Bayview Yacht Club is private, sailing-focused yacht club located in Detroit, Michigan

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

. Bayview is famous for hosting the Port Huron to Mackinac Boat Race

Port Huron to Mackinac Boat Race

The Bayview Mackinac Boat Race is run by the Bayview Yacht Club of Detroit, Michigan. It is one of the longest fresh-water races in the world with over two hundred boats entering the race each year....

 as well as a number of other regional and local regatta

Regatta

A regatta is a series of boat races. The term typically describes racing events of rowed or sailed water craft, although some powerboat race series are also called regattas...

s.

Bayview is a member of the Detroit Regional Yacht-racing Association

Detroit Regional Yacht-racing Association

The Detroit Regional Yacht-Racing Association was established in 1912 as the Detroit River Yachting Association by the Commodores of the Detroit Boat Club and the Detroit Yacht Club, Commodore Harry Austin and Commodore Harry Kendall, respectively....

 (DRYA).

History

Bayview Yacht Club was founded in 1915 by four sailors, E. Lloyd Kurtzwarth, P.C. Williamson, Floyd Nixon and Paul Diedrich. In 1915, the club had only one boat, the 18 feet (5.5 m) Wrinkle, which P.C. Williamson sailed with the three other founders.

Bayview's first clubhouse was a two-story tin shanty built atop a floored-over boat well at the foot of what was then known as Motor Boat Lane, adjacent to Water Works Park. Bayview moved to its present clubhouse and harbor, at the foot of Clairpointe, in 1929-30.

BYC is known as the Midwest's "Shrine to Nautical Culture".

Facilities

Bayview occupies about 575 feet (175.3 m) along the Detroit River

Detroit River

The Detroit River is a strait in the Great Lakes system. The name comes from the French Rivière du Détroit, which translates literally as "River of the Strait". The Detroit River has served an important role in the history of Detroit and is one of the busiest waterways in the world. The river...

. Its facilities include two harbors with over 100 wells for vessels of varying length and beam. The club also has a crane for launching boats up to 50 feet (15.2 m), as well as storage for dry-docked boats. Bayview has shower facilities and a pump-out station.

The grounds include an 8000 square feet (743.2 m²) club house, complete with a dining room, bar, and banquet space accommodating up to 250 guests.

Bayview also has a separate small-boat sailing center with several fleets of dinghies, a teaching center, and an observation deck overlooking the Detroit River.

One-Design Fleets

Bayview Yacht Club is home to a number of competitive one-design fleets around the DRYA, including:

• Cal 25
  • Held Nationals in 2004
• C&C 35
• J-105
• J-120
• North American 40
• Melges 24
• Crescent Sailboat
  Crescent Sailboat
  The Crescent Sailboat was built exclusively in Detroit, Michigan from 1953 to 1974. These boats were designed in 1953 by a Ford Motor Company engineer, Dick Hill and friends, who were experimenting with fiberglass. 27 hulls were constructed and raced One-Design. The class made a movement to become...
  
  
• Express 27
• Tartan 10
  • Held Nationals in 2007

Formerly home to the very active L boat

L boat

The L Boat is a type of sail sloop racing boat designed by the Luedtke Brothers in Toledo, Ohio in May, 1931. The boats were of wood construction with low freeboard. Most of the hulls were mahogany, but a few were redwood and cedar. They were long, 71/2 foot beam, and 31/2 foot draft...

fleet until the early 70s