Balboa Yacht Club (BYC) is a yacht club located in Corona del Mar, Newport Beach, Orange County, California. It is located near the entrance of the Newport Harbor.

Balboa Yacht Club
Founded1922
Location1801 Bayshore Dr Corona del Mar, Newport Beach (CA)
Websitewww.balboayachtclub.com
The Balboa Yacht Club

History

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BYC was founded in 1922 as the Southland Sailing Club, and was soon renamed to the Balboa Yacht Club. BYC has an outstation on Catalina Island, in Whites Cove, west of Avalon.[1]

Facilities

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Balboa Yacht Club clubhouse

The facility has a main dining room and outdoor seating, and a pavilion equipped with a barbecue and snack bar. It provides mooring cans, plus both wet and dry boat slips for members and guests for a monthly fee. The wet slips can accommodate boats up to 55 feet in length, and dry slips and a three-ton crane for smaller boats up to 25 feet in length as well as a dinghy launch and storage. The club is open five days a week, plus a full-time dock staff and shore boat.

There is also a satellite facility located at Whites Landing on Santa Catalina Island. This location offers members a small anchorage and a wonderful beach to stay at while boating about the island. There are a few tents available for those on vessels not suited to sleeping, and a large communal grill is lit in the evening for cooking. There are kayaks available for use, as well as a volleyball court.

Fleets

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Balboa Yacht Club, 2012

Balboa Yacht Club is home to multiple fleets, many of which race regularly. There are fleets of Naples Sabot, FJs, Harbor 20s, and an adult Sabot fleet. Most of the larger boats race outside of Newport Harbor in the Pacific Ocean. It is the home of the Thursday night "Beer Can Races".[2]

Sailors

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Balboa's skippers Bob White and Bob Davis won the Snipe world championships in 1945 and 1946 respectively, and Jack Franco and Renee Vesterby the North Americans in 1990. David Ullman won the 470 World Championships in 1977, 1978 and 1980, the Melges 24 World Championships in 2007 and the Clifford Day Mallory Cup in 1980.

Junior Sailing Program

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The club has a large junior sailing programs which includes a full-time junior program director, coaches, maintenance and administrative staff. Facilities include a junior clubhouse, tool room, Sabot and Laser storage spaces, sail and boat wash areas crane and launching ramp.

Members have access to the junior charter fleet that includes Sabots, Lasers, CFJ's & C420's. Also included in the fleet are the BYC Jr. race committee boat, Whaler chase boats, inflatables, and multi-boat trailers for travel to away regattas.[3][4]

Throughout the year, events are scheduled for sailors of all ability levels including special events, field trips, racing clinics, a very active after-school program, and practices. During the summer months, the Junior Program offers summer sailing and racing program.

Regattas

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Beer can yachts at the start of a race

The Balboa Yacht Club is the home of many national and international regattas each year, featuring some of the most predominate racing yachts in the Southern California area.[5]

  • Annual CDM to Cabo San Lucas race[6]
  • Annual Governor's Cup[5]
  • Thursday Night Beer Can Races
  • 2012 FJ National Championships

Governor's Cup

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The Governor's Cup[7] is a youth match racing sailing regatta held annually by the Balboa Yacht Club.

 
BYC Governors Cup, July 18, 2014
 
Governor's Cup racers
 
Governor's Cup 21 'Calypso', used for match race training at BYC.

The regatta was established in 1967 when the then California Governor Ronald Reagan donated the cup to Chet and Glee Purcell. Reagan declared the cup be "for the purpose of encouraging Youth Racing in the State of California and the recognition of the skill and high performance of those men and women under twenty years of age," which agreed with vision the Mr. and Mrs. Purcell shared.[7]

Winning skippers

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Year Skipper Yacht Club
1967 Argyle Campbell BYC
1968 Argyle Campbell BYC
1969 Andy Rose BYC
1970 Andy Rose BYC
1971 John Daigh NHYC
1972 Curt Olsen CYC
1973 Bill Menninger LAYC
1974 Mark Rastello BYC
1975 Steve Washburn LBYC
1976 Steve Schock NHYC
1977 Scott Mason BCYC
1978 Brad Wheeler BYC
1979 Brad Wheeler BYC
1980 Jack Franco BYC
1981 Gordon Clute SFYC
1982 Mike Pinckney BCYC
1983 Mike Pnickney BCYC
1984 Chris Redman ABYC
1985 Chris Redman ABYC
1986 Bart Hackworth SFYC
1987 Geoff Becker CpBYC
1988 Jason Fain RYC
1989 Mark Christensen RNZYS
1990 Kelvin Harrap RNZYS
1991 Giselle Camet SDYC
1992 Anthony Merrington RPAYC
1993 Tim Wadlow SWYC
1994 Matt McQueen StFYC
1995 Andy Estcourt RNZYS
1996 Steve Kleha NHYC
1997 Tom Hebbert BBSC
1998 Brian Bissel NHYC
1999 Colin Campbell KHYC
2000 Colin Campbell KHYC
2001 Simon Minoprio RNZYS
2002 Paul Campbell-James RYA
2003 Seve Jarvin CYCA
2004 Murray Gordon RPAYC
2005 Murray Gordon RPAYC
2006 Steven Natvig KHYC
2007 Michael Menninger NHYC
2008 Michael Menninger NHYC
2009 William Tiller RNZYS
2010 William Tiller RNZYS
2011 Nevin Snow SDYC
2012 Timothy Coltman RPNYC
2013 Sam Gilmour RFBYC
2014 Sam Gilmour RFBYC
2015 Harry Price CYCA
2016 Nevin Snow SDYC
2017 Christophe Killian BYC
2018 Harry Price CYCA
2019 Nick Egnot Johnson RNZYS
2021 Jeffrey Petersen BYC
2022 Jordan Stevenson RNZYS

[8]

Other events

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The inaugural Wooden Boat Festival was held on June 7, 2014 at the Balboa Yacht Club. The show is similar to the Lake Tahoe Concours d'Elegance with vintage wooden power boats and sailboats.[9]

Maritime Sciences & Seamanship Foundation

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The Balboa Yacht Club also funds the BYC Maritime Sciences & Seamanship Foundation

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Our Story - Balboa Yacht Club". www.balboayachtclub.com. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  2. ^ "Balboa Yacht Club Still True to its Tradition of Family « Balboa Island". 2011-12-07. Archived from the original on 2011-12-07. Retrieved 2018-03-27.
  3. ^ "Nothing found for 2012 07 06 Smith-davidson-doublehanded-title". Archived from the original on 2012-07-11. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  4. ^ "U.S. Junior Women's Doublehanded Championship winners crowned". Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  5. ^ a b "Yacht clubs prepare for Governor's Cup". tribunedigital-dailypilot. Archived from the original on October 23, 2015. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  6. ^ "Corona del Mar to Cabo San Lucas International Yacht Race 2012". Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  7. ^ a b "History/Background The Governor's Cup". Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  8. ^ "History/Background – Balboa Yacht Club". Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2012-11-06.
  9. ^ Hill, Taylor (June 5, 2014). "Wooden boats take center stage in Newport Beach". Huntington Beach Wave. p. 16.
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