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33-694: 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, respectively. Founded to be a clearing board to assist local clubs in resolving conflicts with their individual summer regatta calendars, the DRYA

66-496: A $ 1million debt. The city announced plans to take over operation of the building. In 1996, the boat club members voted to move out of the city. "It was certainly difficult for us to come to the decision that if we were going to be economically viable we had to move", club President Larry Breskin said. "If we could have found a way to stay in Detroit, we would have." However, a strong rowing movement still exists in Detroit independent of

99-488: A match race in double sculls at a mile straightaway. DBC members W.A. (Pop) Warner, 74, and Capt. Fred Standish, 70, --144 years between them—saw the challenge on the club's bulletin board and vowed to take them on. It was a tight race until the stretch, where Warner and Standish began to pull away. They beat their younger Grand Rapids rivals by a full three lengths. In 1956, the Detroit Boat Club put seven members on

132-457: A symbol of privilege and exclusivity. Up until the 1970s, Black applicants were routinely rejected, until psychiatrist Dr. Leonard Ellison filed a lawsuit, and became the first Black member. More recently, the club added additional facilities like a fitness center and opened the Bitter End lounge area to allow for women to enter. Before the restoration, the Bitter End could only be accessed through

165-559: Is a restored 1920s Mediterranean-style villa that is the largest yacht club clubhouse in the United States . DYC is a member of the Detroit Regional Yacht-racing Association (DRYA). The club was founded by Detroit sailing enthusiasts in 1868. The first Yacht Club buildings, a small clubhouse and boatshed, were constructed in the late 1870s at the foot of McDougall Street, just south of Jefferson Avenue. In

198-454: Is considered highly successful by the club members. Detroit's Junior program mainly uses boats manufactured by Vespoli , but house boats from several different manufacturers in each boat bay. The club has three boat bays divided into eights, fours, and sculling boats. The 8+ bay can hold ten eights and two fours, the sculling bay can hold over thirty sculling boats (singles and doubles), and the 4+ bay can hold ten fours and four singles. Since

231-1301: Is now a Michigan Corporation and a registered non-profit organization . The DRYA's incorporation articles summarize its purpose: The purpose of the association is to encourage and promote, in the United States and Canada, the general interest in boating , yachting , and sail racing by amateur sailors (including junior and collegiate sailors) by all appropriate means, including: Albatross Yacht Club Bayview Yacht Club Crescent Sail Yacht Club Detroit Boat Club Detroit Sail Club Detroit Yacht Club Doublehanded Sailing Association Edison Boat Club Ford Yacht Club Grayhaven Sail Club of Detroit Great Lakes Yacht Club Grosse Isle Yacht Club Grosse Pointe Club Grosse Pointe Sail Club Grosse Pointe Yacht Club Lake Shore Sail Club North Star Sail Club North Cape Yacht Club Pontiac Yacht Club Port Huron Yacht Club Sailing Singles Sarnia Yacht Club South Port Sailing Club St. Clair Yacht Club Toledo Yacht Club West Shore Sail Club Windsor Yacht Club Detroit Boat Club E. A. Brush, Alpheus S. Williams, S.H. Sibley, Alfred Brush, J.H. Farnsworth, James A. Armstrong, and John Chester were among

264-674: The River Thames in England. In 1848, the clubhouse burned, destroying all boats except the Wolverine . The club was then moved to a carpentry shop, and it continued to grow. By 1873, the club was ensconced in plush quarters at the foot of Joseph Campau Street , the easternmost end of Detroit, and had become the center of all water sports. A half-dozen new clubs formed nearby, and most displayed their sailing and rowing trophies at Bidigaire's saloon up Joseph Campau. The Biddle House on East Jefferson and

297-632: The DBC blue and white colors have flown at every national rowing regatta, and DBC oarsmen have won 54 events and eight national team championships. In 1960, under coach Ken Blue, DBC crews were invited for the first time to take part in the classic Henley Royal Regatta on the Thames River in England. A team made up of Doug Latimer, Jim Plath, Bob Walker, Bill Thorpe, Roger Taylor, Joe Callanan, Al Arbury, Mike Ernesman, and coxswain Bob Kroll placed second to Harvard in

330-689: The Detroit Boat Club had the largest presence at the USRowing Youth Invitational in Cincinnati, Ohio. They made an impact on the regatta even though they did not bring home any medals. The team consists of Girls Varsity and Boys Varsity, which make entries in both lightweight and open categories. A novice program teaches new male and female rowers. The boys' head coach, Richard H. Bell , has been coaching in Detroit for over thirty years, and has been successful in many national and international regattas. Other coaches include alumni that have competed at

363-755: The Detroit Boat Club have grown in number in recent years. A new young talent has surprised the club by placing third at the USRowing National Championships and first at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta. A 2005 entry in the Men's 2x event at the USRowing Youth Invitational placed fifth. The team also finished strong in 2004 with an entry placing fourth in both the Women's 1x and Women's 2x races. In

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396-513: The Detroit Boat Club. They recently won the 2005 Head of the Schuylkill regatta and look for a national championship in the spring of 2006. The boys heavyweight team has had a recent revival after a recent slump due mainly to attrition. After qualifying for the 2005 Youth Invitational, the Heavyweight 4+ placed the best out of all of Detroit's boats in 2005 with a respectable 4th place. Scullers at

429-589: The Russell House also attracted a thirsty boating set. When its Joseph Campau lease expired in 1889, the City of Detroit invited the DBC to move to Belle Isle. The Detroit Yacht Club , which had been on the landward side of the Belle Isle Bridge, also went over to the island at that time when informed that the city needed their old site for its new bridge approach. A new clubhouse was built on Belle Isle in 1891, but

462-636: The State of Michigan. There are volunteer projects to restore the boat club, as time and weather further the deterioration of the building. As of March 2022, a storage room containing oars collapsed causing extensive investigation of the integrity of the Boat House by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources causing rowing shells to be moved from the boathouse's boat storage room to outdoor racks. All rowers and events have been forced to move all operations to

495-519: The U.S. Olympic team coached by Walter Hoover, the DBC Seven brought home two silver medals. Rowers James Gardiner and Pat Costello placed second to the Russians in double sculls while identical twins Art McKinlay and John McKinlay , John Welchli and James McIntosh , placed second to Canada in the four without coxswain event. The seventh member from the DBC was alternate Walter Hoover Jr. Since 1873,

528-577: The boat club. Former DBC rower, coach, and long time DBC rowing enthusiast Denne Osgood stated in an interview with the News, "I just don't want to see the tradition of the Detroit Boat Club go out of business. We can row as Joe Blow. It's the tradition that's important." Today, the Junior program is starting to grow. It is becoming a very strong team through the support of several Detroit area high schools. They have become increasingly successful in recent years. In 2005,

561-504: The club to national and even worldwide prominence. Beginning in 1921, the DYC started sponsoring the hydroplane races. Membership declined dramatically during the Great Depression , and some services were suspended. In 1946, all bonds had been paid, and the club was debt-free. The club's women formed the first women's sailing organization in the country and raced the club's catboats . During

594-525: The collegiate level. The boys lightweight team has been taking great strides in the past several years, placing second in the Men's lightweight 4+ at the USRowing Youth Invitational in 2004. Spring of 2005 was also a successful year for the lightweights. They had entries in the men's light 8+ and light 4+. The girls team is also very strong with respectable finishes at the Canadian Henley in both 2004 and 2005. The girls varsity 8+ looks very promising for

627-587: The cornerstone of the club's activities, other forms of boating became popular. Sailing arrived in 1899 and the DBC regatta is the oldest sailing race in Michigan . Few know that member commodore Dr. Charles Godwin Jennings and his 65-foot (20 m) schooner, Agawa, won the first Mackinac Race held in 1904. The old Belle Isle Bridge, which burned in April 1915, had a swing section which opened at midnight, preventing anyone on

660-528: The early 1880s, the members were divided over the club's growing social activities, and in 1882, one group broke away to form the Michigan Yacht Club . The remainder elected James Skiffington Commodore (the club's title equivalent to the "President" of other recreational and social organizations) in 1884. The original Belle Isle clubhouse was built at a cost of $ 10,000 (with a further $ 2,000 for furnishings) in 1891, but burned down in 1904. A new facility

693-468: The final. Any account of DBC rowing must include Divie Duffield, the greatest oarsmen in the club's history, who came to DBC from Harvard. He won the national singles titles in 1904 and 1905 and also rowed in doubles, pairs, fours and eights that took major championships. His greatest triumph came in the 1904 Olympic singles in St. Louis. He quit rowing in 1915 and coached for the next 10 years. While rowing remained

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726-501: The following noon. Fire equipment failed to get close enough to the burning building due to mud and the distance of the old clubhouse from the shore. Helpless, they stood and watched it burn. The next morning, club members vowed once again to rebuild their clubhouse. On August 4, 1902, the current boathouse was dedicated. Detroit continued to grow. Horse-drawn trolleys were being replaced by electric streetcars, planked sidewalks were paved, and gas lamps were replaced by electric lights. On

759-498: The founding members, prominent men in Detroit's society. The first building that housed the club was at Hasting street, in an old clubhouse with one boat, the Georgiana . In 1840, the Detroit Boat Club bought a second boat, the E.A. Brush , and began to hold two-mile (3 km) races from Hog Island ( Belle Isle ) and the clubhouse. It was around this time that the famous University Boat Race between Cambridge vs. Oxford races began on

792-654: The girls made it and represented the DBC and the US in Europe. The women's 2x followed up by winning a gold medal at the prestigious 2009 Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston. One of the most successful programs, and biggest recruiting draw, is the summer Learn to Row program. It teaches teens and young adults from the area the basics of rowing during the summer. It is run by Brian Benz and Pete Rosberg. The program has grown in recent years and

825-526: The island from reaching the mainline until the next morning. To be trapped on the island was tantamount to disgrace and social ostracism. All club dances ended promptly at 11:30. Long after the present bridge opened in 1923, dances at the Boat Club and Detroit Yacht Club continued to end at 11:30. In 1992 rent on the Detroit Boat Club property jumped from $ 1 to $ 100,000. Utility payments fell behind and membership continued to drop. The club filed for bankruptcy citing

858-550: The men's locker room. The newly restored Bitter End is also used for hosting small parties. In 2018, the Detroit Yacht Club celebrated its sesquicentennial (150th) anniversary. Raymond W. Batt Jr. was elected to serve as the Commodore of the Detroit Yacht Club during the sesquicentennial year. The Detroit Yacht Club clubhouse was designed by architect George D. Mason in a Mediterranean Revival style. The building sits on

891-491: The next decade, dining facilities would be expanded, and theater-quality projection equipment installed in the ballroom, where Sunday evening screenings became a regular feature of club life. There has recently been an effort to bring back Sunday night movies. During the 1960s, an outdoor, Olympic-size swimming pool was added, and the West End docks were built, increasing the number of boat wells to over 350. The DYC has long been

924-632: The outdoor area until further notice. 42°20′24.7″N 82°59′37.6″W  /  42.340194°N 82.993778°W  / 42.340194; -82.993778 Detroit Yacht Club The Detroit Yacht Club ( DYC ) is a private yacht club in Detroit , Michigan , located on its own island off of Belle Isle in the Detroit River between the MacArthur Bridge and the DTE generating plant. The DYC clubhouse

957-434: The river, sleek racing sculls became standard equipment, and canoeing became popular. The Detroit Boat Club became even a greater force in the social and sporting fabric of Detroit. DBC legends are plentiful, but one epitomizes the club's sporting tradition. During a 1923 regatta in Detroit, two middle-aged Grand Rapids Canoe Club oarsmen issued a challenge to any pair whose total ages equaled or exceeded their own—114 years—to

990-484: The social club left Belle Isle in 1996, the historic building has fallen into disrepair. Current assessments put the needed repairs over $ 20 million. The club has around 200 members who pay $ 400 in dues a year. This pay along with few other forms of income has led to many business proposals for the renovation of the site. The property and building are currently leased for 30 years to the Detroit Boat Club Crew from

1023-531: The spring of 2009 at the US Rowing Jr. National Championships, the Detroit Boat Club was very well represented with boats qualifying in four categories (men's 1x, men's Lightweight. 2x, women's 2x, and the women's Lightweight 8+). The women's double scull won a silver medal. Both girls were invited to a national selection camp with the opportunity to make the United States Junior World Team. One of

Detroit Regional Yacht-racing Association - Misplaced Pages Continue

1056-402: Was burned in 1893. Another boathouse lasted until 1901 when it also burned. In an attempt to save the structure, club member and fire commissioner Fred Moran ordered all available firefighting apparatus to the scene. Horses thundered over the old wooden bridge, dragging heavy engines and trucks behind them. The fire tug James Battle became grounded in the shallow water and remained stuck fast until

1089-538: Was quickly built at the same site. In 1923, the present-day clubhouse was dedicated; its construction had cost more than one million dollars, the work of architect George D. Mason , who also designed the Detroit Masonic Temple (the world's largest) and the opulent Gem Theatre . By the end of the following year, membership had reached 3000. Prominent member and Commodore Gar Wood set world speed records in hydroplanes , and with his Gold Cup victories brought

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