The Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club is one of the older yacht clubs in the Western Hemisphere, ranking 18th after the

Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron The Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron (RNSYS) is a yacht club, the oldest in the Americas, and is located on the Northwest Arm of Halifax Harbour in Halifax, Nova Scotia. History Originally established as the Halifax Yacht Club in 1837, the club ...

New York Yacht Club The New York Yacht Club (NYYC) is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. ...

Royal Bermuda Yacht Club The Royal Bermuda Yacht Club (RBYC) is a private yacht club that was established as the ''Bermuda Yacht Club'' on 1 November, 1844, after the sport of racing yachts had become established in Bermuda primarily as a pastime of idle officers of th ...

Mobile Yacht Club The Mobile Yacht Club is a private boat club and harbor which first met as a group in 1847 before establishing a physical clubhouse in the 1850s. It is located in Mobile, Alabama. The Mobile Yacht Club sponsors and participates annually in numero ...

Pass Christian Yacht Club Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places *Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland *Pass, Poland, a village in Poland *Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits * Mountain pass, a lower place in a mountai ...

Southern Yacht Club The Southern Yacht Club is located in New Orleans, Louisiana's West End neighborhood, on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain. Established on July 21, 1849, it is the fifthe oldest yacht club in the United States and a founding member of the Gulf Y ...

Biloxi Yacht Club The Biloxi Yacht Club (BYC) is located in Biloxi, Mississippi, USA, on the shores of the Mississippi Sound. The BYC is a founding member of the Gulf Yachting Association, as well as the Mississippi Coast Yachting Association. Established in 1849 ...

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, Buffalo Yacht Club, Neenah Nodaway Yacht Club,

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Portland Yacht Club Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, New Hamburg Yacht Club,

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, and Milwaukee Yacht Club. It is located in

Centre Island, New York Centre Island is a village located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. Its population was 410 as of the 2010 census. Geography Despite its name, it is actually a peninsula. According ...

, with access to Long Island Sound.

History

The Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club was founded (as the "Seawanhaka Yacht Club") in September 1871 aboard the sloop ''Glance'', anchored off Centre Island. ''Glances captain, William L. Swan, was elected Seawanhaka's first Commodore. Charles E. Willis became the Vice Commodore, Frederic de P. Foster assigned as the first Secretary, Gerard Beekmanthe Treasurer and William Foulke as the Measurers. For many years, club meetings were held aboard this flagship. In the 1880s the Club maintained a clubhouse and anchorage at Stapleton,

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

near the clubhouse of the New York Yacht Club. On February 1, 1887, it was incorporated under the latter name. In 1881 Seawanhaka held Cup races from the New York harbor to

Sandy Hook Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The barrier spit, approximately in length and varying from wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern e ...

, NJ.

Burgee

Club's triangular blue burgee has 12 White stars, eight in a horizontal direction and four others crossing vertically. The design was made to perpetuate the memory of the 12 founders.

Clubhouses

In 1881, the club leased space on Centre Island, and the word "Corinthian" was incorporated into the club's name. In 1887 the organization leased a club house in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

. Finally, in 1891–1892, the club returned to Centre Island, where a new club house was opened, and the club merged with the Oyster Bay Yacht Club. Recognizing its important history, the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 1974.National Register of Historic Places, listed January 8, 1974.

Commodores

* William L. Swan *

Elias Cornelius Benedict Elias Cornelius Benedict (January 24, 1834 – November 22, 1920) was a prominent New York City banker and yachtsman. He specialized in the gas and rubber industries. He was president of the Commercial Acetylene Gas Company and of the Marine Engi ...

(1834–1920) *

Arthur Curtiss James Arthur Curtiss James (June 1, 1867 – June 4, 1941) was a wealthy speculator in copper mines and railroads. Early life He was the son of Daniel Willis James and Ellen S. Curtiss. His grandfather was Daniel James (businessman), Daniel James, o ...

*William K. Vanderbilt Jr. *Harold S. Vanderbilt *

Clinton H. Crane Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has frequently been used as a given ...

Henry S. Morgan Henry Sturgis Morgan Sr. (October 24, 1900 – February 8, 1982) was an American banker, known for being the co-founder of Morgan Stanley and the president and chairman of the Morgan Library & Museum. Early life and education Morgan was bo ...

* Phillip J. Roosevelt * Frederick R. Coudert Jr * George E. Roosevelt *Henry H. Anderson Jr. *

Charles G. Meyer Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

*P. James Roosevelt * George S. Meyer *

Hugh Jones Hugh Jones may refer to: *Hugh Jones (bishop) (1508–1574), bishop of Llandaff *Hugh Jones (archdeacon of St Asaph) (c. 1816–1897), British religious leader *Hugh Jones (archdeacon of Essex) (1783–1869), Welsh churchman *Hugh Jones (runner) (b ...

* Willets S. Meyer * Robert DeNatale *Joseph C. Pickard

Seawanhaka Rule

In 1882, the club adopted a rating rule that would govern all its races:

Rating=\frac2

Simply known as the "Seawanhaka Rule", it served as a rating for all eastern seaboard races from 1887 onwards, including the

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one ...

from 1893 to 1903. The Load Waterline Length was usually placed under a class limit, where any amount beyond the limit was counted double. In the 1893 America's Cup the limit was set at 85 ft, so the Load Waterline Length of an 86 ft yacht would have counted as 87 ft.

Junior Club

Seawanhaka Corinthian Junior Yacht club (SCJYC) was incorporated in 1936 as one of the first Junior Yacht Clubs on Long Island Sound. The new organization built on decades of less formal Junior sailing programs at the Seawanhaka and was intended to give the Juniors an independent club and clubhouse (also completed in 1936). Over its history SCJYC has produced many sailing champions but its most central mission has always been to produce lifelong sailors. In 2017 US Sailing awarded SCJYC Sailing Director Tomas Ruiz DeLuque with The Captain Joe Prosser Award for exceptional service to sailing.

Notable members

* Timothea Larr, three-time winner of the Mrs. Charles Francis Adams Trophy, inducted into the

National Sailing Hall of Fame The National Sailing Hall of Fame is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes sailing and racing by recognizing individuals who have contributed to the sport, highlighting sailing's contribution to the American culture; and demonstrating ...

in 2013

References

References and external links

*
The History of the Schooner Seawanhaka

1890s Yacht Photography of J.S. Johnston
{{Authority control 1871 establishments in New York (state) Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) National Register of Historic Places in Nassau County, New York Sailing in New York (state) Sports clubs established in 1871 Yacht clubs in the United States