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We welcome you to join our community at Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club where we are passionate about our sports of sailing and rowing (including paddling) as well as our environment, particularly the health of our oceans. 歡迎您加入香港遊艇會的大家庭，一個對帆船、賽艇、划槳運動、以及自然環境；尤其海洋健康充滿熱情的地方。

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Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club Kellett Island, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong View location map Tel: (852) 2832 2817 Fax: (852) 2572 5399

Royal Cape Yacht Club

Good vibes & tides.

Located in the Port of Cape Town, RCYC offers a warm greeting and hospitality to weary sailors. First time visitors are invited to discover the “Fairest Cape” with its bounty of scenery, wine farms, local cuisine and much more.

The RCYC has a glorious history spanning over a hundred years. Committees and Commodores have come and gone, yet the cornerstone on which the Table Bay Yacht Club was built in 1905, “to take the sport of yachting seriously and to provide races for its members” is still present to this very day.

Mission Statement: To promote the Royal Cape Yacht Club as a unique, world-class Sailing Centre where yachting in all its forms are encouraged, and as ‘Tavern of the Seas’ provides an environment for camaraderie, shared experience and inclusivity.

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RCYC Sailing Academy seeks to expose, upskill, empower and grow youth through sailing.

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Asia’s Sailing Soul: Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club

• April 21, 2022

With its Kellett Island clubhouse set in the heart of Victoria Harbour, the storied Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club is an icon in the sailing world. Yet although RHKYC embraces its fascinating history dating back to the mid-19th century, Asia’s biggest and most active yacht club remains committed to positive changes. Words: Guy Nowell Photos: RHKYC & Guy Nowell  

RHKYC’s main site at Kellett Island

The history of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club is long and illustrious, beginning with the first regatta of the Victoria Regatta Club in 1849.

Thereafter, in the best Hong Kong tradition of acquisitions and mergers, it involved the Yacht Club, the Victoria Regatta Club, a German gymnasium, the Hong Kong Corinthian Sailing Club, the Victoria Recreation Club (which still exists) and the Hong Kong Yacht Club.

The club runs the busiest racing calendar in Asia

In 1894, after a polite request, Buckingham Palace advised that “the Queen approves of the Hong Kong Yacht Club having the title of Royal” and the warrant was granted that authorised members to “fly the Blue Ensign of Her Majesty’s Fleet, with the distinguishing marks of the Club thereon”. The RHKYC had arrived.

The Club has been housed in numerous premises over the years: Yau Ma Tei, Wanchai, North Point and Causeway Bay. Kellett Island, the present home of the Club, was an island in 1937 when the Hong Kong Government gave permission for RHKYC to use the land, although it has long been absorbed by advancing reclamation.

The main bar captures the club’s history

The present clubhouse was built in 1939 and commissioned in 1940, only to be shut down by the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in December 1941. Today, the Kellett Island clubhouse remains very much ‘headquarters’ for the RHKYC and houses plenty of tributes to the Club’s fascinating history.

Denis Martinet, current Commodore of the RHKYC, says: “Our history is very much alive and well, and an important part of the Club’s ethos. Our history is hanging on our walls, literally. We are still racing for trophies that mark occasions – or remind us of people – that have marked the pages of our story.

RHKYC Commodore Denis Martinet

“But we are not mired in the past. We are a dynamic and evolving organisation that moves with the times and always seeks to remain relevant in both social and strictly sporting terms.”

The Kellett Island facility includes two restaurants (fine dining and casual), three bars, squash courts, a bowling alley and pool table, snooker room, swimming pool, gymnasium, children’s playroom, Youth Club room, changing rooms, and all the administrative offices that keep the place going.

The pool is among popular facilities

In addition, it has probably Hong Kong’s best repair and maintenance boatyard for private vessels and a large hard standing area that’s home to several one-design racing fleets.

SOUTH SIDE TO SAI KUNG

But that’s not all. Middle Island, on the south side of Hong Kong island, became part of the RHKYC portfolio in 1937. It was originally set up as a home for Comet class boats before the Rowing Section joined in, finding Deepwater Bay to be a more congenial location for rowing than the harbour.

The Middle Island clubhouse off HK Island’s south side

A year later, after a typhoon had demolished both the boats and the single mat-shed, a new brick clubhouse was constructed and still exists as the topmost level of the clubhouse facilities.

Middle Island remains the Club’s centre for rowing, which includes coastal rowing, outrigger paddling and SUP activities. Its F&B facilities include the city’s best barbecue deck and an enormous hard standing catering to the Club’s dinghies and sail training fleet, with room to spare to accommodate visiting World Championship fleets and other large-scale international events.

RHKYC has a strong junior sailing programme

The Middle Island Sail Training Centre runs a full menu of courses (pandemics permitting) for aspiring sailors aged six years old all the way to grown-up. In 2020 a grand total of 2,698 students completed courses ranging from Optimist beginners to adult racing. Middle Island is also the home of the Club’s dedicated junior racing squad, the RHKYC Sharks.

The Club’s third property, Shelter Cove, near Sai Kung, started life in the 1960s as the Shelter Cove Yacht Club and was ‘merged into’ the RHKYC in 1975. Shelter Cove is a small haven of peace and much beloved by the Club’s cruising members.

The scenic Shelter Cove site in Sai Kung

Its 120-plus swing moorings give access straight onto the beautiful cruising grounds of Port Shelter and all points east. The clubhouse itself offers F&B service, an ideal spot for a sundowner and changing rooms. The large hard standing accommodates two of the Club’s racing classes – the Dragons and the Sportsboats – and a car park.

BIGGEST AND BUSIEST

RHKYC has often been touted as the ‘largest yacht club in the world’ by membership. At last count, there were 14,147 members encompassing 43 nationalities, of which some 8,000 are presently absent from Hong Kong. That leaves over 6,000 active members in the SAR. Martinet points out that the composition of the membership has changed substantially since World War II.

Members dress up for the Nations’ Cup; membership totals 14,000

“At that time, there were no Chinese members at all,” he says. “In the 1980s, it was still 60 per cent expatriates. Today it’s more than 60 per cent local members, while we continue to work to bring down the average age of the membership. Our younger members are our future.”

In recent years, the Club has gone to some lengths to make membership as accessible as possible. In addition to the traditional Ordinary and Full memberships, the RHKYC offers both Corporate and Individual Debenture memberships, and Junior (18-32) and Short Term memberships. But be warned: there’s still a waiting list.

Races to the Philippines have been run since 1962

As well as sailing, rowing remains a core activity of the RHKYC. The Rowing Section is an active participant in local regattas up to national level and a frequent winner in all classes at the annual National Championships. When travel restrictions allow, the Club’s oarsmen and ladies are regular competitors at regional events throughout Asia.

For the sailors, the sailing and racing programme is practically non-stop. The season runs from September to May, but racing continues even in the ‘off season’.

The Club schedules 16 major regattas and races in a typical year’s programme including the ‘blue riband’ Rolex China Sea Race down to the Philippines (first sailed in 1962) and the Hong Kong to Vietnam Race (from 1996), which were held in alternate years before Covid prevented recent editions.

Filling in the spaces in the calendar are weekly races for the Etchells fleet and the Dragons, Pandoras and Ruffians, the Flying 15s, Impalas, Sportsboats and J/80s. Records for the 2020-21 season show that the principal Club events engaged 863 boat entries and 4,580 sailor entries.

Volunteers play a huge role in organising events

“It’s a packed programme,” the Commodore acknowledges, with no exaggeration at all. “You can’t do it without volunteers – thank you, all! – and it’s part of the Club’s culture that we never seem to be short of volunteers.”

SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Mindful of its visibility as a centre of sporting excellence, the Club works exceptionally hard to be “green, sustainable, and environmentally friendly”. Since 2016, there have been no single-use plastic bottles on any of the RHKYC premises. None. And no plastic single-use takeaway containers, yoghurt pots or cutlery.

The Around The Island Race is Hong Kong’s most popular sailing event

Martinet is very supportive of all green initiatives. “You have to start somewhere. Members didn’t take long to get used to bringing their own water bottles when heading for the race course, and refilling them from the dispensers provided. Such initiatives are indicative of intent,” he says.

“All the Club’s major regattas and class races are conducted under Gold Status as certified by Clean Regattas – Sailors for the Sea. It’s just part of the Club’s Sustainability Policy, which serves as a roadmap for cultivating and operating a healthier, more sustainable yachting and rowing community.”

Rooftop ceremony after the 2019 Around The Island Race

The Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club is one of the very few sporting clubs around the world which can properly be described as ‘iconic’. Today, it stands as a proud and visible marker on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, enjoying commanding views of one of the world’s greatest harbours.

Unlike some other clubs in Asia, which are really marinas with an occasional regatta, the RHKYC is the real deal. It is, de facto, the doyenne of yacht clubs in Asia.

www.rhkyc.org.hk

Note: The original article appeared in Issue 64 of Yacht Style

Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club going solar As part of its sustainability drive, Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club is set to install over 200sqm of solar panels at its main Kellett Island site in Causeway Bay.

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Inside the Royal Yacht Squadron – we get a rare view of this most exclusive club

• Belinda Bird
• May 18, 2015

Sarah Norbury jumps at a rare chance to see inside the Royal Yacht Squadron, that unique and intriguing yacht club at the centre of Cowes, in its 200th anniversary year

Photo: Paul Wyeth

The Royal Yacht Squadron’s Castle clubhouse is best known to most sailors as the centre of the action at Cowes Week. Puffs of smoke in the aftermath of the bangs waft across the water towards the fleets of yachts, their crews’ faces pinched with concentration as they plan their beat up the rocky Island shore.

No first-timer to Cowes Week can fail to be awestruck by the Castle. Competitors mill around before their starts, staring at the flags and course-boards, getting a sight down the startline straight into the windows.

Looking is as near as most sailors ever get to this most aristocratic of clubs. Members will repair to the Squadron after racing, taking tea on the lawn, before entering the Castle for cocktails before a party or the fabulous Squadron Ball, but for the rest, the Castle itself, built by Henry VIII to repel the French, is a visual symbol of the club’s exclusivity.

The Platform, from where Cowes Week starts are signalled. Photo: YPS/Boat Exclusive

The most prestigious club in Britain, possibly the world, is wreathed in mystique. The only way to join this club of Kings, Lords, Hons and Sirs is to be invited by a member and be subject to a secret ballot. The fact that the membership list reads like Debretts is an indication of most sailors’ chances of being invited.

It’s said that wealthy tea merchant Sir Thomas Lipton was blackballed for being ‘in trade’, which is why his 1898 bid for the America’s Cup was sponsored by the Royal Ulster YC. He was allowed in eventually, but died just two years later so scarcely had time to enjoy the Castle’s delights.

Some accept a blackballing with grace, others kick up a stink, like the owner of a 150-ton schooner who, the story goes, sent a message to the club that he was anchored within close range and would commence shelling unless he received a personal apology from Percy Shelley, son of the famous poet, who had blackballed him.

Flying the white ensign

The appeal of being a member is obvious. Who wouldn’t want to fly the white ensign from their stern? The Squadron is the only yacht club with a Royal Navy warrant to do so, granted in 1829. And who wouldn’t want to walk boldly in to meet and drink with the great and the good?

I asked the current commodore, the Hon Christopher Sharples why, when a number of royal clubs are struggling to find new members, the Squadron has a healthy waiting list. “It’s a very fine club,” he responded. “People enjoy the standards and the tremendous history. Members treat the Castle as a much-loved country home.”

RYS commodore, the Hon Christopher Sharples

Originally named The Yacht Club, it was founded on 1 June 1815 by a group of 42 gentleman yachting enthusiasts. Five years later, member King George IV conferred the Royal in the club’s title and in 1833 King William IV renamed the club the Royal Yacht Squadron. Members met in the Thatched House Tavern in St James’s, London, and in Cowes twice a year for dinner.

Today there are 535 members and dinner is served in the magnificent Members’ Dining Room, under the painted gaze of illustrious past admirals and commodores. The room is adorned with silver trophies and scenes of the high seas, and waiters bring course after course from the kitchens and wine cellars below. There are bedrooms for overnight stays, a room for members to keep their ‘mess kit’ or black tie, which is required dress on Saturday nights, and even gun lockers for shooting parties.

But sailing is the club’s raision d’être and neither a title nor a fortune are a guarantee of entry. The club professes that “any gentleman or lady actively interested in yachting” is eligible for nomination.

The Library, a peaceful sanctuary as well as an important archive. Photo: YPS/Boat Exclusive

The Squadron was where yacht racing was born. In the early 1800s the aristocracy came to Cowes to socialise and cruise in their boats. The first races were duels between the yachts of the day, then rules for fleet racing were drawn up. The first club regatta, later to become Cowes Week, was in 1826. For more than a century the reigning monarch would be there to present the King’s or Queen’s trophy.

Some of history’s greatest yachtsmen are on the Squadron’s membership roll: Sir Thomas Sopwith, John Illingworth, Sir Francis Chichester, Sir Alec Rose, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. Ties with the Navy are strong and some of British maritime history’s most famous names have been Squadron members, not least Nelson’s vice-admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy who commanded HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, Admiral Lord Cochrane who was the inspriation for C.S. Forester’s Hornblower novels and Admiral Sir Jeremy Black, captain of the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible during the Falklands War.

The public’s more usual view

Perhaps the club is still best known around the world for hosting the race around the Isle of Wight in 1851 won by the schooner America , which took home what became known as the America’s Cup. The Squadron donated the Cup itself in 1851 and mounted a number of challenges to win it back.

More than 160 years later the America’s Cup has still never been won by a British challenger, but now the commodore believes the Royal Yacht Squadron has “the best chance we have ever had” with its sponsorship of Ben Ainslie Racing as official British challenger for the 2017 Cup.

• 1. Flying the white ensign
• 2. Bicentenary celebrations
• 3. Inside the Castle

Royal Yacht Club of Victoria

Royal Yacht Club Victoria (RYCV) was initially founded as the Port Phillip Yacht Club in May 1853 and remains one of the oldest yacht clubs in Australia. The Club is situated in Williamstown with a stunning view of the city skyline and is steeped in decades of yachting history and tradition. Today RYCV boasts more than 1,000 Members and over 200 yachts on the register making it an ideal Club for sailors with all levels of experience. Sailors can enjoy reliable and steady breezes with little or no current, making it a perfect stretch of water for club sailing or state, national and international regattas. Royals Training Centre offers courses for all ages and we have a strong and lively social program which is enjoyed by our Members.

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Welcome To The Port Royal Yacht Club

We are a friendly, casual, fun-loving group devoted to both social and boating activities.

PRYC Purpose and Corinthian Spirit

Purpose: PRYC declares as its purpose the promotion of yachting and its traditions, responsible seamanship, camaraderie, and the Corinthian Spirit among its members and the surrounding community.

Corinthian Spirit: The Corinthian Spirit is the code through which we judge our actions and gauge our decisions on the racecourse and in our club activities. Sailing is a self-governed sport where each competitor must possess a high moral standard and personal code of ethics in order to have a fair race. The Corinthian spirit is a law greater than ourselves that maintains the underlying foundation for sailboat racing as well as the way in which competitors choose to live their lives.

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Royal canadian yacht club.

With its two Clubhouses, one in the heart of the city and the other on the Toronto Islands, RCYC is one of the premier private clubs in Toronto. Our welcoming community consists of active sailors and like-minded individuals who share an interest in yachting, sport and tradition. The mandate of RCYC is to promote excellence in competitive sailing and sports like squash, badminton, tennis and lawn bowling. Internationally, the Club is recognized for its world-class athletes and its affiliation with prestigious regattas, having hosted the 2015 Pan American Games Sailing Competitions, the 2016 8 Metre World Cup and the 2016 & 2021 Canada’s Cup.   RCYC also boasts a lively social scene with family-oriented programming and upscale dining at our Island and City Clubhouses. DISCOVER MORE

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Do you love incredible sailing, racquet sports, lawn bowling or simply having fun with friends? We’d love for you to join our community! A Membership with RCYC opens the door to a summer escape and a year-round city home, as well as exclusive experiences in Toronto and at our reciprocal clubs around the world—no boat needed.   Click below to begin your RCYC story today.

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