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Royal Cape Yacht Club
The Club was founded as the Table Bay Yacht Club in 1905 and commenced operation as such in a waterside boatshed located some 50 to 60 metres northward of the foot of Loop Street.
Surviving early vicissitudes, the club's name was changed in 1914 to the Cape Yacht Club which incorporated the Alfred Rowing Club and shortly after it received the Royal Charter to become the Royal Cape Yacht Club.
Buffeted by change it moved from clubhouse to clubhouse, and it was not until the decade after the 2nd World War (1939 - 1945) that the shell of the present clubhouse came to be erected. It was added to when the local yachting boom - started by the first Trans-Atlantic Race from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro in 1971 - took off and changed the Club from a small membership of around 300 to the present figure of some 3000.
Boat accommodation progressed from swinging moorings to the club marina of today. Likewise control had to pass from amateur committees to the professional staff which now operates the club. The Royal Cape Yacht Club sits at the foot of Africa, a quiet enclave tucked away in the bustle of Cape Town’s docks. It is a prime location for sailors looking for respite from stormy weather and the club has hosted thousands of weary sailors over the years.
In the long tradition of extending a warm South African welcome, the Royal Cape Yacht Club will once again play host to The Global Ocean Race. In late November 2011 the competitors of the the second edition of The Global Ocean Race will throw their lines ashore and be welcomed into the club to repair boats and recharge batteries.
The club itself is modest, a low-slung building that houses offices, a first class restaurant and a bar where more tall tales have been told than on any other patch of earth. Its relaxed atmosphere and view over crowded docks bustling with activity is a very pleasant way to while away a long lunch or a cozy, romantic dinner. The sailors racing in the The Global Ocean Race will only be a short walk from an ice cold beer or the new “braai area”, an informal place where they can cook steaks and fish over open coals.
