Health & Fitness
100 Years of Yachting at Coronado Yacht Club
The Coronado Yacht Club turns 100 and celebrates by unveiling old photos of yachting history on Glorietta Bay.
Yacht Club Celebrates By Unveiling Historic Images at Opening Day
CORONADO – The year 1913 introduced Richard Nixon and Jimmy Hoffa into the world. Headlines were filled with news of Suffragettes and Pancho Villa. But in tiny Coronado, still in its infancy, a yacht club was born – the Coronado Yacht Club.
On Sunday, May 26, Coronado Yacht Club (CYC) will celebrate their 100th year and 82nd Opening Day. To celebrate the centennial of CYC, Commodore Rick Odiorne and his staff initiated a countywide search for old photos to help better explain the legacy of yachting in Coronado’s Glorietta Bay – home of the Coronado Yacht Club.
“We’ve received a very warm response to our request to find pieces of our history,” said Odiorne. “Between area libraries and museums and old Coronado families, we’ve collected a number of visuals we had not seen before.”
Telling one’s history is important. Like rowing a boat, you get where you’re going by looking where you’ve been. In the case of the Coronado Yacht Club, these missing images show ancient sailing craft, the first clubhouse, and early activities at the club and in the bay.
The Coronado Public Library provided newspaper clippings of the time, and the Coronado Historical Association dug up old photos of early yachting and the beginnings of the Coronado Yacht Club. Local resident Michael O’Keefe shared his extensive family archive of photos and early yacht club events as well, and contributions are continuing to come in.
“Perhaps the most important photo came from our own Coronado Historical Association,” said Odiorne. “It was a shot from the 1930s of the Coronado Boathouse 1887, our early headquarters. Hanging from the rail of the Boathouse is an early yacht club burgee. It’s a terrific photo and one we did not have in our possession.”
On Opening Day, CYC will have numerous of these old images enlarged and on display for people to enjoy. Already the clubhouse is bursting with historical photographs and old film footage that has served to remind members and visitors of the wonderful history of the yacht club, and just how important a role it has played in the community.
On this coast, yacht club opening days are symbolic. On the East Coast, where winter is an extreme deterrent to yachting, opening days mark the beginning of sailing season, and a time when boats are put back in the water sporting fresh paint and varnish.
There is nothing quite like the pomp and circumstance of a yacht club opening day. On CYC’s Opening Day, all member vessels and the yacht club itself will be decorated with bright flags, bunting and streamers (and plenty of fresh varnish). Coronado Mayor Casey Tanaka will read a Proclamation on behalf of the City of Coronado, and awards will be presented for best boat and best dock. Blue blazers will be the dress of the day.
The Coronado Yacht Club has been around since 1913, minus a few war years. During that time the club has become an integral part of Coronado society, a breeding ground for yachting champions and Olympic Gold Medalists, and a major part of Coronado’s history through such national and world altering events as the Roaring Twenties, Prohibition, two world wars and the Great Depression.
The history of the yacht club includes thousands of regattas, and tens of thousands of visitors from Coronado’s Tent City and the Hotel del Coronado. Movie stars, such as Errol Flynn and William Holden, participated in local yachting, and the colorful Rainbow Fleet of multi-colored sloops in the 1930s was a familiar sight on the bay. The yacht club itself has had a few locations and headquarters over the past 100 years, including the historic Boathouse 1887.
Recreational sailing began in San Diego Bay and Glorietta Bay in the early 20th century, as prosperous area businessmen would rent working fish boats on Sundays for heated competition. The fishing sloops were the fastest things on the water. They had to be, because the first boat to the fishing grounds and back got the best price at market. Their speed off the wind did not go unnoticed by a public eager to get on the water.
For more information on donating images, artifacts and other memorabilia celebrating 100 years of yachting in Coronado, contact Commodore Rick Odiorne, Coronado Yacht Club, 1631 Strand Way, odiorne3@gmail.com, or call (619) 435-1848.
This story created by Joe Ditler and Part-Time PR, serving all of Coronado's public relations needs. For more information write josephditler@san.rr.com, or call (619) 435-0767.