Please select your home edition
Edition
sMRT ALERT UK 1

Riverton Yacht Club celebrates its 150th Anniversary season

by Renee Janowicz 26 Apr 2015 10:16 BST 26 April 2015

Events and honours mark the club's broad contributions to sailing

Riverton Yacht Club celebrates its 150th anniversary all season long with special events and honours befitting the oldest club of its kind on the Delaware River, oldest in New Jersey, and one of the oldest in the United States with continuous service. It will be a celebration of this club's long history as a fixture in its community, an institution along the Eastern seaboard, and a contributor to the global sailing community.

Riverton Yacht Club engages more than members, with an open invitation for the public to enjoy the sights and sounds from the club's pier during races. All season long the club's unique swallowtail burgee flies from the mast. That symbol includes a stars-and-stripes design that reportedly was outlawed soon after RYC was formed, making it one of a kind among United States organizations. Before it pulls up docks and packs up equipment in late fall, RYC will be honoured by the Historical Society of Riverton and the Riverton Fourth of July Committee.

"This yacht club is more than a collection of sailing enthusiasts who maintain a quaint looking building and very serviceable pier for their own purposes," said Nick Mortgu, chairman of 150th Anniversary events. "We want to show members and non-members why Riverton Yacht Club holds a place in sailing history."

In the late 1800s, the club's pier was a transportation lynchpin and recreation hotspot that played a pivotal role in the establishment and development of the Borough of Riverton. Its remains a beloved landmark in the area where prom photos, marriage proposals and family portraits are staged year after year. Riverton Yacht Club started the town's immensely popular Fourth of July Children's Parade that will roll for its 118th time this summer, attracting an estimated 10,000 revelers to a town that is home to only 3,000 people. This year, all living past commodores are invited to lead the parade as the club is honoured as Grand Marshal.

Riverton Yacht Club is a regional favourite, with youth and adult lessons as well as weekly races that draw sailors from up and down the Atlantic Coast. Most active fleets are J/22, Lightning, Mariner, Flying Scott, PHRF A and PHRF B. Wednesday night races have been known to involve 75 boats, plus numerous viewers who pack a picnic and stake a spot on shore. Of special note during the 150th Anniversary is the multi-fleet Governors Cup Regatta on June 6-7, destined to include about 100 boats. It has been held every year since 1948 when then-Gov. Alfred Driscoll donated the perpetual trophy to encourage continued racing in every class.

The club's history includes more than 100 national and international champions who called Riverton Yacht Club their home base, including well-recognized names like Merrill, Lippincott and MacCausland. (See the full list at www.rivertonyachtclub.org/champions.shtml.) The impressive list with small-town ties includes three World champions, an Olympic medalist, a TransAtlantic Race winner and two America's Cup holders.

Riverton Yacht Club is the 1933 starting point of the innovative and inexpensive Duster sailboat, established as a class in 1946. The flat-bottom, 14-foot boat was engineered as a build-it-yourself vessel perfect for sheltered indoor waters, and it caught on like wildfire among sailors young, old and in-between. The club's first female winner of a significant race did it in a Duster in 1971, before women regularly played a lead role in the sport.

Only private boats are moored at Riverton Yacht Club, and its facilities are maintained by a separate nonprofit foundation. The club has about 250 members, many of whom play a hands-on role in club activities and building maintenance. Events throughout the season are open to the public, a friendliness that is not the rule at other sailing clubs.

www.rivertonyachtclub.org

Related Articles

DF95 Spring Series Event 4 at Barton's Point
The forecast 9kts dropping to 0-1kt proved accurate The forecast 9kts dropping to 0-1kt proved accurate, but the tree free banks of the coastal park allowed 12 races to be completed. Of the 14 skippers there 12 competed, with Ralph Wilkinson as RO and Rob Owens as observer. Posted on 25 Apr
Transat Paprec Day 6
A high-tension weekend At sea for six days, the competitors have already completed a quarter of the Transat Paprec course. After crossing the Bay of Biscay, rounding Cape Finisterre, and sailing down the Portuguese coast, the fleet has now stretched out. Posted on 25 Apr
56th Semaine Olympique Française de Hyères day 5
Israel deny China triple gold On a day of high pressure - in all senses - and drama in all the Medal series, team power and individual brilliance produced some of the closest board Finals in Hyères history. Posted on 25 Apr
French Open Skiff won by RS500
Emma and Luke McEwen switch roles and class, and take the victory Right at the start of their first season in the RS500, and with a switch of roles in the boat, Emma and Luke McEwen have won the prestigious French Open Skiff event at Lac du Der. Posted on 25 Apr
Sled looking to avoid 2024's late season slide
As the 52 Super Series starts next week in Saint-Tropez Fourth overall last season, 2024 and fourth also on 2022's final standings, fifth in 2023 Takashi Okura's USA flagged Sled team start 2025 looking to find the small percentage gains here and there. Posted on 25 Apr
Smarter at the Dock, Safer at Sea
How Upgrades Are Changing Cruising The service being offered by yacht manufacturers leaps forward every year - responding to a market which demands the highest quality in every aspect. Posted on 25 Apr
2025 O'pen Skiff North American "Un-Regatta
More than seventy junior sailors from as far as Switzerland traveled to Pensacola More than seventy junior sailors from as far as Switzerland traveled to Pensacola Yacht Club to experience the O'pen Skiff "Un-Regatta" vibe. Posted on 25 Apr
Transatlantic Race 2025 Preview
A North Atlantic adventure like no other The Transatlantic Race 2025 from the East Coast of the United States to the shores of the United Kingdom stands as one of sailing's most time-honored and demanding challenges. Posted on 25 Apr
A+T Instruments 10th Anniversary Celebrations
"We set out to make the World's Best Yacht Instruments" Globally recognised yacht instruments company A+T Instruments is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year after a decade of successful growth by pushing the boundaries of quality and customer service. Posted on 25 Apr
Contessa 32 2025 Racing Season Preview
The evergreen modern classic continues to attract significant numbers The evergreen modern classic, the Contessa 32, continues to attract significant numbers to one design class racing in the Solent. Posted on 25 Apr