A Brief
History of the Wayzata Yacht Club
FOUNDED: The Yacht Club was founded in the Spring
of 1965 by about 15 sailors who had purchased sailboats from Reed’s Quiet World. A
few years before Reed’s had purchased a narrow unbuildable piece of land on Wayzata
Bay to offer mooring for the new fiberglass boats. That land extends from the East to the
West side of the current, bulkhead, turn-a-round. Reed’s began to have problems with
land usage and offered to sell the land to the sailors. The new Wayzata Yacht Club decided
early that to remain viable it must become a racing/social club and not a marina. A racing
schedule was quickly established along with Family versus Annual memberships.
In the early days, with only the original property, we had a
satellite (john) on the bulkhead. A new member recently arrived with his Ensign from Rhode
Island asked a member if this was where you catch the launch for the clubhouse. The member
pointed to the Satellite and said, "That’s it".
ONE DESIGN: The racing schedule was initiated in
1965 with about 16 Ensigns and 15 O’Day Day sailors. By 1967 there were 28 Ensigns
and 21 Day sailors plus about 22 other boats. Family membership was granted only to the 2
recognized classes.
The annual meeting in late 1967 saw a very hotly debated issue about
who should be eligible for Family membership and it was decided to create a Handicap
class. By 1968 there were 30 Ensigns, 32 Day sailors, and about 35 MORC boats. The PHRF
class was added in about 1979.
SECOND LAKESHORE: The property East of the bulkhead
to the boat launch on the West included a family cabin built in the late 1800’s. When
the WYC purchased the adjoining property it was owned by the Oak Grove Marina, who sold
bait and rented slips and fishing boats. The owner was operating on a special use permit
that would expire if he sold or died. The WYC obtained a first right of refusal and
purchased the property in 1973 from his heirs.
PARKING PROBLEMS: Parking for the Yacht Club had,
since inception, been along Co. Rd. 15. The City decided to ban parking along the roadway
and we were forced in 1975 to purchase the East parking lot. Later that year a general
outcry from fisherman caused the easing of parking and the requirement to have a trailer
to park along the road.
CLUBHOUSE: The Clubhouse remained in the ramshackle
early cabin, and additions, used by Oak Grove for several years because the lot was
considered unbuildable. When water and sewer were made available we were permitted, in
1981, to raze the cabin and build the current clubhouse.
THIRD LAKESHORE: The property to the West of the
boat launch was owned for years by a group of Wayzata businessmen who used it to moor
their boats. We tried unsuccessfully for several years to purchase it from them. They sold
to a developer who planned to build townhouses but he could not get the city to agree on a
number units he thought would be profitable. As a result we were able to acquire the
property in 1985.
With the three parcels of land we now have over 1000 ft of
Lakeshore, not counting the island or lagoon.
CURRENT MEMBERSHIP: We currently have five
one-design fleets (Ensign, J22, J24, Capri 25, & Sonar) plus 3 classes of MORC and 3
classes of PHRF.
There are over 450 members of various classes of memberships and 182
Family members on the mooring priority list. The Yacht Club has 22 buoys and 129 slips
available to members
