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PWYC History
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In the Winter of 1916-17 the shipyard next to the Port Washington Yacht Club, which was then the principal shipyard in Port Washington, had a fire which destroyed most of the boats. For a year or so the owners of those boats sailed Duck Boats about the Bay until they raised enough money to acquire larger boats.
In the 1920s before the Depression, family activity at the club reached its first peak. There were eight tennis courts, and the club, which belonged to the Eastern Lawn Tennis Association, played team matches with other clubs every Sunday. Star boat racing was active and the social life of the club, with interior decorators coming to decorate the ballroom for dances, and the steward acting as a bootlegger, made for very active parties.
In 1928 the Meteor Class was formed for Junior Sailing and the Meteor boats were owned by Juniors from various clubs on the bay. However, it was an independent organization and it soon settled on using the Port Washington Yacht Club as its headquarters. The sailing instructors were the Championship Skippers from the year before who had graduated from the class due to having passed the Junior age limit of 18. This class flourished for a long time, and only went out of existence in 1964. It had been moved to the Plandome Field and Marine Club for a few years before 1964. The Meteor Class championship trophy has been presented to the Port Washington Yacht Club. Edward Miller's father, known as "Billy," was Chairman of the Race Committee of the Port Washington Yacht Club from 1927 until 1952, and was recognized by the Y.R.A. as holding the World's Championship for Race Committee Chairmanship.
Two hurricanes in 1938 and in 1944 did a moderate amount of damage to the Port Washington Yacht Club and its waterside facilities. Fortunately, however, the original dock builders built well, with stone cribs having inclined sides as a support for the pier. This was to break up the ice in the winter so it wouldn't take the pier with it, but also served as a protection against the battering of the hurricane waves and the boats (and parts of boats) which were thrown against the pier.
The Port Washington Yacht Club was incorporated as a membership corporation under the Laws of the State of New York on April 24, 1936.
Land Purchased Old Clubhouse Burns
At the end of the 1940s the club, which had been renting the property occupied by it from the Davis family since 1908, found the going more difficult. Leases of only one year at a time could be obtained, and the threat of having the property sold for a real estate development was imminent. The club, accordingly, entered into negotiations with the landlords and was able to enter into an arrangement whereby a lease for several years was granted, with an option to purchase, and with a portion of each of the last few years rent being applied to the purchase price if the land was purchased before the lease expired. To raise enough money for the purchase, a Land Company was formed and stock was sold to members of the club. The Land Company purchased the property on December 22, 1951, giving back a purchase money mortgage to the landlords and giving the club a twenty-year lease on the property. The mortgage has now been paid off. Shortly after the purchase, the swimming pool was built, followed by the men's and boys' lockerhouse, which had not been completed when the clubhouse caught fire on January 30, 1954. Stock in the Land Company had been sold to raise money for the building of the pool. After the clubhouse burned, and since there was only about $19,000 worth of insurance on the old clubhouse, the capitalization of the Land Company was increased, and the members came forward to purchase enough additional stock to enable the building of the present clubhouse and the smaller building, which serves both as Junior Clubhouse and Tennis House.
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PWYC Original Club House
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