Hull Yacht Club

The Hull Yacht Club is a U.S. boating organization, located in Hull, Massachusetts, with access to Boston Harbor. The club is based mainly around personally owned yachts and pleasure boats, but also has a history of racing competition.

History

The original Hull Yacht Club was organized in the year 1880 and incorporated two years later on March 25, 1882. In 1881, the yacht club admitted George G. Garraway, believed to be the first African-American admitted to such a club. On June 15, 1882, the new Club House at Hull Hill was dedicated to the membership. The four-floor "Hull House" of the Hull Yacht Club enticed new members with three bowling alleys, a billiard room, a dining room and two reception rooms, not to mention easy access to the waters of Boston Harbor. In March 1883, 480 members elected by ballot Commodore William F. Weld, owner of the 109 foot schooner Gitana. By 1889, the membership had declined to 235 but the fleet had increased to 115 yachts, more than any other yacht club in New England. The annual dinner, held at the Parker House, was attended by 140 members, and Captain Joshua James of the Hull Life Saving Station was the guest of honor.

The Hull Yacht Club boasted a membership that included the most affluent and influential names in Boston: Melvin Ohio Adams, Lizzie Borden's defense attorney; Albert A. Pope, the father of American bicycling; Harry Converse, founder of the Boston Rubber Shoe Manufacturing Company; Charles Lauriat, the bookseller; Commodore William Weld, the shipping magnate; Dr. Francis Brown II, the founder of Boston's Children's Hospital; Dr. Myles Standish, the ophthalmologist and direct descendant of the military leader of Plymouth Colony; and Charles Francis Adams II.

The Boston Yacht Club merged with the Hull Yacht Club in 1903. The Hull had previously merged with the Massachusetts (formerly the Dorchester) in 1899. Thus, the Hull Yacht Club became the Hull station of the Boston Yacht Club and the Boston gained a station at Dorchester as well. Membership dwindled during the Great Depression. The building, after being sold to private investors for speculation as a hotel, was deemed a fire hazard and dismantled in the mid-1930's.

The present Club was incorporated on February 23, 1932 and was founded by Commodore William T. Hall. Meetings were held in a local church and access to the water was from privately owned docks along Cadish Avenue. In 1937, a year after Fitzpatrick Way had been built on top of the old railroad bed, Clarence Nickerson, Chairman of the Board of Selectman, and Andrew St. George, proposed the building of a causeway along the present site of the Yacht Club, the Saltwater Club and Town Pier; the placing of rip-rap to protect it and the filling of the area between the causeway and Fitzpatrick Way with the dredgings of Allerton Harbor. This project was not totally completed until 1949. In 1939, a W.P.A. project was approved to move the former "Old Beacon Club" from Holbrook Avenue on Allerton Hill to its present location at Mariners Park.

The Hull Yacht Club has a long history of sailing and racing (including an "almost" entry in the America's Cup). By the mid-Forties, there was movement at the Club away from handicap racing toward one-design racing. In 1945, there were fourteen Lawley 14's and six Lawley 110's. The first Turnabout appeared in the early Fifties and by the mid-sixties, the Hull Fleet had grown to include thirty six Turnabouts, ten 110's, six Ensigns and three 210's. Later on, the Club went through a transition back toward handicap racing and cruising memberships. Over the past few years though, a fleet of Rhodes19's has grown and brought more one-design racing back to the club. The 110's and N-10's are holding their own still and the junior sailing fleet has added Lasers and 420s to its roster.

In 1999, Hull Yacht club received the Leonard M. Fowle Jr. award from the Mass Bay Sailing Association as the best yacht club of the year for its promotion of sailing events in the area. The yacht club hosts several sailing events during each season. These range from junior sailing events to One-Design and PHRF. Some recent events of note being the 1998 & 2003 Mass Bay Junior Olympics and co-hosts of the Rhodes19 Nationals in 2001 (with Hingham YC). The club also hosts its signature event, the annual "Great Chase Race"; a PHRF pursuit race that attracts over 100 boats of all types and sizes each September. It has grown into one of the largest races in the Mass Bay area.