History of Manhattan Sailing Club

Manhattan Sailing Club was established in 1987. The club re-introduced recreational sailing to the harbor after an absence of more than 60 years.

The club started at South Street Seaport with 12 J/24s on floating docks between the tall ships "Peking" and "Wavertree."

During its first years of existence, the club experienced an economic roller-coaster. The inaugural year of 1987 brought a large growth in membership only to see the stock market crash in October, taking with it many individual and corporate members.

The club rebounded and created and hosted the first International Yacht Club Challenge in 1988.

By 1989, the club was again growing strong with the second International Yacht Club Challenge being co-hosted by Yacht Club de Monaco and sponsored by the World Link Club of Osaka, Japan.

But 1989 and 1990 were times of corporate restructuring followed by a recession.

By 1991, the club stood at a low of 115 members. But these were committed members who worked to create a better organization, improve the fleet and continue the club programs.

In 1993, the club started expanding by establishing the Manhattan Sailing School in order to offer sailing instruction to new sailors. Until this point, the club had been primarily a racing organization.

In 1994, the club moved from the Seaport to North Cove Yacht Harbor. North Cove offered the club a higher quality facility. Then membership began growing.

From 115 in 1994, the club grew in the following years to 150, 200, 270 and in 1998, to 320.

In 1997, the club established its first clubhouse, a floating pontoon boat at North Cove.

In 1998, the club established a second facility in Manhattan at Pier 25.

Click here for the Long Winded Version of Club History.

The tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001

Sail for America - Sept. 14, 2002