Royal Bombay Yacht Club

The Royal Bombay Yacht Club (RBYC) was founded in 1846 in the Colaba neighborhood of Mumbai in the state of Maharashtra.

The club offers a bar and restaurant, in addition to sailing facilities.[1]

The burgee of the Royal Bombay Yacht Club features a crown and the Star of India.

History

Club premises in Mumbai

The Bombay Yacht Club was founded in 1846 with Henry Morland as club commodore and 30 years later, on the recommendation of Sir Philip Edmond Wodehouse, Queen Victoria permitted it to add the word Royal to its name.

The seafront clubhouse was built in 1881, and received a number of prominent visitors within its first ten years, including: H.R.H. Prince Arthur, their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Connaught and American railroad tycoon and yachting enthusiast Mr William Kissam Vanderbilt – part owner of the 1895 America’s Cup winner, the 37.5m sloop Defender.

In 1894, the Commissioners of the Lord High Admiral bestowed upon the club the Blue Ensign of Her Majesty's Fleet with a Star of India surmounted by the Imperial Crown.

Another clubhouse was built in 1896, a blending of Venetian Gothic with Indian Saracenic, to provide accommodations for members and visiting associates.

Yachting received a major stimulus in 1911, when King George V and Queen Mary landed in Bombay from the Royal P&O liner, S.S. Medina.

In 1958, the Bombay Club was closed for not accepting Indian members. The RBYC granted honorary memberships to all Bombay Club members and provided a new home for their furniture and other effects.

The 1960s saw a new race introduced after H.R.H. Prince Philip visited the club and presented the Challenge Cup for a Combined Class race not less than 21 miles. RBYC at that time owned a fleet of four 21 foot Seabird Class boats, whilst its members’ owned boats including Chindwin (Bermudian cutter), Iona (a Gunter sloop), Silver Oak (a Yachting World keel boat), Tir (a yawl), Merope (Stor-Draken Class) Griffon and Wynvern (two International Dragons). The club was selected to host the 6th National Regatta for the Yachting Association of India.

Member Philip Bragg, who built Suhaili, the first yacht to sail solo non-stop around the world, died in 1984. Yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnson attended a reception in his honour at the club in 2004.

In 2006, the club was visited by the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Jonathan Band, KCB, ADC, Chief of the Naval Staff (and President of the Royal Naval Club) and Lady Sarah Band, as well as other senior officers of the visiting Fleet. This was shortly followed by a visit from Sir John Stirrup, the Air Chief Marshal of the Royal Air Force and Chief of Defence Staff. In 2010, General Sir Hugh Michael Rose KCB, CBE, DSO, QGM, visited.

In 2013 the Royal Bombay Yacht Club Residential Chambers received an award of merit in the 2013 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Royal Bombay Yacht Club, Colaba, Mumbai, Bombay, Maharashtra, Video, India". Indiavideo.org. Retrieved 2012-09-07.
  2. ↑ "UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation". Retrieved 17 October 2013.

Coordinates: 18°58′N 72°48′E / 18.967°N 72.800°E / 18.967; 72.800

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