06/07/2019
From BYC’s very own esteemed member and historian, Jack Fisher. 74 years ago today, it all started.
Today......years ago
June 7, 1945 a meeting was held to establish the BYC
Brigantine Yacht Club (BYC) has a storied history
In 1945 a group of avid sailors, decided to establish a yacht club in Brigantine where they could test their sailing skills against each other. When they finished a day of racing, they wanted to celebrate with food, drink and friendship. A meeting was held June 7, 1945, one month after the surrender of Germany in World War II. Japan would not surrender until Aug. 14, but the end was in site and people were making plans for the future.
They would settle upon the name, The Brigantine Yacht Club, but considered whether to add “Community Boating Center of Brigantine” in small letters, so that the club wouldn’t seem too “high hat.”
At the time of BYC’s founding, Brigantine was still a sparsely populated sand-dune of a city, but between 1940 and 1950 the population tripled. The club began its first full year with 25 members, no clubhouse, no property, wartime shortages and a tiny treasury. Its members were relentless in their dream of building a viable club, asking everyone they met to join. Many did join in order to enjoy access to the bay and boats as well as social events. Dues were $10 for senior members and $1 for junior members.
The original group of members owned lots on West Shore Drive which they exchanged for the club’s present location at 10th and Bayshore avenues.
In 1950 the club sold $5,000 worth of bonds which enabled the BYC to partially bulkhead, dredge and fill the lots. Within only one year the BYC hosted a major sailing competition, the South Jersey Championship Regatta which included both Moths and Lightnings, although they still didn’t have a clubhouse.
The club membership arranged to purchase the old Esso gas station that was located at the Light House Circle for the sum of six hundred dollars. The frame building was moved to the club’s property and modified to house restrooms, a kitchen and bar. That old building underwent several additions, alterations and renovations. But the core of the building was still that old gas station until Hurricane Sandy made it necessary to raze it and build this beautiful new structure.
From the start BYC sailors included both men and women. In the 1950s the women of the club organized themselves for fund raising. They purchased a picnic table, benches and an umbrella so that visitors to the club’s first regatta would be comfortable. This active female participation would eventually evolve to include women’s sailing instruction and races, and the founding of the BYC Auxiliary. By the 1990s women were being elected as flag officers. BYC was one of the first clubs within our sailing associations to do so.
Several seasons also witnessed a Yacht Club Band playing at flag raising ceremonies. In the 1960s the clubhouse included a piano which along with membership-cooked dinners spiced up the club’s social events. How many dances, masquerade parties, game shows, dinners, goofy competitions and dress-up affairs have club members attended over the years? Friendship and fun are always the key ingredients.
BYC was an early member of the South Jersey Yacht Racing Association, which in 1984 was re-named MAYRA (the Mid Atlantic Yacht Racing Association). In the 1970s a member designed and constructed our first floating dock. What a wonder it was! It was also in the ‘60s and ‘70s that BYC’s junior sailing program began to flourish, with both girls and boys mastering the sport.
In addition to teaching the children of members, the BYC has held many “sailing camps” to introduce the community’s children to the sport of sailing. Hundreds of Brigantine youth have been introduced to sailing through the BYC Sailing Camp. In the 1990’s Brigantine Yacht Club joined a second sailing association, the Long Beach Island YRA, in order to increase the competitive opportunities for our junior sailors. BYC sailors have gained excellent reputations, for their skills as well as their sportsmanship competing at home, within MAYRA and LBIYRA, at regional, national and even international sailing events.
The membership has always taken great pride in the accomplishments of our BYC sailors, young and old, as they complete at local and distant venues. Many of our youth sailors have gone on to become members of collegiate racing teams, and several have achieved American Yachting Association certification as sailing instructors.
BYC is a family place; a place where children grow up forming life-long friendships. Some of the club’s families include three or four generations of members. None-the-less, the club continues in its tradition of welcoming new members each year and is well known as a friendly, welcoming institution.
Submitted by Jack Fisher
