- Yacht Clubs
Bay Head Yacht Club
bayheadyachtclub.org
111 Metcalfe Street
Bay Head , NJ 08742
(732) 899-2000
The Bay Head Yacht Club was established in 1888 in Bay Head, New Jersey. BHYC members were active participants in early sneakbox and catboat racing on the shallow waters of Barnegat Bay. In 1914 the club was a founding member of the Barnegat Bay Yacht Racing Association. That summer a BHYC sailor won the first BBYRA championship. Since then Bay Head sailors have won 175 championship flags in classes ranging from E Scows to Barnegat Bay’s splendid wooden A Cats.
Today the Bay Head Yacht Club has a vibrant membership of 850 families that enjoy active sailing programs. The Club is proud to continue its leadership in the sport of sailing. The Club is located at the northern terminus of Barnegat Bay in New Jersey where several sailing Olympians and world champions have competed.
“Bay Head Yacht Club is proud to support the National Sailing Hall of Fame as a Founding Member. For over 120 years this sort of leadership has been central to the mission of our Club,” said Commodore Austin T. Fragomen.
The Bay Head Yacht Club was established on September 8, 1888 “to promote yachting and rowing and to foster athletic sports upon the water”. Bay Head was then emerging as a popular seaside resort that attracted prominent families from Philadelphia and New York. The first clubhouse was built in 1889 on pilings at the head of Barnegat Bay. The modest building was surrounded by marshes and reached from land by boardwalks. In 1893 the clubhouse was moved 100 yards east to its present location and in 1928 the current clubhouse was built to accommodate a growing membership.
BHYC members were active participants in early sneakbox and catboat racing on the shallow waters of Barnegat Bay. In 1914 the Club was a founding member of the Barnegat Bay Yacht Racing Association. Bay Head Commodore John V.A. Cattus was elected the BBYRA’s first commodore. That summer O.G. Dale of BHYC won the first BBYRA championship in his 20’ Sneakbox “Arran”. Since then BHYC sailors have won 175 championships in classes ranging from E Scows to Barnegat Bay’s splendid wooden A Cats.
Bay Head has had many prominent sailors in its history including Slade Dale, winner of the Cruising Club of America’s Blue Water Medal for 1929 for a cruise to Cuba and back in “Postscript”, a 23’ cutter designed by Dale himself. Also Sam Merrick, champion E Scow sailor, who managed the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team to its best showing ever: an unprecedented three gold and two silver medals in 1984. Sam was honored later that year with US Sailing’s most prestigious award, The Nathanael Herreshoff Trophy.
BHYC’s campus is a “key site” in Bay Head’s historic district. It includes two buildings separately listed on the National Register as “contributing structures” within the historic district: our clubhouse and the boat shed, formerly known as Dale’s Yacht Basin, on Lake Avenue. Our facilities suffered significant damage during Superstorm Sandy. We have completed repairs on everything but the clubhouse. Plans for its restoration are underway and we hope to re-open the clubhouse in 2014.
Quick Links
Getting Here
The Sailing Museum & Hall of Fame
365 Thames Street
Newport, RI 02840
401.324.5761
Sailing At BHYC
IMAGES
COMMENTS
On September 8, 1888 the Bay Head Yacht Club was founded by an interesting mix of local and summer residents. Coming from different walks of life (real estate developers, boat builders and building contractors) this collection of men made one thing perfectly clear: they were there to take their stewardship of this young club and its yachting activities very seriously.
Bay Head Yacht Club. The Bay Head Yacht Club was established on September 8, 1888 to promote yachting and rowing and to foster athletic sports upon the water. Learn more!
Catboat History. Catboats have been a staple of Bay Head Yacht Club since our founding in 1888. So much so, that in 1978, the Club officially declared the Sanderling the official sailing class of BHYC. To this day the Club has a vibrant catboat fleet featuring a total of seven Sanderlings and 25 Sandpipers, the Sanderling's little sister.
111 Metcalfe Street. Bay Head , NJ 08742. (732) 899-2000. The Bay Head Yacht Club was established in 1888 in Bay Head, New Jersey. BHYC members were active participants in early sneakbox and catboat racing on the shallow waters of Barnegat Bay. In 1914 the club was a founding member of the Barnegat Bay Yacht Racing Association.
As founding members of the Barnegat Bay Yacht Racing Association (BBYRA) in 1914, we continue to race weekly for the Association’s coveted trophies – some dating back to 1871 - and proudly display the BBYRA’s Rooster flags for participation. A former BHYC Commodore, John V. A. Cattus, was the BBYRA’s very first commodore at its founding ...