Royal Victoria Yacht Club

The RVYC was founded on 24th May 1845 by Prince Albert to give Queen Victoria a Yacht Club which she was entitled to enter as a mere female! The original Club location was Ryde and for the Queen's reign it was one of the premier racing clubs in the land and indeed the world. Members owned some of the finest and most competitive vessels of the time - we still have some half-models of these on display in our clubhouse. Between the wars the fortunes of the Ryde based club declined and during the 1950s there was very little activity. Fortunately some farsighted members sought a union between the RVYC and two dinghy clubs - Fishbourne Sailing Club, and Wootton Creek Sailing Club. In the early 1960s the clubs relocated to our present position at the mouth of Wootton Creek at Fishbourne approximately five miles east of Cowes. Since then the club has flourished and activities include fast, slow dinghies & Squib fleets, rallies & racing for cruisers, training for juniors & adults and many varied social functions. With the benefit of a lottery grant the clubhouse has been renovated in recent years to give improved changing facilities and an excellent pontoon and landing stage with space for visiting boats to moor overnight. The Club has been a member of the Royal Yachting Association (formerly the Yacht Racing Association) for many years As one of the premier yacht racing clubs in the nineteenth century, RVYC was involved with the founding of the YRA in 1875, and has over the years increased our RYA credentials, achieving Training Centre status in July 2009, Onboard in Sept 2009 and Volvo Champion Club Status in August 2010. We have many RYA qualified instructors who are able to train Members and non Members for the main RYA Certificates of Competence. We have a highly active membership of around 850, including a thriving cadet section, who get out on the water in yachts, dinghies and a variety of other boats to race, cruise or just mess about. Our members are friendly, sociable, helpful and very welcoming. There are many who are highly skilled and are enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge across our wide range of activities and interest groups. We are an 'open to all' club, we have a distinguished and colourful history built up over some 165 years and we provide a fantastic range of activities for all our members.