The following historical sketch of the Los Angeles Yacht Club is intended
to augment the wealth of information that is presented elsewhere in this book, as
well as the facts and illustrations in the archives and the records of deeds engraved
upon the multitude of hard won trophies. It is not intended to individually credit
the great sailors, their fine ships or the selfless dedicated men who do not appear
on the record, but who sailed for, or worked with, the club, sometimes for decades.
Such an attempt to be inclusive, even in a minor way, would involve hundreds of
men and women and their vessels and volumes of documentation.
Herein is a chronicle of the beginning and growth, involuntary jibes
and recovery, but above all the progress of a sailing fraternity whose dedication
has been apparent from generation to generation since the club’s inception. With
the two clubs (The South Coast Yacht Club and The Los Angeles Motor Boat
Club) forming the Los Angeles Yacht Club, there have been many Commodores,
Secretaries, Treasurers, dozens of Fleet Captains, Race Committees, Membership
Committees, Measurers, and all manner of dedicated yachtsmen doing an efficient
job “for the fun of it.”
From 1901, date of the South Coast Yacht Club founding, there have
been a series of clubs and compromises. The Sunset Yacht Club and the Los
Angeles Motor Boat Club entered the picture in 1910. In 1920 the South Coast
Yacht Club changed its name to the Los Angeles Yacht Club, and in 1922 the
Motor Boat and Los Angeles Clubs consolidated and moved into the facility of
the California Yacht Club. In 1937 the club separated from the California Yacht
Club and moved to the present location. Entwined in the growth of the yacht clubs
and the progressive changing of the region is pictured a fascinating portion of the
history of Southern California.