Royal Lake of the Woods Yacht Club is a
yacht club
A yacht club is a sports club specifically related to yachting.
Description
Yacht clubs are mostly located by the sea, although there some that have been established at a lake or riverside locations. Yacht or sailing clubs have either a mar ...
in
Ontario,
Canada. It is located on
Yacht Club Island approximately 2 miles from
Kenora, Ontario, on
Lake of the Woods. The yacht club was founded in 1903.
History
The first record of sailing on Lake of the Woods dates back to 1845, when the
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trade, fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake b ...
introduced
York boat
The York boat was a type of inland boat used by the Hudson's Bay Company to carry furs and trade goods along inland waterways in Rupert's Land, the watershed stretching from Hudson Bay to the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. It was named aft ...
s dawned with sails in order to transport their furs. The first camps were built on Keewatin Beach. For round twenty years, canoeing, rowing and sailing were the only means of transportation. The first motorboats were introduced in the late 1890s.
Keewatin Beach campers participated in sailing, rowing, and gymkhana events. By 1898, cruising races were run on McMillan Island. One of the earliest forms of these cruises was via the Keewatin Channel to
Galt Island where the G.F Galt family hosted a picnic lunch. In 1903, sailboats became popular and motorized boats were introduced. A building was subsequently developed on McMillan Island and became the first clubhouse. George William Northwood designed the club house for Lake of the Woods Yacht Club in 1909
The first officers of the yacht club were: Commodore G.W. Baker, Vice Commodore W.E. Macara, Captain Fred Phillips, Measurer H.F. Forrest and Treasurer R.H. Mulock.
Royal Assent
In 1914,
Prince Arthur and his daughter
Princess Patricia
Lady Victoria Patricia Helena Elizabeth Ramsay, (born Princess Patricia of Connaught; 17 March 1886 – 12 January 1974) was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Upon her marriage to Alexander Ramsay, she relinquished her title of a British prin ...
visited the club. They suggested that it apply for the title of "
Royal". The privilege was delayed because of World War I, but was later granted in 1925 with The Royal Lake of the Woods Yacht Club Incorporation Act. Commodore G.F. Galt was notified that
King George V had granted the use of Royal to the Lake of the Woods Yacht Club.
Further reading
In 1979, Robert Whitla Richards wrote 'Royal Lake of the Woods Yacht Club : history to 1978' to commemorate RLWYC's 75th anniversary 1903-1978.
CJ Conway and Lori Nelson wrote "Royal Lake of the Woods Yacht Club: A Century of Summers" to commemorate RLWYC's 100th Anniversary 1903-2003.
Notable Members
*
Gordon Chown
*
John Turner
*The Richardson family
*
Ashleigh Banfield
Ashleigh Dennistoun Banfield (born December 29, 1967) is a Canadian- American journalist and host of ''Banfield'' on the NewsNation network. She is a former host of ''Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield'' and ''Early Start'' on CNN.
Education ...
References
External links
Royal Lake of the Woods Yacht Club
{{Coord, 49, 44, 30, N, 94, 32, 21, W, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark_region:CA-ON
Royal yacht clubs
Yacht clubs in Canada
Organizations based in Ontario
1903 establishments in Ontario
Buildings and structures completed in 1909
Lake of the Woods