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Sarah Norbury jumps at a rare chance to see inside the Royal Yacht Squadron, that unique and intriguing yacht club at the centre of Cowes, in its 200th anniversary year
Photo: Paul Wyeth
More immediately, this year the club is celebrating its 200th anniversary in a summer-long extravaganza. The highlight will the Squadron Regatta in July, a week of racing and what’s being billed as ‘spectacular social gatherings’, including a grand ball for members of 25 invited clubs from around the world. Yachts from the USA and the Caribbean will arrive after crossing the Atlantic for the Regatta and then stay on for Cowes Week and the Rolex Fastnet Race.
The Ladies Drawing Room
The Squadron is gearing up for the events with a complete refurbishment of the ground floor of the Castle, as well as taking on extra staff, compiling special menus and considerably increasing the usual wine orders.
When I was invited inside the Castle for this article I was the envy of sailing friends. Some recalled their own, never-forgotten visits, one to deliver a harp for a musical soiree, another invited by a member for a drink, surprised to discover that there is no bar; instead stewards know when top-ups are needed and appear bearing glasses on silver trays.
Like more and more sailors I had been on Squadron soil before, to the Pavilion annexe built in 2000. To help swell the coffers, the grand marquee-style building can be hired for championship dinners and class parties. With panoramic views of the Solent, as a Cowes Week après sail venue it’s hard to beat, and once there, in your smart shore gear, sipping a glass of fizz and nibbling smoked salmon canapés it’s easy to get above yourself and imagine just slipping into the Castle. If you try it, however, you’ll get short shrift.
You could say the club is very good at welcoming non-members into its garden, or conversely that it’s adept at attracting them to the periphery then holding them at bay.
There’s a painting of the entire membership outside the Castle, circa 1895. In the centre stand the club’s then commodore the Prince of Wales with his nephew and great yachting rival, Kaiser Willhelm II, and the Dukes of York and Connaught, while on the upper left-hand side are ladies, in their finery, standing on a lawn.
RYS members in 1895
That lawn was known as the Deer Park – I’m told the ladies were known as the ‘does’ – and it’s the only part of the Squadron’s domain in which they were allowed to roam. Even Queen Victoria didn’t make it into the inner sanctum – she was kept at bay in an annexe built for her on the front of the Castle, known as the Platform.
In 1964 wives, sisters and daughters of members were given their own annexe, built onto the end of the Castle in matching stone. Here, the Lams (Ladies And Associate Members) could eat in their own dining room, take tea on the balcony and watch the racing. They were not allowed to cross the carpet-rod border into the inner Castle, however.
Since then the rules have relaxed and ladies are free to enter the Castle as Lams and guests, but it was only in June 2014 that finally the new rulebook was approved that allowed women to be proposed for full membership.
The next voting session is due soon and it’s likely that the first female member will be HRH Princess Anne.
The original Cape Coral Yacht Club ballroom will soon join the ranks of former icons of the city's history – the Cape Coral Gardens, the original Gulf American Corporation, and the Waltzing Waters – as the area forges a new future.
"You ain't seen nothing yet," said Leonard Rosen, Cape Coral founder and then president of the Gulf American Land Corporation during the opening ceremony of the Yacht Club in 1962.
The Yacht Club and its developments signaled the true start of the city as we know it today, with its demise creating a hard-fought chasm within the community.
Janel Trull, the current executive director of Cape Coral Museum of History, said it's unfortunate the city has seen fit to tear down the historic building and believes it could have been saved.
"It is discouraging to know that the City Council thought it best to remove one of the last locations in town that was built by the Rosen Brothers, that was built specifically for the community, and are replacing it with something that's less of what the city is and more of a resort-style facility," Trull said.
Trull said she'll miss taking her kids to swim at the pool.
Hurricane Ian disrupted the city's initial plans to renovate The Yacht Club Community Park , sparking a tug-of-war between traditionalists and the those advocating for progress on the fate of the facilities.
Workers started razing the building in April, after months of waiting for permits. The new Yacht Club will feature a two-story community center, a parking garage, new restaurant, pool, and other amenities.
The estimated cost of the project could be upward of $100 million with no clear date on when construction will start or be completed.
Yacht Club's new designs and plan Take a look at what architects pitch for a redesigned Cape Coral Yacht Club
The Yacht Club demolition begins Cape Coral's premier historic gemstone, The Yacht Club, will be gone by the end of May
Starting in the late 1950s, brothers Jack and Leonard Rosen, founders of Gulf Guarantee Land and Title Co., later renamed Gulf American Land Corp., embarked on a journey to turn a then 107-square-mile swamp peninsula into a company town that would eventually evolve into a still-growing city with more than 216,000 residents , according to the U.S. Census.
The first resident moved to the city in 1958, according to documents from The Cape Coral History Museum.
From there, the original Yacht Club opened its doors on June 10, 1962.
The $1 million complex included the iconic ballroom building, a yacht basis, tennis courts, a junior Olympic-sized pool, a fishing pier, and a beach. Architect William Kreidt designed the building with Fort Myers's Edelbut Construction Co., supervising construction.
The Gulf American Land Corporation owned the facility and would sell three-year memberships to the club.
"The very best way to enjoy the yacht club is not to wait for special programs, but to come by yourself, any day or night, perhaps for sunbathing on the beach …. or with a few friends, maybe for bridge – tables will be set up anytime," wrote William Thew, the first director and manager of the club, in the Cape Coral Sun in 1962.
Trull described the architecture of the original building as midcentury modern with a lot of personality.
She said it was a building akin to those built in the '50s throughout Florida.
"If you look back at some of the really early stuff that the Rosen Brothers put in the city, it follows along those same lines," Trull said. "It is a sought-after type of architecture today because things are not built in that format anymore, and it is very popular in South Florida."
Early residents could enjoy weekly square dances, and background music playing most of the day from outdoor speakers, soaking in the sun by the beach, or sitting by the blue water of the pool, according to the Cape Coral Sun.
Barbecues were frequent and plentiful as residents brought their families alongside an assortment of meats with the club supplying charcoal and pits, coffee, and cold drinks.
The Yacht Club was just a quarter mile from the first eight homes built in the city.
Eventually, a teen center that only allowed youths with a key was constructed.
Councilmember Tom Hayden called the Yacht Club the first true destination for the city.
He said because of the burgeoning nature in the early '60s, the facility was the only place that was big enough for events and groups to meet.
"Every single club got its original started at the Yacht Club," Hayden said. "From the oldest clubs: the garden club, the social club; the first churches in the Cape had their first services out there, all the city organizations started out there."
"It truly was the birthplace for how Cape Coral got its start," he added.
The city purchased the Yacht Club from The Gulf American Land Corporation in the mid-1970s for less than $1 million, and the teen club became the first senior center, The Tony Rotino Center, named after a former councilmember, according to documents from The Cape Coral History Museum.
Trull said the Yacht Club experienced so many changes and updates throughout its lifespan to reflect the community's needs.
"I think it did reflect the growth and the need for more facilities like that in the city because it was used on a regular basis by so many people," Trull said.
Former Cape Coral Mayor Joe Mazurkiewicz previously said his campaign launched at the Yacht Club, the meetings on whether the city should incorporate took place in the ballroom building, and it served as the site of many more substantial events.
In 2018, voters approved a $60 million expansion of the city's parks and amenities through the Parks and Recreation General Obligation (GO) Bond. Part of that was intended for the Yacht Club Community Park.
The Cape Coral City Council had originally planned to close and begin work on renovations for the park in 2021 .
But then Hurricane Ian struck the city on Sept. 28, 2022, delaying the project with the council eventually opting to revamp the whole area, with the city pointing toward the high cost of repairs and being over FEMA's 50% rule as justification for moving forward with new buildings and amenities.
Longtime residents and former city officials opposed the plans – however, they could not sway the council to change its mind.
The current plans include a new two-story community center to replace the ballroom, removing the tennis courts, rearranging the area to accommodate a four-story parking garage, a new restaurant, and a new 14,500-square-foot resort-style pool.
The proposed changes would bring a four-story garage with approximately 685 parking spaces, 15 surface spaces at the main building, 46 boat trailers, and 158 boat slip spaces – totaling 904 parking spaces.
Current parking at the park; including for boats, vehicles, and boat trailers, amounts to 551 total spaces.
The new two-story community center would have 47,000 square feet and include a new ballroom, concession, history room, exterior balcony, storage and meeting space, and a multi-purpose hall.
Cape Coral has already begun the work toward these changes as demolition started in April with the cherished ballroom building coming down last week.
Johnson-Laux Construction, a full-service construction management firm that operates out of Winter Garden, has been contracted to demolish and deconstruct the Yacht Club for $987,716.04.
The firm is also tasked with preserving a portion of the old ballroom building, which includes interior ceiling beams, stonework, a fountain, and interior doors.
Hayden said he fought to have a history room dedicated to the old Yacht Club building in the new two-story community center design.
"Things evolve, but I think for early residents of the city, the significance of the yacht club was their life," Hayden said. "We can't necessarily control what
Gloria Tate, a former District One councilmember and longtime Cape Coral resident said the loss of the original building deeply saddens her.
"Every fond memory I have is related to that Yacht Club. All of it is part of my life here in Cape Coral."Gloria Tate, longtime Cape Coral resident and businesswoman
Tate was against the city's plans to demolish the main Yacht club building and fought to preserve it as a historic building.
"Every fond memory I have is related to that Yacht Club," Tate said. "All of it is part of my life here in Cape Coral."
One such memory that she will always remember is petitioning to get into a Christmas dance at the teen center.
The year was around 1964, she was not 13 yet but wanted to be involved with the handful of teens in the then-small city.
"I was very happy to be allowed to access the property before I turned 13," Tate said. "It's nothing like it is today."
She said the new Yacht Club will never be what it was for the original pioneers in Cape Coral, but she's hopeful it will become a place for weddings, ceremonies, and "all kinds of life blessings" for the new generation of residents.
"I look forward to that," Tate said.
Though regrettable, Tate said she appreciates the council's effort to transform the area.
"I understand about progress, and I think it's going to be good to just get it started," Tate said. "After all this, let's just get on with it."
Not all residents share the sentiment.
Janis Keim, a Cape Coral resident since 1976 who worked as the Yacht Club manager for many years, said it hurt her heart to hear that the demolition began.
She spoke at council meetings to try to save the Yacht Club and mourns the loss of the community pool.
" Drowning is the leading cause of death of children under the age of 5 in the state of Florida , and we have no community pool in Cape Coral," Keim said.
Bob Lauson, who participated in the effort to save the Yacht club, called the city's plans horrible.
"I lost sleep over this," Lauson said. "I just didn't want that image in my head of that wrecking ball and whatever they are doing over there."
When he was made aware of the city's history five years ago, Lauson bought a '60s-style home in South Cape Coral. He would drive visitors to the Yacht club to witness where the city's history had started.
"I went to a lot of public meetings and events at the Yacht Club Ballroom, and I always thought it was a delight to go there, and my kids swam in the pool," Lauson said.
He hated the way the city switched its reasoning for not moving forward with the initial renovations of the club, from the city touting extensive damage to the facility as the main reason to later saying the deferred maintenance was the issue.
"It just seems to me that we have a council dominated by developers, real estate people," Lauson said. "There's some kind of race to 400,000 people, and I'm just concerned that the quality of life around here is going to go down."
He will miss the beauty of the building and what it represented.
"It just all goes with the narrative of the history of Cape Coral, and how they built that building to attract people to move here, and I think it was to show future property owners that they were really serious and that Cape Coral was going to be a special place," Lauson said.
Lauson said he's concerned that the Yacht Club area will remain empty for years before the city figures out how to pay and begin the construction of the facilities.
"You got to feel really sorry (for the neighborhood) because that's probably going to be an empty lot and an eyesore for years, and then there's going to be some big huge construction project," Lauson said.
Keim worries that the Yacht Club Community Park will eventually be commercialized.
"It just upsets me because I feel like Police and Fire (are) not under the gun to generate revenue like Parks and Rec," Keim said.
District One Councilmember Bill Steinke said the city's plans would enhance the area and provide a better place for more memories for future residents to enjoy.
"The great thing is that it will continue to be the gem (of the city), and it will be better than ever and will accommodate more of our population than ever.Bill Steinke, Cape Coral Councilman, District 1
"The great thing is that it will continue to be the gem (of the city), and it will be better than ever and will accommodate more of our population than ever, and it will provide services to our community members and our organizations – more than the previous facility could," Steinke said.
When the council member was an infant, his family would take him to go swimming in the original pool, with his kids using the facility for swimming throughout the '80s and '90s.
Additionally, he used to play racquetball and tennis there.
As a council member, he will work toward finding a suitable location for pickleball and tennis near the Yacht Club Park.
Steinke said he made many memories, but he's excited for the future of the park.
"You only miss your memories if you give up your memories," Steinke said.
Luis Zambrano is a Watchdog/Cape Coral reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. You can reach Luis at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Lz2official .
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Royal Yacht Squadron
The Castle, Cowes, Isle of Wight, P031 7QT
Tel: +44 (0) 1983 292 191
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Welcome to the Royal London Yacht Club. The Club is one of the most historic and prestigious Yacht Clubs in Great Britain. The elegant Regency Clubhouse with eleven beautiful bedrooms and several function rooms has recently been refurbished and upgraded. The Club is situated on The Parade, Cowes, Isle of Wight with a unique waterfront position ...
Originally named The Yacht Club, it was founded on 1 June 1815 by a group of 42 gentleman yachting enthusiasts. Five years later, member King George IV conferred the Royal in the club's title ...
The Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) is a British yacht club.Its clubhouse is Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Member yachts are given the suffix RYS to their names, and are permitted (with the appropriate warrant) to wear the White Ensign of the Royal Navy rather than the merchant Red Ensign worn by the majority of other UK registered vessels.
Cowes Classics Week 2024 Monday 8 July - Friday 12 July 2024 J70 Nationals Friday 12 July - Sunday 14 July 2024 ... Royal Yacht Squadron. The Castle, Cowes, Isle of Wight, P031 7QT. Tel: +44 (0) 1983 292 191. Photography.
The Royal London Yacht Club ( RLYC) is a British yacht club. It is situated on the Parade in Cowes on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Formed in 1838, it is the sixth oldest Yacht Club in the United Kingdom. Originally formed as The Arundel Yacht Club in the Strand, it became the London Yacht Club in 1845 and moved to Cowes in 1882.
Royal London Yacht Club, Cowes, Isle Of Wight, United Kingdom. 1,112 likes · 1,951 were here. The Royal London is situated on the Cowes Parade with views...
The Club was able to acquire stone for this work from the demolition of the second East Cowes Castle built by John Nash. The old pine panelled gentlemen's heads became the Ladies Dining Room and the Balcony was added in "Festival of Britain" style. ... Royal Yacht Squadron. The Castle, Cowes, Isle of Wight, P031 7QT. Tel: +44 (0) 1983 292 ...
The Club's association with the Royal Navy began early and Nelson's Captain at Trafalgar, Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy, was among early Honorary Naval members. 1825-1848. In 1826, the Club took to organising yacht racing as a principal feature of the annual regatta at Cowes. In 1828, the rule requiring a yacht on the port tack to give way to ...
Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes, Isle Of Wight, United Kingdom. 1,561 likes · 70 talking about this · 2,204 were here. Founded in 1815, the Royal Yacht Squadron is one of the most prestigious and...
Sarah Norbury jumps at a rare chance to see inside the Royal Yacht Squadron, that unique and intriguing yacht club at the centre of Cowes, in its 200th anniversary year Photo: Paul Wyeth TAGS ...
The Royal Yacht Squadron, founded at the Thatched House Tavern in London as The Yacht Club on June 1 1815, had 42 original members whose idea was to meet in London and at Cowes, on the Isle of ...
Royal London Yacht Club, Cowes, Isle Of Wight, United Kingdom. 1,141 likes · 5 talking about this · 1,953 were here. The Royal London is situated on the Cowes Parade with views across the Solent. We...
PRICE RANGE. £140 - £142 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room) LOCATION. United Kingdom England Isle of Wight Cowes. Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect nightly room rates, including all taxes and fees known to our partners. Please see our partners for more details.
Cowes Week: A History - Part one. Although the name 'Cowes Week' became attached to the Royal Yacht Squadron Regatta later in the 19th Century it really all began when the Royal Yacht Club, as it then was, introduced organised yacht racing for cups to Cowes Regatta in 1826.
the Club's name changed to 'The Royal Yacht Club'. In 1826, the Club first organised yacht races as a feature of the annual regatta at Cowes for pilot cutters and customs boats. The growing popularity of yacht racing led to the need for regulation, and in 1828 a rule was introduced requiring a yacht on the port tack to give way to
Royal London Yacht Club - Younger Members, Cowes, Isle Of Wight, United Kingdom. 442 likes · 1 talking about this · 15 were here. Younger Members (U45) of the Royal London Yacht Club, Cowes, IoW
The city purchased the Yacht Club from The Gulf American Land Corporation in the mid-1970s for less than $1 million, and the teen club became the first senior center, The Tony Rotino Center, named ...
Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes, Isle Of Wight, United Kingdom. 1,553 likes · 10 talking about this · 2,177 were here. Founded in 1815, the Royal Yacht Squadron is one of the most prestigious and...
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Cowes Week: A History. Although the name 'Cowes Week' became attached to the Royal Yacht Squadron Regatta later in the 19th Century it really all began when the Royal Yacht Club, as it then was, introduced organised yacht racing for cups to Cowes Regatta in 1826. Cowes Regatta itself had been going before the The Yacht Club (its first title ...
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Royal Yacht Squadron. The Castle, Cowes, Isle of Wight, P031 7QT. Tel: +44 (0) 1983 292 191