This article appeared in the Daily Telegraph on Monday 29th October 2018:-
The RVYC was founded on 24th May 1845 by Prince Albert to give Queen Victoria a Yacht Club on the Isle of Wight near her residence at Osborne House having been denied membership and access to the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes on the basis that she was female.
The original Club location was Ryde (see the article from the Daily Telegraph above) and for the Queen’s reign it was one of the premier racing clubs in the land and indeed the world. Members owned some of the finest and most competitive vessels of the time ā there are still have some wonderful half-hull models of these on display in the current clubhouse, together with some original stained glass windows and other antiquities.
Between the wars the fortunes of the Ryde based club declined and during the 1950s there was very little activity. Fortunately some farsighted members sought a union between the RVYC and two dinghy clubs – Fishbourne Sailing Club, and Wootton Creek Sailing Club.
In the early 1960s the clubs relocated to its present, more modest position at the mouth of Wootton Creek at Fishbourne, approximately five miles east of Cowes. Since then the club has flourished with competitive racing in several classes and ages all year round.
I have been a member of the RVYC for over 20 years and I am proud that ‘Hejira’ carries the special ensign and the club burgee
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