Bayview Yacht Club is private, sailing-focused yacht club located in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Bayview is famous for hosting the

Port Huron to Mackinac Boat Race The Bayview Mackinac Boat Race is run by the Bayview Yacht Club of Detroit, Michigan. It is one of the longest fresh-water races in the world with over two hundred boats entering the race each year. There have been at least six changes to the cou ...

as well as a number of other regional and local

regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

s. Bayview is a member of the

Detroit Regional Yacht-racing Association The Detroit Regional Yacht-racing Association (DRYA) was established in 1912 as the Detroit River Yachting Association by the Commodores of the Detroit Boat Club and the Detroit Yacht Club, Commodore Harry Austin and Commodore Harry Kendall, respect ...

(

DRYA The Detroit Regional Yacht-racing Association (DRYA) was established in 1912 as the Detroit River Yachting Association by the Commodores of the Detroit Boat Club and the Detroit Yacht Club, Commodore Harry Austin and Commodore Harry Kendall, respect ...

History

Bayview Yacht Club was founded in 1915 by four sailors, E. Lloyd Kurtzwarth, P.C. Williamson, Floyd Nixon and Paul Diedrich. In 1915, the club had only one boat, the Wrinkle, which Williamson sailed with the three other founders. Bayview's first clubhouse was a two-story tin shanty built atop a floored-over boat well at the foot of what was then known as Motor Boat Lane, adjacent to Water Works Park. Bayview moved to its present clubhouse and harbor, at the foot of Clairpointe, in 1929–30. Bayview Yacht Club's Port Huron to Mackinac Race has sailed annually since 1925. Bayview is known as the Midwest's "Shrine to Nautical Culture".

Facilities

Bayview occupies about along the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively refe ...

. Its facilities include two harbors with over 100 wells for vessels of varying length and beam. The club also has a crane for launching boats up to , as well as storage for dry-docked boats. Bayview has shower facilities and a pump-out station. The grounds include an club house, complete with a dining room, bar, and banquet space accommodating up to 250 guests. April 9, 2019 members learned at a "Renovation Reveal" party that the club house would be rebuilt. Work is completed and the new clubhouse opened in 2021. Bayview also has a separate small-boat sailing center with several fleets of dinghies, a teaching center, and an observation deck overlooking the Detroit River.

One-Design Fleets

Bayview Yacht Club is home to a number of competitive one-design fleets around the DRYA, including: * Benetau 36.7 ** Held Nationals in 2015 * Cal 25 ** Held Nationals in 2004 * C&C 35 * J-120 * North American 40 * Melges 24 *

Crescent Sailboat The Crescent Sailboat was built exclusively in Detroit, Michigan from 1953 to 1974. These boats were designed in 1953 by a Ford Motor Company engineer, Dick Hill and friends, who were experimenting with fiberglass. 27 hulls were constructed and race ...

* Express 27 * Tartan 10 ** Held Nationals in 2007 * Ultimate 20s Formerly home to the very active

L boat The L Boat is a type of sail sloop racing boat designed by the Luedtke Brothers in Toledo, Ohio in May, 1931. The boats were of wood construction with low freeboard. Most of the hulls were mahogany, but a few were redwood and cedar. They were l ...

fleet until the early 70s

External links

Bayview Yacht Club

References

{{Coord, 42, 21, 32, N, 82, 57, 13, W, display=title 1915 establishments in Michigan Yacht clubs in the United States Sailing in Michigan Sports in Detroit