My Account
The “weekend clubhouse”. The yacht club today.
‘We need a new yacht club’ was the topic of discussion for five keen yachties one Saturday morning late in 1989 after a night out socialising.
One of the five, Tom Baker, became the founding commodore of the Gulf Harbour Yacht Club, and on December 5, 1989 the club received its Certificate of Incorporation.
In 1990 Peter Blake became the club’s first Patron, and a membership of 321 keenly participated in the first winter racing series.
Back then, racing was held only on weekends and a temporary clubhouse, by way of a large marquee, was kindly sponsored by Lion Breweries, although it had to be erected on Friday and packed up on Monday.
A new clubhouse was designed by members Sue and Miles Cross, and after a great effort by a dedicated team, sufficient funds were raised, bank loans obtained and construction completed within two years.
However, it didn’t take a clubhouse to create a powerboat committee, fishing competitions, summer twilight racing, a cruising series, a full racing calendar, and a youth sailing programme, as these activities were all well underway by the time the opening ribbon was cut.
Tom Baker officiated at the clubhouse’s opening ceremony on July 11, 1992 with Peter Blake represented by his friend, well-known sailing commentator Peter Montgomery.
Today, there is still a strong core of original members who participate in a wide range of sailing activities and regularly attend club functions such as the Friday evening dinners, marine education evenings, after-race functions and club visits to theatres, films and wineries.
The club’s Youth Sailing Programme is run in conjunction with the NZ Sailing Trust that was inspired by Sir Peter Blake, and is working with the students of Whangaparaoa College, taking them sailing on Lion NZ for day and week-end trips for training in teamwork, leadership and understanding the marine environment. For a carefully selected few, these training trips culminate in a 10-day Leadership Course aboard the Spirit of New Zealand.
To further encourage young people to experience the thrills of sailing, after having completed at least a day sail on Lion NZ, they will be invited to crew on Gulf Harbour Yacht Club members’ yachts during club races.
Launch membership is slowly increasing again as some older members retire from sailing, mostly because they say that winding halyard and sheet winches seems to get harder with the years.
However, cruising rallies remain popular – these events end up with everyone anchoring in a sheltered bay for beach games and a barbecue.
The location of the Gulf Harbour Yacht Club gives its members the enormous benefit of already being out in the Hauraki Gulf, thanks to the foresight that was shown by the founding members back in 1989.
The club celebrates its 30th anniversary over the weekend of September 27-29 including a dinner where guests will be joined by second patron, Olympian Barbara Kendall. Peter Montgomery will MC the occasion, which is to be hosted by current commodore, John Butcher.
