Balboa Yacht Club

BYC was founded in 1922 as the Southland Sailing Club, and was soon renamed to the Balboa Yacht Club. BYC has an outstation on Catalina Island, in Whites Cove, west of Avalon.[1]

Balboa Yacht Club clubhouse

The facility has a main dining room and outdoor seating, and a pavilion equipped with a barbecue and snack bar. It provides mooring cans, plus both wet and dry slips available for members and guests for a monthly fee. The wet slips can accommodate boats up to 55 feet in length, and dry slips and a 3 ton crane for smaller boats up to 25 feet in length as well as a dinghy launch and storage. The club is open 5 days a week, plus a full-time dock staff and shore boat.

There is also a satellite facility located at Whites Landing on Santa Catalina Island. This location offers members a small anchorage and a wonderful beach to stay at while boating about the island. There are a few tents available for those on vessels not suited to sleeping and a large communal grill is lit in the evening for cooking. There are kayaks available for use and a volleyball court as well.

Balboa Yacht Club, 2012

Balboa Yacht Club is home to multiple fleets, many of which race regularly. There are fleets of Naples Sabot, FJs, Harbor 20s, Santana 20's, and an adult Sabot fleet. Most of the larger boats race outside of Newport Harbor in the Pacific Ocean. It is the home of the Thursday night "Beer Can Races".[2]

Balboa's skippers Bob White and Bob Davis won the Snipe world championships in 1945 and 1946 respectively, and Jack Franco and Renee Vesterby the North Americans in 1990. David Ullman won the 470 World Championships in 1977, 1978 and 1980, the Melges 24 World Championships in 2007 and the Clifford Day Mallory Cup in 1980.

The club has a large junior sailing programs which includes a full-time junior program director, coaches, maintenance and administrative staff. Facilities include a junior clubhouse, tool room, Sabot and Laser storage spaces, sail and boat wash areas crane and launching ramp.

Members have access to the junior charter fleet that includes Sabots, Lasers, CFJ's & C420's. Also included in the fleet are the BYC Jr. race committee boat, Whaler chase boats, inflatables, and multi-boat trailers for travel to away regattas.[3][4]

Throughout the year, events are scheduled for sailors of all ability levels including special events, field trips, racing clinics, a very active after-school program, and practices. During the summer months, the Junior Program offers summer sailing and racing program.

Beer can yachts at the start of a race

The Balboa Yacht Club is the home of many national and international regattas each year, featuring some of the most predominate racing yachts in the Southern California area.[5]

• Annual CDM to Cabo San Lucas race[6]
• Annual Governor's Cup[5]
• Thursday Night Beer Can Races
• 2012 FJ National Championships

The Governor's Cup[7] is a youth match racing sailing regatta held annually by the Balboa Yacht Club.

BYC Governors Cup, July 18, 2014

Governor's Cup racers

The regatta was established in 1967 when the then California Governor Ronald Reagan donated the cup to Chet and Glee Purcell. Reagan declared the cup be "for the purpose of encouraging Youth Racing in the State of California and the recognition of the skill and high performance of those men and women under twenty years of age," which agreed with vision the Mr. and Mrs. Purcell shared.[7]

The inaugural Wooden Boat Festival was held on June 7, 2014 at the Balboa Yacht Club. The show is similar to the Lake Tahoe Concours d'Elegance with vintage wooden power boats and sailboats.[9]

The Balboa Yacht Club also funds the BYC Maritime Sciences & Seamanship Foundation

• List of International Council of Yacht Clubs members

• Official site
• Race Calendar
• BYC Maritime Sciences & Seamanship Foundation