The mission of the Bellingham Yacht Club is to foster recreational boating activities in Bellingham and vicinity by providing a support organization, a clubhouse, and other facilities and equipment, and to serve the social needs of its members to the extent possible while managing the Club's assets in a fiscally responsible manner.
On February 14, 1925, a small group of avid boaters met at Garland's boathouse on the South Side and created the Bellingham Yacht Club. Dr. Carl Erb served at first BYC Commodore; W. J. Seaman was Vice Commodore; and J. L. Patton was Secretary-Treasurer. The club burgee was designed by F. Stanley Piper. Three weeks later the Club had a membership of fifty and a fleet of ten boats. Members of Sea Scout I under the master H. L. Morse with their ship Sea Wolf were made junior members of the new Yacht Club.
Pacific-American Fisheries allowed the new group to use its shipyard ways and a portion of the office building temporarily while the club began negotiations with the Whatcom County Port Commission to obtain permanent moorage on Bellingham Bay. By July of 1925 there were eighty members and the club had become affiliated with the Pacific International Yachting Association (PIYA).
During 1926 and 1927 weekend cruises, sailing races, and power boat races were conducted with some fifteen boats taking part.
In 1928 negotiations were completed for summer moorage space at Camp Perfection on Chuckanut Bay. Members worked weekends and evenings to build a 135-foot dock and a locker shed which was later replaced with the first clubhouse. The third annual banquet was held on October 27, 1928 at Chuckanut Shell.
Some of the BYC boats took part in the PIYA regattas during the first five years. In 1929, one predicted log race from Chuckanut to Vancouver was won by Tom Nash. During return from Vancouver, Tom - for reasons unknown - was fired upon by a Canadian fishing boat and received shotgun pellets in his back, neck, and head. Fortunately, the attack was not fatal.
In 1931, BYC hosted the PIYA regatta. Boats from Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, and Bremerton attended. BYC was again the host in 1935.
The period from 1940 to 1946 saw a temporary decline in the club due to wartime restrictions, shortages of material and manpower, and lack of adequate moorage space.
In 1946 BYC became active again and acquired a building at the foot of Cornwall Avenue on the waterfront. The building had originally been used as the Bloedel-Donovan commissary then, during World War II, as a Coast Guard headquarters.
The old Chuckanut Bay BYC clubhouse - minus the fireplace but including the lighthouse tower - was brought by barge to Cornwall where it was joined to the existing building and the interior was rebuilt. When the new facility was opened on December 20, 1946 it boasted a dining room, cocktail lounge, wardroom, kitchen, lobby, office, and a storage room. Just below the building was moorage for about 20 boats.
In the late Forties, the BYC ladies decided they should have a more active role in club affairs than simply being deck hands and galley slaves. In January 1949, with Marge Okerland as the first president, they formed the BYC First Mates auxiliary to assist with regatta preparations. The First Mates soon became indispensable in club planning, decorating for special events, and sponsorship of style shows, and an annual Children's Christmas Party.
During 1950, the deck on the water side of the Cornwall building was partly enclosed to form a ballroom and a sun deck was added. By that time the club had mushroomed to 317 boating members, 580 social members, a staff of 20 employees, and a fleet of 71 power boats, plus 25 sailing boats. At that time there were also 30 members of the active juniors group. The Port of Bellingham now began development of Squalicum Harbor to the north and a place was reserved for the Bellingham Yacht Club. Fred Haskell was instrumental in getting the Port to build the original structure that is now the BYC clubhouse. At the recommendation of the State Auditor, the BYC members purchased the building from the Port. At that time it was necessary to raise the BYC dues from $10 to $25. Stock shares were made available to members. The move of BYC from Cornwall to the present location at Squalicum Harbor was made in 1965.
No suitable use for the abandoned clubhouse at the Cornwall site could be found so the building was sold. It still exists, however, and is in use. The building, with the tower, was barged to LaConner where it became the Lighthouse Inn restaurant.
After the move to Squalicum Harbor, membership continued to grow rapidly. More space than the original building was soon needed. A large addition to the lounge and dining area was completed in 1970. It provided space for up to 200 diners and included the present two-level dance floor. The building was expanded again in 1986. Commodore Bud Peterson led a campaign to substantially remodel the facility. New carpets, furnishings, and particularly, new, enlarged main floor rest rooms and an outside deck were added to the Club in an undertaking costing about $225,000 to be financed through ten-year self-amortizing bonds.
The PITCH (Pacific International Ton Championships) regatta was initiated in 1974. It was an immediate success - hailed as one of the finest IOR competitions - with boats coming to Bellingham Bay from California to British Columbia. During the early 1980's, the PITCH regatta was modified to include nine handicapped divisions.
PITCH has maintained its reputation as the premier Labor Day weekend regatta, staving off competition from other regattas such as "Son of PITCH." Since 1995, BYC has joined with the Visiting Nurse Association to add a charitable component to the regatta, raising more than $50,000 each year for the local Hospice organization.
In 1983, desiring to expand the range of activities, the BYC membership approved an Outstation Fund for the purpose of obtaining property in the San Juan Islands for use during cruises. The club leased Inati Bay on the east shore of Lummi Island for the use of members. The Inati Bay annual Commodore's Picnic became an annual event.
In 1988, the Outstation program was expanded and a lease for a BYC member slip at Friday Harbor was acquired. At year-end, this idea was dropped; in 1990, a slip was rented at Telegraph Harbor; this was also dropped at the end of 1990 because of lack of use.
A landmark event occurred in 1988 when Bellingham's Soviet Union sister city, Nakhodka, sent the 40-foot racing boat KAPITAN PANAEV ("Pin-eye-Ev") to participate in local races and in the Swiftsure Classic. The visit resulted from a six-year negotiation by the sponsor, Bellingham Cold Storage, and a Whatcom County delegation. The boat and crew remained for six weeks.
Unfortunately, the Soviet boat suffered damage in a collision during pre-Swiftsure maneuvering and could not participate in that race. It was a very successful visit, however. The crew of seven under Captain Victor Bukhalsky made many good friends and thoroughly enjoyed their time in Bellingham. During an emotional farewell, the Soviet crew unanimously vowed to return and invited a BYC boat to visit Nakhodka.
In 1989, the reciprocal visit occurred when eight yachtsmen, 12 teenagers, and three counselors went to Nakhodka for three weeks of camping and racing. Then, in 1990, a group of youngsters from Nakhodka came here to the Four Winds Camp on Orcas Island, while adult sailors competed in an International Pacific Rim Invitational Regatta (PRIR) here on Puget Sound, organized by the BYC. The adults were from the USSR, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, and the U.S. The racing ended just in time for the Seattle 1990 Goodwill Games.
In 1992, Commodore Dick Johnson led a team of Bellingham sailors to our Australian Sister City for a second running of the PRIR. Entries included Australia, Russia, Japan, Victoria BC, and Bellingham. The regatta has continued on a biannual basis since, with venues in Japan and New Zealand.
During the 1991 Christmas season, the Club held its first "Special Peoples' Cruise," carrying nearly 100 handicapped persons out on the bay while boats were fully decorated with seasonal lighting. This event has grown since, serving as many as 250 persons.
Meanwhile, beginning under the leadership of Patricia Ambrose and Gary Baker in the mid-1980s, the Club's Junior Sailing activities increased substantially. Now the program holds classes for hundreds of young people every summer, and BYC Juniors compete regionally and even nationally in races which show entries with the BYC burgee. For her work on this program, Pat Ambrose earned the prestigious "Tugboat Annie" award presented annually to an outstanding woman from throughout the Puget Sound region. To further support junior sailing, the Club purchased Optimist, Laser, and Byte sailboats in addition to the Holder Hawks already owned.
The Youth Fleet also sponsors a major regatta. The Bellingham Bay One-Design Regatta is held each September since 1991. It attracts youth and adult sailors from throughout the Northwest and neighboring Canada for two days of intense competition. The Laser and Tasar classes have used the One-Design for regional championship competition, helping fill the Bay with more than 100 small sailboats.
Two BYC families have been recognized as Northwest Boating Family of the Year by the Northwest Marine Trades Association. In 1995, the Ross Family, Steve, Meredith, Kelly, and Shannon, were so named in recognition of their work with and participation in junior sailing programs. In 1997, the Wells Family, Dick, Jeanette, and Tiffany, were recognized for their active participation in the US Coast Guard Auxiliary.
BYC has always provided good programs and exciting events for its members. For many years, it also maintained one of the finest dining facilities in Bellingham. The growth of the city, however, attracted many competitors for the dining facet of the Club. Members whose primary affiliation with BYC had been for dining purposes began to leave the Club, causing shortfalls in funds needed to maintain the restaurant operation.
Faced with declining revenues from dues, increasing operational deficits from the dining operation, serious maintenance problems, and a line of credit that had grown to more than $200,000, the Board of Trustees was forced to close the dining operation in 1996. The upper-level restaurant space was leased to a private operator who is open to the public, while still providing special benefits for BYC and its members. Lease payments from the upper level are sufficient to repay the debt, pay the ground lease, and most of the taxes, insurance, and utilities associated with the building and Club operations.
A dedicated group of members have remained with BYC and are working to return the Club to its roots: an organization dedicated to recreational boating and those who enjoy our company. BYC remains one of the finest private clubs in the Pacific Northwest, enjoying reciprocal privileges with most of the yacht clubs in the United States and Canada. The club has a roster of nearly 400 members and a registered fleet of approximately 200 boats. The club pennant - still the original Piper design - flies proudly over the clubhouse and on all those boats.