Founded in 1874 on the Harlem River
in New York City, the Knickerbocker Yacht Club was one of the oldest clubs on Long
Island Sound, which was the epicenter of the sport of boating in America around
the turn of the century and into the roaring ‘20s. Located in Manhasset Bay on the
north shore of Long Island Sound, from the KYC docks one could see the sleek commuters
on their way to Wall Street. Next door was East Egg, home of the Great Gatsby. We
are sad to learn of this turn of events as KYC was an important part of metro New
York’s boating community.

Commodore Brian Raskin of the Port Washington, N.Y. yacht club was the bearer of the sad news.

Reprinted from the New York Times


By PETER APPLEBOME


Published: February 11, 2009



Founded in 1874 on the Harlem River in Manhattan, the Knickerbocker Yacht Club survived
several moves, two World Wars, the Great Depression, Hurricane Carol and various
internal crises, living on as the second-oldest yacht club on the Long Island Sound.

But unless something totally unexpected happens, it won’t see another summer. Shortly
after becoming the club’s commodore in January, Dr. Brian Raskin, a Long Island
dentist, reluctantly brought to board members a proposal to shut down in the face
of rising costs and falling membership.



The decision to close was confirmed at a meeting on Sunday, and the property on
Manhasset Bay, near Gatsby Country on the North Shore, is going up for sale.

Drilling Down…



“Pulling teeth is easy,” Dr. Raskin said. “This is hard.” On Tuesday evening, Dr.
Raskin spoke at the empty club, where tiny, brightly-colored models of members’
vessels line the wall. “It’s nobody’s fault,” he said. “In a time when Lehman Brothers,
Circuit City, Merrill Lynch and Citibank are all having major issues, it’s very
difficult to complain about a yacht club. It’s a luxury item. We all know that.
But, still, we’re crying over the history and what this place has meant to us.”


An Active History…



Originally incorporated to encourage “Yachting and the cultivation of Naval Science
and Seamanship,” the Knickerbocker Yacht Club has for more than a century catered
both to serious sailors and to members who bought into its sense of seaside amity.



In 1907, the club moved to Port Washington, essentially the one Jewish yacht club
in a non-Jewish world. Members transported their old frame headquarters to Long
Island, hoisted it atop the new one and began anew. There was iceboating and frostbiting
(dinghy racing) in the winter, serious racing and leisurely cruising all summer.
Members’ crafts ranged from 200-foot yachts to 10-foot dinghies, but most were moderate,
with owners functioning as one-person crews. The club’s Knickerbocker Cup race,
started in 1982, became internationally recognized.



At its peak in the early 1980s, the club had about 290 families with 165 boats.