The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1907-02-28
ENGLANp's MANY YACHT CLUBS
Tho Most Exclusive lathe Royal Yacht
Squadron at Cowes.

There are forty-three yacht clubs il
Great Britain, most of them estaO-
lisLed at ports on the English coast.
Several important ones belong II
Scotland and Ireland. the Oldest one
OF them all-the Royal Cork-havinS
its headquarters at Queenstown. This
one was founded in 1920.
The chief of all the British clubs
is the Royal Yacht Squadron, founded
in 1912, with headquarters at Cowes.
1t is the most exclusive institu -.on in
England, no one, until quite recently,
being admitted a member of IL with
out the approval of King Edward.
when his Majesty was Prince Of
Wales he ofiiciatod as commodore, but
on his accession TO the throne he re-
linquished the position. The club,
however, still retains its character for
eXclusiveness, and according u
Baily's Magazine, no candidate can
hope to secure election unless pos
sesscd of considerable social influence.
The ballot is so severe that the
"lilling" of extremely well known
sportsmen frequently takes place,
much to the chagrin o. their pro-
posers. On one OCCASION certain
ropal parsonage is said to have been
50 annoyed at finding one OF his nom-
inees blachJalled that ne promptly
rendered his own resignation.
Among those who have belonged ID
the club for at least thirty years are
the Duke of Connaught the Duke CT
Fife and the Marquis of Urmonde. or
those who have joined more recently
the best known are perhaps the Edll
of Dunrayen and Marquis of Hetland.
The list of yachts registered to ~ the
squadron burgee Includes such univer-
sally famous ones as the Meteor be-
longing to the German emperor; the
Sunbeam of Lord Brassey, and the
Valkyrie of Lord Dunraven. On ele2-
ton all members pay an entrance le3
of ,G1O5. while the annual subscrip-
tion is SIC.
The yacht club next in Importance
is the Royal Thames, estaDnshed II
1923. The membership (Which is linz
tied to 1,OOU) includes the Emperor Ct
Russia, the K!ng of the Belgians, th9
Prince of Wales, Lord Brassey and
Sir Donald Currie.
The uniform OF the Il. /. Y. c. is
unique in its way. 1t consists Of 4
plain blue cloth dress coat and white
waistcoat, each with special buttons,
and either blue cloth or white duck
trousers, according to the season. In
undress a short blue jacket is worn
in place of the tail coat.
The annual subscription is eight
guineas, except in the case of mem
bers owning yachts of not less than
nine tons, Thames measurements. For
these latter the yearly dues are re-
duced to six guineas.
Another old established yacht club
is the Royal Western Yacht Club Of
England. embership is restricted to
50t, and no one can be elected if the
ballot shows him to have received one
black ball against five white. The
clubhouse, which is at Plymouth, con-
tains a number of valuable pictures
and souvenirs.
The Isle Of Wight being the chief
yachting center in Great Britain, the
Royal Victoria Yacht Club has its
headquarters appropriately enough at
Ryde. 1t was established at this port
in 1874 for the encouragement of
yachting among gentlemen owning
property on the island.
BY its constitution membership is
still confined to persons coming under
this heading. Admission to tempor-
airy membership, however, may be ex-
tended to yacht owners who belong to
other recognized clubs.
Although it was established at so
comparatively recent date as 1875, the
Royal Southampton Club is recognized
as leader.
Membership is open to both ladies'
and gentlemen, the proportion OF the
I