The Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association was formed in San Francisco, California May 12, 1896, with
Charles G. Yale (San Francisco Yacht Club) as its first President. For some time prior to this, the major
San Francisco Bay yacht clubs were considering an organization for inter-communication, uniform racing
rules and to encourage yachting. The five charter clubs and the year they were founded were:
California Y.C. (1893), Corinthian Y.C. (1886), Encinal Y.C. (1890), Pacific Y.C. (1873) and the San
Francisco Y.C. (1869). None of the still existing charter clubs has maintained continuous membership in
PICYA. South Bay Y.C. founded in 1888 joined PICYA in 1897

The Five Original Charter Clubs
The California Y.C. clubhouse was originally located on the west side of the Webster Street Bridge on the
Oakland Estuary in Alameda. It was dubbed the “Oakland Navy” at the beginning and this “stuck.”
Dissatisfied with the problems associated with the location, it tried to combine with Encinal Y.C. in 1901
without success. The clubhouse was moved to Brooks Island in 1907. The logistics of transporting
people and supplies proved to be too great and the clubhouse was moved to Key Route Basin in 1916-
1919. Attempts to combine with Oakland Y.C. and Aeolian Y.C. at a Neptune Beach location did not
work out. The clubhouse gradually deteriorated and their members gradually joined other clubs. The
club maintained a listing and various mailing addresses until 1933 in Lloyd’s Register of American Yachts.
J. Porter Shaw was the last Commodore of record. Before 1919, the club had dropped out of PICYA and
efforts to get it back into the fold proved fruitless. The second Richardson Bay Y.C. has adopted its
burgee.

The Corinthian Y.C. has occupied its present site at Corinthian Island since 1886. The original clubhouse
burned down. The present building has been improved over time and a harbor added. Its Centennial
publication was 1986.

The Encinal Y.C. clubhouse was completed in 1891 at the south shore of Grand Avenue, Alameda. The
property was sold in 1956 and the present clubhouse, on the Estuary in Alameda was built in 1960. The
Centennial publication of Encinal Y.C. was published in 1994.
The Pacific Y.C. clubhouse was in “old” Sausalito at “Hurricane Gulch.” It was disbanded in 1899.
Benicia Y.C. adopted its burgee.
The first San Francisco Y.C. clubhouse was located on a long railroad wharf or “Long Wharf” at Mission
Bay in San Francisco until 1877. After temporary locations, a clubhouse was located in “old” Sausalito
about 1877. This burned down in 1897 and was rebuilt. Storm problems and oil pollution mainly caused
the relocation to its present Belvedere site. The original small clubhouse has developed into the present
one and the harbor was built. Its Centennial publication was issued in 1969 and a supplement was
issued in 1994.
The PICYA Burgee
The original five star burgee of PICYA is still used today. There was period when a new star was added
when a new club joined. However, when eighteen stars were reached this became spatially impractical
and the use of five stars was resumed. There is an indication that an adaptation with the two aft stars in
the horizontal was used on a special burgee awarded to early placing racers.

PICYA Publications
The first major PICYA publication in 1898, after the original 1898 Bylaws were called “Yacht Signal Code
for Use on San Francisco Bay and Adjacent Waters.” It was complied by George G. Edgar. It contained a
code flag designation table with PICYA Member Clubs and Officer’s burgees in a color plate. Past PICYA
Commodore Ward Cleaveland had the original and also had the flag plate enlarged.