The Eastern Yacht Club is located in
Marblehead, Massachusetts and founded in 1870. It is one of the oldest yacht clubs on the east coast with significant involvement in the history of American yachting.
History
The current clubhouse was constructed in 1880.
The first meeting of the club was at Mr. John Heard's house in
Boston on March 5, 1870.
A club house location committee was led by B.W. Crowninshield, and a site on
Marblehead neck was purchased. A new structure was built and officially opened on June 9, 1881.
The Eastern Club House 1881
Design and construction
Construction began in 1880, and was designed in the popular stick style. Inside features a model room, with full and half hull models of member yachts through the years.Later additions are wing and a tower, staff and guest overnight rooms, a main dining room and bar. and would expand the complex to include tennis courts and a swimming pool. The club suffered a few fires over years losing the right tower tower portion.
Notable races
* One Design Racing
* Marblehead Race Week
* Team Racing
* Pursuit Racing
Notable Affiliated yachts
World War I contributions
When the United States entered the war, Commodore
Herbert Sears called the
Under Secretary of the Navy,
Franklin Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
, and offered the use of the Eastern clubhouse to the Navy as a base. Roosevelt accepted and the clubhouse was used as a training station for the final year of World War I, primarily for training ashore and aviation training.
A group of 14 members wanting to contribute to the war effort, ordered and personally financed boats to be used by the Navy as patrol craft and built with Navy approval of the design. Known as "The Eastern Yacht Club 62 footers", the boats were designed by Albert Loring Swasey and
Nathanael Greene Herreshoff.
The boats bore names under construction chosen by the owners and were then given their
Section Patrol numbers once accepted by the Navy. The Eastern Yacht Club boats with sponsors were:
*
USS ''Apache'' (SP-729) — Robert F. Herrick
*
USS ''Ellen'' (SP-1209) — Charles P. Curtis
*
USS ''Inca'' (SP-1212) — Frank B. McQuesten
*
USS ''Kangaroo'' (SP-1284) — Henry A. Morss, Charles A. Morss, Everett Morss
*
USS ''Daiquiri'' (SP-1285) — Charles F. Ayer, Osborne Howes, Frank S. Eaton, Oliver Ames
*
USS ''Snark'' (SP-1291) — Carl H. Tucker
*
USS ''Commodore'' (SP-1425) — Flag officers of the Eastern Yacht Club,
Herbert M. Sears
Herbert Mason Sears (1867–1942) was a noted yachtsman and businessman in Boston, Massachusetts. He was awarded the Croix de Guerre for his contributions during World War I.
Family
He was born into a prominent New England family, a Mayflower ...
, Max Agassiz, J. S. Lawrence
*
USS ''Sea Hawk'' (SP-2365) — Arthur Winslow, Edwin S. Webster, Charles A. Stone
Plus one built to the design independently:
*
USS ''War Bug'' (SP-1795) — Felix Warburg
References
External links
*{{Official website, https://www.easternyc.org
Yacht clubs in the United States
Buildings and structures in Marblehead, Massachusetts
1880 establishments in Massachusetts
Yachting associations in the United States