is privately owned, you may be expected to be available at a moment’s notice. All of this can lead to receiving very good pay and benefits. In this article, you’ll learn about the average pay ranges for the most common jobs in the industry, the additional perks and benefits you may receive, and all about the typical contract for yacht crew members.

The Pay. If you have absolutely no experience working on a yacht or in the hospitality industry, you may want to volunteer to work on a cruise or two. First, this can provide you with experience you can add to your resume, which will help you get a paying a job. Second, it can help you decide if yachting really is a good career for you before you sign a contract and commit to it. However, once you get a paying job, there are many factors that play into how much money you will earn. Here are the main factors that determine how much you’ll be offered:

• The job: the more skills, training, and experience needed to do it, the higher the pay will be. Captains receive the highest salaries, stewards and deckhands can receive the lowest.
• The yacht: is the yacht privately owned? Chartered? Is it large with many crew members or small with just a few? Larger, privately owned yachts tend to pay higher salaries, although there are always exceptions to this “rule.”
• You: Is this your first job? Second? Have you had extensive training or years of experience? Do you have glowing recommendations from previous captains or owners? All of these can affect the salary you are offered.

How do you become a member of the Seattle Yacht Club?

Each membership application needs one primary sponsor and three other members to serve as recommenders (all must be voting or Surviving members of SYC). The application process begins when a voting member of SYC checks out an application packet and becomes the applicant’s sponsor.

Initiation Fees & Membership Dues. For an individual membership, the initiation fee is determined by the age of the new member on the date the application is completed. Monthly dues adjust throughout the life of a membership as it advances from one class to another.

We encourage married couples to apply for a joint membership. For a joint membership, there is one initiation fee, whichis determined by the age of the older spouse on the date the application is completed. Monthly dues are determined using the birth date of the older spouse. As with an individual membership, monthly dues adjust throughout the life of a membership as it advances from one class to another.

To request a chart of initiation fees and membership dues,please contact SYC’sMembership Director.

What does it mean to be a member of a yacht club?

Organized and run by the membership, Yacht Clubs became a place to promote the sport of sailboat racing and cruising, as well as provide a meeting place for the particular social community. The membership is a mixture of people with specific recreational affinities, and the members often include those who sail as crew for cruising or racing, as well as boat owners. Also it is up to the members decide on the objectives of the club to satisfy the membership and to attract other like-minded individuals. For example, some clubs include owners of powerboats, while others specifically exclude them. In order to overcome difficulties concerning the affinities of their members one particular club may have two sections, a sailing section and a powerboat section.

Members Clubs often have paid staff for catering, bar duty, boat yard duty, accounts, office etc. Control and organization of the club is done for the membership via members elected by the membership into roles such as Sailing Secretary, Commodore, Cruising Captain, Racing Captain etc. Smaller clubs typically have a condition of membership which requires active participation of the membership in activities such as maintenance of club facilities and equipment.

Unlike the classical clubs where the membership is the focus, certain ‘clubs’ are run on a commercial basis. They may be owned by individuals or a company to provide a service and generate a profit. Often they are associated with a particular marina or port. Objectives are usually broadly similar to members clubs, but the social side may be more dominant.

How much does it cost to join the California Yacht Club?

California Yacht Club–1,225 members. Two sponsors required. $1,500 initiation fee, $104 monthly.

NOTE: There are no waiting lists or membership requirements unless otherwise noted. Clubs are seeking new members unless otherwise noted.

Alamitos Bay Yacht Club 494 members, all sailboaters. Five sponsors and boat ownership required. Three-month waiting list. Initiation fees and dues are confidential.

American Legion Yacht Club 200 members. Two sponsors required. No initiation fees, $25 a year dues.

How many members does Seattle Yacht Club have?

SYC is one of Washington State’s oldest and most enduring institutions and in 2010, the National Register of Historical Places listed the SYC Mainstation as a historic resource. Membership has grown from the original 250 “yachting gentlemen” in 1892 to nearly 5,000 boaters.

Accomplished boaters, both sailors and powerboaters, have won hundreds of championships and awards, including Olympic medals. The Club hosts a world-class junior sailing program, which has given a start to numerous generations of Northwest sailors. Members come from every socioeconomic background and the SYC Foundation provides funding for youth sailing classes and community boating projects.

The Portage Bay Mainstation buzzes with activity most days of the year. From its beginning, it’s where members have celebrated their boating life and community. Today, the Club calendar records weddings, life celebrations, sail and powerboat events, family picnics, holiday parties, and committee meetings. It hosts Women’s Group activities, Men’s Lunches, Junior Group activities, gourmet quality dinners, sailing classesand more. Boating and the love of being on the water are the center of every activity, including community service. Opening Day, the Club’s annual spring celebration, is the region’s premier on-the-water event. The internationally known Unlimited Hydroplane Seafair Race week was originated by SYC in conjunction with the City of Seattle.

Members cruise to 10spectacular Outstations dispersed on the waters of Western Washington and British Columbia.The Club enjoys these amenities thanks to members’ significant efforts and contributions over the years.

📹 Everything you need to know – Yacht Clubs – Worth It?? Ep 155 – Lady K Sailing

Support Lady K – http://www.patreon.com/ladyksailing Or http://www.ladyksailing.com/team-k Are yacht clubs worth it?

Related Articles:

• How Do You Join Msc Yacht Club?
• How Much To Join Edisto Yacht Club?
• How Much To Join The Lauderdale Yacht Club?
• How Much To Join The St Francis Yacht Club?
• How To Join Bored Ape Yacht Club?
• How To Join Hilo Yacht Club?

Debbie Green

I am a school teacher who was bitten by the travel bug many decades ago. My husband Billy has come along for the ride and now shares my dream to travel the world with our three children.The kids Pollyanna, 13, Cooper, 12 and Tommy 9 are in love with plane trips (thank goodness) and discovering new places, experiences and of course Disneyland.

You may also like

How To Work As A Guide In Your Area?

How To Arrange A Trip In A Motorized Wheelchair With A Child?

How To Insall Water Ski Rack Pontoon Boat?

How Were Sailing Ships Docked?

How To Prepare The Interior Of A Little House For Travel?

How Much Money Should I Bring To Myrtle Beach For Vacation?

Add comment, cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Recent Posts

Who Made A Playbouy Yachtsman Pontoon?

Are We Going To Outlaw Travel From India?

How Does Norovirus Spread On Cruise Ships?

• Other 26383

Latest Comments

• vernalc2449 on How Much Does The Average Cruise Ship Weigh?
• Federal-tg6yi on Is Traveling To Armenia, Colombia, Safe?
• bharaninathkomandur6330 on Why Is Transplant Tourism Still Allowed In The Us?
• MegaBob222222 on How To Cancel A Royal Caribbean Cruise Reservation?
• saraandstuartshannon2160 on Can You Snorkel When On Your Period?

Tip of the day!

Do Cheetahs Roam In Packs Or Alone?

Member Login

Login instructions.

Forgot Password:  This function only works if you have logged in to this website using the temporary password referenced below and updated your password.  Your password and the answer to the security question you selected are case-sensitive. Member Number:  Use your member number to log in to the website. All member numbers are five digits ending with a ‘-1’ or a ‘-2’ (i.e. 0123-1 or 0123-2).  Don't forget the hyphen! If you have an individual membership , your member number ends in ‘-1’ (i.e. 0123-1).  If you have a joint membership , the older spouse or the member who joined first has a member number ending in ‘-1’. The younger spouse or the member who was added to the membership after marriage or after Joint Membership was introduced in 2014 has a member number ending in ‘-2’ (i.e. 0123-2).   Password: If you have not logged in to this website before, your temporary password is the first initial of your first name followed by your last name, all lowercase (i.e. John Doe would be jdoe). If you have two words in your first name, enter both letters before your last name (i.e. Anne Marie Smith would be amsmith). If your last name has a space between two words, enter a space in your password between the two words. After you click SIGN IN you will be prompted to change your password before you access the site. Please note that passwords are case-sensitive.

• About The Club
• On the Water
• Press Releases

• 1807 E HAMLIN ST.
• SEATTLE, WA 98112
• T (206) 325-1000

Privacy Policy

HistoryLink.org

• This Week Then
• Today in Washington History
• New This Week
• Upcoming Event
• About Washington
• Roll of Honor
• Book Reviews
• In the Classroom
• History Day
• Curriculum Materials
• Staff & Historians
• Trustees & Advisers
• Publications
• Commissioned Work
• Work with Us
• HistoryLunch

Seattle Yacht Club

• By John Caldbick
• Posted 1/26/2013
• HistoryLink.org Essay 10176

The Seattle Yacht Club, at 1807 E Hamlin Street on Portage Bay in the Montlake neighborhood, has been a Seattle institution well more than a century. First founded, briefly, in 1879, its existence was somewhat tenuous and sporadic until 1892, when the direct predecessor of today's club was formed. Since merging with the Elliott Bay Yacht Club in 1909, the Seattle Yacht Club has weathered good times and bad, wars and the Great Depression, and huge societal changes. The club's true renaissance came after World War I when, with the Lake Washington Ship Canal completed, it moved to a stately new home on the eastern shore of Portage Bay, where it remains. Founded by the city's social and financial elite and exclusive by nature, the club over the years has become increasingly engaged with the wider community and today offers many services and activities to the public while constantly expanding and improving the benefits it provides to its more than 2,500 members. 

Water, Water, Everywhere

The Pacific Northwest is blessed with abundant sheltered waters that have nurtured and carried the region's people since the earliest days of human habitation. Indigenous peoples used the rivers, the lakes, and the waters of the Puget Sound Basin for transportation and commerce for millennia, traveling great distances in dugout canoes to trade, to fish, to fight, or simply to move from one place to another. It is also likely that Northwest tribes engaged in canoe races before first contact with non-Natives. Later, the vanguard of European explorers in their sailing ships sheltered in our bays, and the earliest European trappers and traders from the eastern part of the continent used the inland waterways much as the Indians did.

The focus of early white settlers was on survival, with little time, energy, or resources left for organized sport. But as communities became established, prosperity and leisure time increased, and the water became a major focus of recreation. One source states that "the beginning of pleasure boating in the Northwest" dates to 1874, when Captain Charles E. Clancy of Olympia built a small sharpie (a flat-bottomed sailboat using a removable centerboard) that he named the Tilden (Warren, 4). This is a somewhat arbitrary date, however, and there was no doubt earlier recreational use of the local waters.

Even if Olympia could claim credit as the cradle of Northwest pleasure boating, Seattle was not far behind. The first organized sailboat race in the city celebrated Independence Day in 1875 and became a near-annual event. In the 1880s a well-to-do Seattle doctor, Frederick W. Sparling (1825-1909) had several boats built strictly for pleasure use, and he is considered by some to have been the true father of recreational boating in the city.

A Beginning

Yacht clubs had been a fixture on the East Coast since at least 1838, when the Narragansett Boat Club was organized in Rhode Island. The first on the West Coast was the San Francisco Yacht Club, founded in 1869. By one count, by 1879 there were 61 yacht clubs around the nation -- most on the East Coast, a few on the Great Lakes, but only two in the West.

The first public mention of a "Seattle Yacht Club" was an 1879 newspaper announcement of an upcoming race (Warren, 4). The next year the club participated in an Independence Day race, then sank from view. Between 1881 and 1889 the only trace of an organization bearing that name appears to be a brief newspaper mention in 1886. A Seattle Yacht Club may have existed, but for every year other than 1886 no evidence has been found to prove it one way or the other.

A New Beginning

The year 1889 was a remarkable one for Seattle. The Great Fire of June 6 destroyed much of the city's commercial core and every waterfront wharf from Jackson to Union streets. Barely five months later, Washington Territory, after a long campaign and several disappointments, became the nation's 42nd state. The grant of statehood marked a full coming of age; the fire, although a disaster, gave the city a clean slate on which to create a new urban core. Seattle bubbled with ambition and optimism.

The annual July 4th regatta and race picked up again in 1890 after just a one-year hiatus caused by the fire. A booklet dated that year has a constitution and bylaws for a Seattle Yacht Club and identifies its elected officers: Dr. Sparling as commodore; George E. Budlong, vice commodore; John W. Brauer, secretary; and R. S. Clark, measurer (to certify that boats were racing in the appropriate class). But this Seattle Yacht Club proved no more durable than its predecessor and disappeared from the public record after that year's regatta.

A New New Beginning

In the late 1800s yacht clubs began forming in other Puget Sound towns: Tacoma's in 1889, the Anacortes Yacht Club in 1891, and the Fairhaven Yacht Club in Whatcom County at about the same time. Such organizations were seen as emblematic of success, both civic and individual. During the last decade of the nineteenth century Seattle would have two yacht clubs, and today's Seattle Yacht Club (SYC) is the direct descendant of both.

In August 1892, seven sailing clubs formed the Northwestern International Yachting Association (NIYA) in Bellingham. When the NIYA invited individual Seattle yachtsmen to join, D. M. Simonson, a relative newcomer from New York, used an interview with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer to push for the formation of a new local yacht club. He was seconded in the article by Pierson Haviland, a Seattle realtor, who said:

"With the advantages we have in beautiful and convenient waters, we should have a yachting and rowing club here very soon that will excite the interest and admiration of the citizens of this city" (Warren, 16).

Three weeks later, on August 2, 1892, a meeting in the new Bank of Commerce building at 92 Yesler Way in Seattle kicked off the new club. Two hundred charter memberships were on offer for $5 each; those who joined later would pay $25. Monthly dues were set at one dollar. Committees were appointed, and two delegates were dispatched to Victoria to secure membership in the Northwestern International Yachting Association.

On September 3, 1892, the inaugural officers of the Seattle Yacht Club were elected, including, as commodore, Fred E. Sander (b. 1854), identified by historian Clarence Bagley (1843-1942) as "the first real estate operator of Seattle" (Bagley, at 761). Although the club would not formally register with the state as a corporation until 1901, its unbroken existence through today (2012) can be traced back to these 1892 events.

The first home for the Seattle Yacht Club was a 200-foot strip of shoreline just southeast of Duwamish Head on the inside harbor, leased in 1892 from the West Seattle Land Improvement Company for a dollar a year. A float and boathouse were towed to the site, and the club was in business. Before the year was out, a clubhouse on shore, two stories tall with a tower, had been built, financed in large part by the prepayment of annual membership dues.

Boom to Bust to Boom

The massive rebuilding after the 1889 fire led boosters to call Seattle "the boomingest place on earth." Then, on May 3, 1893, the New York Stock Exchange went into freefall, setting off a financial crisis that would throttle the nation's economy for the next four years. By the time the Panic of 1893 ended, 14 of Seattle's 23 banks were out of business. Most of the region's population, including some of its wealthiest citizens, had more pressing concerns than yachting. Hard times would continue until July 1897, when the first load of gold from the Klondike landed in Seattle's harbor aboard the steamship Portland, kicking off an extended period of prosperity.

Despite the economic hard times, or perhaps because of them, in 1894 a second yacht club was started in Seattle, primarily by owners of smaller vessels who did not want to bear the expense of membership in the Seattle Yacht Club and did not want to moor their vessels at the relatively inconvenient Duwamish Head location. Named the Elliott Bay Yacht Club, its first membership comprised about 50 sailors and 25 vessels, with moorage and headquarters at the Brighton Boathouse at the foot of Battery Street in downtown Seattle. It also would join the Northwestern International Yachting Association, host races and regattas, and maintain a friendly rivalry with the Seattle Yacht Club.

Cruising Into a New Century

Pleasure boating was thoroughly entrenched in the Northwest by 1900, and a local newspaper enthused that yachting was "destined to become the chief pastime of the people" (Warren, 31). The advent of the internal combustion engine revolutionized pleasure boating, making it accessible to more people and freeing sailors from total dependence on the often-fluky winds of Puget Sound. The Seattle and Elliott Bay yachts clubs amicably shared those waters, each staging regattas and races. After losing its moorage at the Brighton Boathouse, the Elliott Bay organization was inactive from 1904 until the spring of 1907, when it reformed and moved to new quarters in West Seattle. The premiere event of each season, the Northwestern International Yacht Association race, was sponsored at different times by one or the other of the Seattle clubs and by other NIYA members.

By 1909 the Elliott Bay Yacht Club was well on its way to building a new clubhouse at the West Seattle site and its membership was growing rapidly. The Seattle Yacht Club, in contrast, had again hit the doldrums. The first public hint that something was in the works between the two appeared in The Seattle Times on April 18, 1909. In an article centered on the upcoming Alexandra Cup international sailing regatta, it was mentioned in passing that "The consolidation of the Seattle Yacht Club and the Elliott Bay Yacht Club has not been effected, but this will be done before the preliminary race of June 12" ("Spirit II. and Rival Will Race").

In May 1909, no doubt spurred by the planned merger, the Elliott Bay club formally incorporated with the State. The clubs did not quite hit the June 12 mark, but at a meeting on June 22, 1909, the deal was sealed, and the completion of the merger was announced in The Seattle Times the next day:

"The Seattle Yacht Club and the Elliott Bay Yacht Club, Seattle's two yachting organizations, were consolidated last night and Seattle now has only one yacht club, but that one is one of the strongest on the Coast ... . "The new club will be known as the Seattle Yacht Club, but it is the flag of the Elliott Bay Yacht Club that will be the official flag of the club. The officers of the Elliott Bay Yacht Club will be the officers of the new club, with Commodore H. W. Gocher at the head of the organization" ("Seattle's Two Yacht Clubs Consolidated").

A Controversial Cup

The Seattle Yacht Club won the name in the merger, but the leadership and official burgee came from the Elliott Bay group. The burgee, a red star and a diagonal blue bar on a field of white, is still (2012) the official symbol of the Seattle Yacht Club. The Times article went on to imply that a primary stimulus for the consolidation was the desire to present a united front and joint resources to contest the Alexandra Cup, an annual race between American and Canadian sailing yachts that had been first run in 1907.

The Americans won that inaugural race and the Canadians won the 1908 contest, setting up a highly anticipated rubber match. In 1909 the American entry, supported by the new Seattle Yacht Club, won the first two races of the series. Then a rancorous dispute arose over the technical qualifications and official measurement of the Seattle boat, Spirit II , designed and skippered by the legendary Ted Geary (1885-1960), who had been vice-commodore of the Elliott Bay Yacht Club before the merger. In protest, the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club's entry refused to finish the competition, and the club refused to turn over the Alexandra trophy to the Seattle organization.

Although the two cities continued to vie in various sailing competitions, the Alexandra Cup was not put at stake again for an astounding 99 years. When it finally was, in 2008, the Vancouver club retained the title and the trophy, and has beaten back Seattle Yacht Club challengers every year since (as of 2011).

Success on Land and Water

By the end of 1911, the Seattle Yacht Club had a membership of 292, including many of Seattle's most prominent citizens. The following year, the city played host to Sir Thomas Lipton (1848-1931), a wealthy English tea merchant and famed sailor who, between 1899 and 1930, made five unsuccessful attempts to win sailing's famous America's Cup. His relentless good cheer and sportsmanship eventually earned him the affectionate title of "the world's best loser" ("Sir Thomas Lipton's Gift"), and the Seattle club feted him enthusiastically during his stay.

With the unpleasant dispute over the Alexandra Cup in mind, Lipton announced that he would establish "a perpetual challenge cup for international yachting competition, to be raced for the first time in Seattle" ("Admirers in Seattle Pay Honor to Lipton"). Two years later, in July 1914, the Seattle Yacht Club became the first to have its plaque placed on the base of the Sir Thomas Lipton Perpetual Challenge trophy when Sir Tom , designed and skippered by Ted Geary, named in honor of Lipton, and sailing under Seattle Yacht Club colors, won the inaugural race on Elliott Bay by beating Turenga , a Canadian boat . Sir Tom would go on to win 14 consecutive Lipton Cup races and many other competitions, and Geary would earn legendary status in international "R-Boat" racing.

Publicity like that provided by Lipton didn't hurt, and in 1913 yacht club membership had grown to 371. By now the club was sponsoring a variety of races and other events, including the first formal celebration of yachting season's Opening Day, which took place on May 3, 1913, on Elliott Bay. The club had been busy in other ways, too; in 1912, SYC purchased and leased property at Manzanita Bay on Bainbridge Island to establish its first "outside station," a stopping place for club members and their vessels and the first of what would eventually become 10 such facilities.

Two Lakes, Two Bays, and a Narrow Strip of Land           

It is a simple matter today for boaters to enjoy Puget Sound and the fresh waters of Lake Union and Lake Washington, but it was not always so. Until the second decade of the twentieth century, these were three separate bodies of water with no truly navigable links. Indian canoes and small boats could be portaged from one to the other, and there was limited access to Lake Washington from Elliott Bay via the Duwamish and Black rivers, but vessels of any appreciable size could not transit from salt water to fresh water or vice-versa.

As recently as 16,000 years ago, Lake Washington was an inland sea, its contents dominated by salt water, and it was not fully isolated from the waters of Puget Sound by the floodplain of the Black River until about 3,500 years ago. To Lake Washington's west lay another, smaller body of water that an early settler on its south shore, Thomas Mercer (1813-1898), named Lake Union, in anticipation of the day when the two lakes (and perhaps Puget Sound) would be linked by a canal. At the point where the lakes were most proximate, a narrow isthmus of land (bisected by today's Montlake Cut) separated Lake Union's Portage Bay from Lake Washington's Union Bay, also named by Mercer. This same isthmus joined what is today the southern border of the University District to the northern margin of the Montlake neighborhood.

When white settlers first arrived in the area, Lakes Duwamish people lived at Portage and Union bays. Studies prepared as part of the 520 floating-bridge replacement describe their environment: 

"Lakes people cultivated and harvested the aquatic resources from the various basins and drainages. The marshes and adjoining woodlands were sources of abundant freshwater plants, freshwater animals, anadromous fish, terrestrial mammals, plants, aquatic birds, and migratory birds" (Cultural Resources Assessment Discipline Report, p. 4-15).

The same study notes that the narrow band of land between Portage and Union bays was particularly important to the Lakes peoples, and that just south of today's Montlake Cut a Native group identified as the hloo-weelh-AHBSH controlled a path across the isthmus that was used as a canoe portage. But the last permanent Indian resident on Portage Bay, a Lakes Duwamish leader named Cheshiahud (called "Lake John" by settlers) moved to the Suquamish Reservation in approximately 1900.

Bridging the Gap

In 1860, Seattle pioneer Harvey Pike tried to bisect the Montlake isthmus with a small, hand-excavated ditch. He may have completed a narrow and largely useless little trench (accounts differ), but in 1871 he deeded the land to the Lake Washington Canal Company, of which he was a principal. That company, rather than improving on Pike's effort, spanned the narrow isthmus with a narrow-gauge railway, allowing coal to be moved from barges on Union Bay to barges on Portage Bay. Not until 1885 was a usable waterway through the isthmus completed, when David Denny and Thomas Burke hired Chinese laborers to dig a canal through which to move logs from Lake Washington to Portage Bay. Called the "Portage Canal," the 16-foot-wide waterway had a rudimentary "guillotine" lock that maintained the existing water level in Lake Union from the higher waters of Lake Washington. 

Much bigger plans would come to fruition in the new century -- a route that would permit sizeable vessels to travel from Puget Sound all the way to Lake Washington, as Mercer had envisioned 50 year earlier. It would include locks at Salmon Bay to the west, a canal running from that bay to the western extremity of Lake Union, and another canal breaching the isthmus between Portage and Union bays, to be known as the Montlake Cut. The entire route would be called the Lake Washington Ship Canal.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began work in November 1911, and in July 1916 a temporary dam at the Montlake Cut was breached. By October of that year, nearly nine feet of Lake Washington water had been sluiced out, and the lakes were joined. The entire route was opened to boat traffic on May 8, 1917, making it possible to travel by boat from Lake Washington to Puget Sound.

Peril and Opportunity

In April 1917 the United States entered World War I. Several younger (under 40 years old) yacht club members volunteered for service, and for many others the idea of pleasure cruising in a time of international conflict seemed somewhat frivolous. But there was opportunity as well as peril, and the next three years proved to be perhaps the most pivotal in the history of the Seattle Yacht Club.

When the Montlake Cut joining Portage and Union bays was finished in 1916, the yacht club's commodore, Norval H. Latimer (1863-1923), immediately recognized that the completion of Lake Washington Ship Canal practically demanded a club facility somewhere on Lake Union or Lake Washington. Latimer was a dynamic businessman with fingers in many pies, and he soon persuaded several other Seattle titans (and yacht club members) to join his crusade to find land on which to build what would become one of the finest yacht-club headquarters on the entire Pacific Coast.

In 1908, a plat had been filed for the northern part of the Montlake neighborhood. Much of this land was designated as Montlake Park, but a portion was set aside as the "Casino Grounds" for the upcoming Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (Sherwood). No casino was ever built, however, and the state deeded the land to the City of Seattle in 1909. On September 17, 1917, with the country deep in war, the club secured the Casino Grounds as its future site.

It was about as perfect a location as one could imagine for a yacht club. Located adjacent to Montlake Park, it had frontage on Hamlin Street and nearly 150 feet of sheltered lakefront on Portage Bay just around the corner from the Montlake Cut. Club members would have easy access to both lakes, and to Puget Sound through the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks. Before the deal even closed, noted architect and yacht-club member John Graham Sr. (1873-1955) had prepared sketches for a clubhouse on the site. In October 1917, an article in Pacific Motor Boat magazine lauded the development:

"The most ambitious and significant step ever taken by the Seattle Yacht Club and one that promises to increase immensely the membership, popularity and prestige of this already strong organization, has been successfully engineered by the officers and directors of the club during the past month, and announcement is now made that the club is to have a handsome new home and grounds fronting on the north end of Lake Union opposite the State University which when completed will be finer than any other yacht club on the coast" ("Seattle Yacht Club to Have New Home").

It was still wartime, and serious fighting lay ahead. More members of the club entered the service, and interest in recreational boating dwindled. But a central cadre of Seattle yachtsmen kept things afloat. In June 1918, just months before the war's end, they sold the Seattle Yacht Club's old headquarters in West Seattle to the U.S. government for $3,000. The club would be homeless for a time, holding its meetings in the director's room of Dexter Horton National Bank (of which Norval H. Latimer was president). But better days were ahead.

Postwar Renaissance

World War I ended on November 11, 1918, and was followed by a period of economic stagnation as the wartime boom collapsed. With no permanent home and no moorage, yacht club membership plummeted to 70 active members by the end of that year, but they were very active members. In March 1919 it was announced that more than 50 prominent business leaders had pledged funds in excess of the $50,000 estimated cost of the new clubhouse. The announcement seemed to breathe new life into Seattle's boating community. A month later, The Seattle Sunday Times reported:

"The plans of the Seattle Yacht Club to build a new $50,000 clubhouse at the north end of Lake Union and the publicity that has been given to the project have caused a revival of the yachting spirit in this city such has not taken place for several years. "Six months ago, the sport of yachting on Puget Sound was practically dead and today it is on the verge of the greatest boom it has ever had in this district" ("Plans to Build Dozen Yachts Here Underway").

In a drive to attract new blood, the club removed its membership cap of 350 and temporarily reduced the initiation fee from $50 to $25. Architect Graham quickly finished the clubhouse plans, and by May 1919 the piers and locker rooms for the new facility were complete, allowing members to moor their boats at the site. A year later, on May 1, 1920, the new clubhouse was dedicated in a ceremony that drew more than 1,000 people. The final cost was approximately $90,000, nearly double original estimates, but, as stated in The Seattle Times , the new clubhouse "was the finest of its kind on the Pacific Coast and one of the handsomest in the United States" ("Seattle Yacht Club Will Christen New $90,000 Home May 1"). That same day, the Montlake Cut saw its first Opening Day parade and, with a few exceptions, it has been held there on the first Saturday of May every year since.

The Clubhouse

In July 1920, Pacific Motor Boat ran a lengthy article detailing the events surrounding the Seattle Yacht Club's dramatic renaissance:

"Today the active membership has grown to over four hundred, and the club is ensconced in a new $100,000 [sic] home, the finest of its kind on the Pacific Coast, and the fleet, more than doubled in size since the armistice, and containing some of the finest yachts in the country, is comfortably moored at the club's own piers in a fresh water basin absolutely protected from storms and located almost in the heart of the city" ("The Creation of the New Seattle Yacht Club").

The clubhouse has very much the same exterior appearance that it had when new, although it was expanded in 1967. Its style has been described as "Colonial Revival," and more precisely as:

"[A] a two-story T-shaped wooden-framed structure composed of intersecting clipped gambrel-roofed wings with an original 1920 northern secondary wing, a tower, a colonnade, and a newer, 1967, two-story flat-roof service wing addition" (National Register of Historic Places, 7,2).

The clubhouse is sheathed in white-painted cedar shingles, and a classical colonnade wraps around its north and west faces. The only major exterior change came with the 1967 addition of a new dining room on the southwest corner. Fittingly, the addition was designed by John Graham Jr. (1908-1991), son of the original architect.

For 92 years (as of 2012), the Seattle Yacht Club's "main station" has been a fixture on Portage Bay. Viewed from the west, its architectural beauty stands out against the University of Washington's institutional blocks to its north and the concrete ramps leading to the 520 floating bridge to the south. To the east and northeast are some of the most attractive homes in the Montlake neighborhood, and directly north, bordering the cut, is Montlake Park. A decorative yardarm and anchor are displayed in front of the clubhouse on an irregularly shaped piece of green lawn that is owned by the parks department, but which the club uses and maintains by agreement with the City.

A Private Club with a Public Spirit

With the exception of newspaper accounts of races and other newsworthy events, much of the history of the Seattle Yacht Club was lost when nearly all of the organization's records up through the mid-1960s were discarded. Contemporary newspapers provide a litany of annual races and regattas, but little about the club's inner workings or deliberations.The club is a Seattle institution, and its contributions to the city are many and varied. When the yacht club was listed in the National Register for Historic Places in 2006, its entry was based on its role in the social history of Seattle. The nomination states, "Not only have many members made significant contributions to history outside of the Yacht Club, the Seattle Yacht Club, itself, has made a significant impact on Seattle's cultural events" (Nomination, 8-1).

The Seattle Yacht Club is and always has been a private club. Applicants for admission must be sponsored by a voting member. Yachting was beyond the reach of most in the early years, and the club's membership was dominated by the city's financial and social elite. Now, however, a much broader range of the public is represented.

The yacht club has worked to stay engaged with the city in multiple ways. In 1928, club members first opened their boats to special-needs people for annual cruises. The first, on June 9, 1928, saw more than 75 of what The Seattle Times termed "shut-ins" taken out for a three-hour cruise before the annual Rudder Cup powerboat race around Mercer Island ("Seattle Club Host"). Records are incomplete, but cruises for special-needs children and adults continued, if not annually, at least with some frequency. In 1960, three SYC members started the "Seafair Special People's Christmas Cruise" as a regular, annual event. Soon other clubs and organizations joined in, and by 1980 more than 800 special-needs children and adults boarded one of the estimated 300 vessels taking part for a few hours of fun on the water. Today (2012), it is known as the Seafair Special People's Holiday Cruise, and includes yacht clubs and other organization from Seattle, Bellevue, Bremerton, Tacoma, and Olympia.

On October 29, 1929, known ever since as "Black Tuesday," the stock market crashed, marking the start of the Great Depression. The Seattle Yacht Club and even its most well-heeled members were deeply affected, as were most Americans. There were resignations, empty berths, reduced services, and creditors left unpaid. A small cadre of members worked to keep things afloat and maintain the club property. Famed designer and sailor Ted Geary was club commodore in 1930, but late that year the hard times drove him to Southern California, where the movie industry was booming and some of the wealth it generated was being spent on yachts. There were hopes in Seattle that the Depression would be short, and on Opening Day in 1933 club members hung "Old Man Depression" in effigy from a yardarm. ("35 Craft to Enter Yacht Club Meet").

Unfortunately, it would take much more than magical thinking to dig the world out of the hole into which it had plunged. But the club's Opening Day regatta took place every year throughout the Depression, providing the public some much-needed diversion, and many of the annual races continued, although with fewer entrants. The Seattle club, like many nationwide, lowered the veil of exclusivity somewhat in the late 1930s and started actively soliciting new membership applications through promotional flyers and other means.

Things started to look up by 1940. That year the club purchased a fleet of "Penguins," small, cat-rigged (a single sail on a mast stepped far forward) sailboats ideal for teaching. These would at first be used to instruct the children of club members, but the Junior Sailing Program would eventually be open to the public. Now one of the club's most popular offerings, in 2012 it hosted 39 sailing classes for more than 500 youngsters, members and nonmembers, aged seven to 17. Group classes for adults and private sailing lessons are also open to the public. The club sponsors a Junior Race Team and High School Sailing Team, and the Opti Green Fleet Program, which teaches racing skills to those aged 8 to 13.

The country was pulled out of the Depression in part by the support it first provided to its allies and then its entry into World War II on December 7, 1941. Seattle Yacht Club membership rolls, still anemic from the long years of a sputtering economy, suffered another hit when many went off to serve in the military. Some club members who did not serve in the regular forces participated in other ways. A Seattle Yacht Club Red Cross unit was formed to gather and prepare clothing and bandages for the armed services. And in July 1942, the U.S. Coast Guard established Flotilla 24, made up largely of SYC volunteers and their vessels. This unit was assigned to patrol the Northwest coast and inland waters until sufficient numbers of military ships could be constructed. Before the war's end, 60 yachts from the Seattle Yacht Club and 300 members had been on active duty in Puget Sound.

The Opening Day parades went on throughout World War II, but were smaller affairs, and participation in the regular races associated with yachting season was slight. By 1944 the club's active membership had fallen to 139, but on Opening Day that year the Seattle Yacht Club and the Queen City Yacht Club, located across Portage Bay to the west, cooperated to treat 200 wounded sailors and their nurses to a day on the water.

War's End and a New Role for Women

As the war drew to a close in the summer of 1945, pleasure boating returned to its pre-Depression form. The 1946 Opening Day parade drew more than 300 vessels. The end of fuel rationing revived the moribund motorboat community, and races that had been canceled during the war years were resumed. Opening Day the following year saw nearly 400 boats participate. In 1947, with its memberships rolls up to nearly 800, the clubhouse on Portage Bay finally received some long-needed maintenance and improvements, including larger windows and a doubling of dock storage for its fleet of Star-class sailboats.

Social change also came to the Seattle Yacht Club in the postwar years when, in 1950, the first SYC Women's Group was formed. One of its founders, Margaret Marlatt, noted:

"This was the beginning of women's lib at the Seattle Yacht Club. Women joined Power Squadron and many of us learned to skipper the family boat" (Warren , 174).

The Women's Group eventually had its own burgee and Opening Day trophies, put on Easter and Christmas parties for children, and was deeply involved in volunteer activities. It encouraged girls to learn sailing skills, started a rowing program for women, and sponsored members in racing competitions. Although it met some early resistance from the club's all-male hierarchy, it is now a highly valued and respected component of the organization.

Thunderboats and Roostertails

In 1950, the Seattle Yacht Club jumped into a whole new type of racing -- unlimited hydroplanes. A thunderboat called Slo-mo-shun IV , designed largely by Ted Jones (d. 2000), built by Anchor Jensen (1918-2000), and piloted by Stan Sayres (1896-1956), all from the Seattle area, set a new speed record of 160.3235 mph on Lake Washington on June 26, 1950.

The Seattle Yacht Club sponsored the Slo-mo in the Gold Cup race on the Detroit River a month later. It became the first boat from west of the Mississippi River to win the national trophy, and it held onto it tenaciously. For the next four years, the Gold Cup was run on Lake Washington, and it was won every year by either Slo-mo IV or its sister craft, Slo-mo V. Lee Schoenith and Gale V from Detroit finally wrested the championship back in 1955, and the club soon stepped back from the unlimiteds, due largely to expense. But the thunderboat races that it first brought to Seattle more than half a century ago are still an annual Seafair tradition.

The Seattle Yacht Club Today

Still in its historic headquarters on Portage Bay, the Seattle Yacht Club, now in its third century, continues to be a vital resource for Northwest boaters. Members have the privilege of using its 10 outstations: Elliott Bay, Eagle Harbor, Friday Harbor, Gig Harbor, Henry Island, and Port Madison, all in U.S. waters, and Cortes, Ganges, Garden Bay, and Ovens Island in British Columbia. The main station at Portage Bay offers its member 134 covered boat slips and 125 uncovered moorages. The largest vessel that currently calls the yacht club home when not at sea is 272 feet long.

The club continues its sponsorship of the annual Opening Day parade,  when more than 200 members volunteer each year to make it a success. Since 1987 the club has worked closely with the sponsor of the Windermere Cup crew races in the Montlake Cut, which take place on Opening Day and draw rowers from around the world, more than 700 in 2011 alone. The Special People Cruise continues each year, and the club's educational programs for members and the public have proved a valuable contribution to the region's boating community. In addition, Seattle Yacht Club sponsors and participates in a number of regattas, cruises, races, and other activities each year. Of special note is the annual Leukemia Cup Regatta, held by yacht clubs across North America each year. In 2012 alone, the Washington-Alaska chapter, with significant support by the Seattle Yacht Club, raised more than $250,000 for blood cancer research and patient services.

In 1992, the Seattle Yacht Club Foundation was established, with the mission "To foster, promote and educate the public in the art and skills of boating with an emphasis on supporting youth engaged in amateur competition" ("SYC Foundation"). In 2011 the foundation, which operates with less than 1 percent overhead, provided more than $26,000 in grants to individuals and organizations to promote boating education.

Now in its 120th year (2012), the Seattle Yacht Club has grown and matured with its home city, maintaining an aura of exclusivity while becoming more open to and involved with the broader community. With a current membership of more than 2,500, Seattle Yacht Club has come a very long way since its early days as the near-exclusive preserve of the city's wealthy movers and shakers. Seattle has more pleasure boats per capita than anyplace else in the county, and the Seattle Yacht Club has played a large part in making boating more accessible, more enjoyable, and more safe for the many thousands who take to Northwest waters each year.

Sources: James R. Warren, The Centennial History of the Seattle Yacht Club, 1892-1992 (Seattle: Seattle Yacht Club, 1992); "Oldest American Yacht Clubs," International Burgee Registry website accessed July 21, 2012 (http://www.burgees.com/OldUSClubs.htm); James B. Hitchman, "Origins of Yacht Racing in British Columbia and Washington, 1870-1914," LA84 Foundation website accessed July 22, 2012 (http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/NASSH_Proceedings/NP1976/NP1976zc.pdf); Historylink.org The Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History, "Seattle's Great Fire," (by Greg Lange) http://www.historylink.org (accessed September 30, 2012); "Club History," Anacortes Yacht Club website accessed July 22, 2012 (http://anacortesyachtclub.org/about/history/); Clarence Bagley, History of Seattle from The Earliest Settlement to the Present Time (Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1916); "Sir Thomas Lipton's Gift," San Diego Yacht Club website accessed August 13, 2012 (http://sdyc.org/liptoncup/?page_id=13); "History of Opening Day," Seattle Yacht Club website accessed August 13, 2012 (http://www.seattleyachtclub.org/Default.aspx?p=DynamicModule&pageid=286488&ssid=164131&vnf=1); "The R-Boat SIR TOM," R-Boat.org website accessed August 13, 2012 (http://www.r-boat.org/html/recollections/sirtom.html); Sophie Frye Bass, When Seattle Was a Village (Seattle: Lownman and Hanford, 1947); "Lake John," Duwamish Tribe website accessed August 14, 2012 (http://www.duwamishtribe.org/lakejohn.html); Donald N. Sherwood, "West Montlake Park -- History," Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation website accessed August 15, 2012 (http://www.seattle.gov/parks/history/MontlakePkW.pdf); Final Section 4(f) Evaluation, SR 520, I-5 to Medina: Bridge Replacement and HOV Project Environmental Impact Statement (Washington State Department of Transportation, June 2011), ch. 9, pp. 9-7 to 9-10, available at (http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/NR/rdonlyres/1620462A-8DA2-4BE8-BF95-D5430555DB01/0/FEIS_Chapter9Part1.pdf); "Seattle Yacht Club -- Main Station," National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, Continuation Sheet, p. 2, available at (http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/06000370.pdf); Fred Farley, "1955 Gold Cup Remembered," Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum website accessed August 16, 2012 (http://www.thunderboats.org/history/history0504.html); Jim Gould, "The Montlake Neighborhood," Seattle Community Network website accessed August 18, 2012 (http://www.scn.org/neighbors/montlake/mcc_history.Jim_Gould.html); "SYC Foundation," Seattle Yacht Club Foundation website accessed August 31, 2012 (http://www.sycfoundation.org/default.htm); "The Leukemia Cup Regatta," Leukemia Cup website accessed September 3, 2012 (http://www.leukemiacup.org/wa/); "Windermere Cup Celebrates 25th Anniversary," Rowing News website accessed August 31, 2012 (http://www.rowingnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=269:windermere-cup-celebrates-25th-anniversary&catid=34:headlines); "Seattle Yacht Club to Have New Home," Pacific Motor Boat , Vol. 10, No. 1 (October 1917), p. 28; Daniel L. Platt, "The Creation of the New Seattle Yacht Club," Ibid. , Vol. 12, No. 10 (July 1920), pp. 13-16; "Admirers in Seattle Pay Honor to Lipton," The Seattle Daily Times , November 14, 1912, p. 17; "Yacht Club Buys Lake Union Site," Ibid ., September 18, 1917, p. 4; "Seattle's Two Yacht Clubs Consolidated," Ibid. , June 23, 1909, p. 15; "Seattle Shut-Ins Will Have Festival," Ibid ., May 4, 1928, p. 28; "Uncle Sam Will Train Sailors in Building Formerly Occupied by Seattle Yacht Club," The Seattle Sunday Times , May 12, 1918, p. 23; "Seattle Yachting Affairs on Move," Ibid. , December 22, 1918, p. 28; "Spirit II. and Rival Will Race," Ibid ., April 18, 1909, p. 17; "Plans to Build Dozen Yachts Here Underway," Ibid., April 6, 1919 (Sports Section), pp. 1-2; "Seattle Yacht Club Will Christen New $90,000 Home May 1," Ibid., April 25, 1920 (Sports Section) p. 1; "Seattle Club Host," Ibid ., June 10, 1928, p. 22; John H. Dreher, "35 Craft to Enter Yacht Club Meet," Ibid ., p. 25; "Seattle's Oldest Yacht Club Has an Overhaul," Ibid ., July 27, 1947, Rotogravure, p. 4-5; HistoryLink.org Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History , "Panic of 1893 sends King County and the Puget Sound region into a four year depression on May 5, 1893" (by Greg Lange), and " Klondike Gold Rush begins on July 17, 1897" (by Greg Lange), and "Black River disappears in July 1916" (by Greg Lange), and "Seattle residents celebrate July 4, 1854, and adopt names for Lake Union and Lake Washington" (by Walt Crowley); and "Harvey Pike starts to dig a canal connecting Seattle's Union and Portage bays in 1860" (by Priscilla Long), and "Lake Washington Ship Canal" (by Walt Crowley), http://www.historylink.org/ (accessed August 14-16, 2012).

Related topics, licensing : this essay is licensed under a creative commons license that encourages reproduction with attribution. credit should be given to both historylink.org and to the author, and sources must be included with any reproduction. click the icon for more info. please note that this creative commons license applies to text only, and not to images. for more information regarding individual photos or images, please contact the source noted in the image credit..

Major Support for HistoryLink.org Provided By: The State of Washington | Patsy Bullitt Collins | Paul G. Allen Family Foundation | Museum Of History & Industry | 4Culture (King County Lodging Tax Revenue) | City of Seattle | City of Bellevue | City of Tacoma | King County | The Peach Foundation | Microsoft Corporation, Other Public and Private Sponsors and Visitors Like You

Seattle Yacht Club

History of seattle yacht club.

From its shabby beginning at a rickety boathouse dock, Seattle Yacht Club has prevailed over the rough seas of wars and endured the battering winds of economic storms. Along the way, the Club has adapted to our changing culture over the decades and centuries. Today, at 126 years old and housed in its elegant Mainstation on Portage Bay, the Club is one of the premier yachting organizations in the world. Its Clubhouse and moorings, 10 Outstations, services, and social activities are second to none, and its financial position is strong. SYC is one of Washington State's oldest and most enduring institutions and in 2010, the National Register of Historical Places listed the SYC Mainstation as a historic resource.

Membership has grown from the original 250 "yachting gentlemen" in 1892 to nearly 5,000 boaters in 2018. The Seattle Yacht Club burgee is recognized around the world because of the Club's continuing contributions to the maritime community, its record of competitive success, and its collaboration in local and international yachting organizations. SYC has been founding members of the Northwest International Yachting Association, the Pacific International Yachting Association, the International Powerboat Association, the International Council of Yacht Clubs and maintains reciprocity with more than 225 other boating groups around the world.

Accomplished boaters, both sailors and powerboaters, have won hundreds of championships and awards, including Olympic medals. The Club hosts a world-class junior sailing program, which has given a start to numerous generations of Northwest sailors. Members come from every socioeconomic background and the SYC Foundation provides funding for youth sailing classes and community boating projects.

The Portage Bay Mainstation buzzes with activity most days of the year. From its beginning, it's where members have celebrated their boating life and community. Today, the Club calendar records weddings, life celebrations, sail and powerboat events, family picnics, holiday parties, and committee meetings. It hosts Women's Group activities, Men's Lunches, Junior Group activities, gourmet quality dinners, sailing classes and more. Boating and the love of being on the water are the center of every activity, including community service. Opening Day, the Club's annual spring celebration, is the region's premier on-the-water party. The internationally known Unlimited Hydroplane Seafair Race week was originated by SYC in conjunction with the City of Seattle.

Members cruise to 10 spectacular Outstations dispersed on the waters of Western Washington and British Columbia. The Club enjoys these amenities thanks to members' significant efforts and contributions over the years.

The Club's strong leadership depends on the efforts of hundreds of dedicated volunteer members involved in 90 committees. In fact, industrious committee members evolve into upper leadership levels, encompassing the bridge officers and the Board of Trustees. These committed and enthusiastic volunteer members also work with the Club's experienced staff to sustain the Club's holdings and to create enjoyable activities.

Being a good neighbor is essential, as is working for a better environment. We continue to spread the gospel of good, even masterful, seamanship through competition, cruising, and rendezvous with other boating groups, and through our respected sailing school. We continue the warm tradition of treating our staff members like family, with the reward that they stay with us for decades.

And, as always, by being good stewards of our splendid Seattle Yacht Club, we prioritize joyful and fulfilling experiences for its members who share the love of all things boating, and the pride of belonging to TBGDYCITWWW - "The Best Gol' Darn Yacht Club in the Whole Wide World!"

Seattle Yacht Club is proud to be a member of the International Council of Yacht Clubs.

Our App enables the sailors to have the boat´s performance tracked live and to be able to review the performance later on. The app can be complemented by a tracking device that you can have on your boat.

Get Support

(+351) 914 593 353 [email protected]

Get Connected

Enter your email address to subscribe:

Your email address to subscribe. For e.g [email protected]

• Clubs & Classes
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use

Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries and regions. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc. Some icons and vectors made by Freepik and Flaticon is licensed by CC 3.0 BY. Images and videos made Pexels, Pixabay and Canva is licensed by CC 3.0 BY. The emergency button does not replace the use of a VHF radio, it is only an instrument that can aid in case of emergency, restrictions apply. For more information please contact us. All content on this website is the property of Proregatta. Designed by Proregatta.