Welcome to the Saunderstown Yacht Club

Saunderstown Yacht Club is a privately owned club situated on the banks of the 'west passage' of Narragansett Bay.   Founded in 1927, the club's purpose has been to promote the enjoyment of the resources of our bay.  SYC offers activities for the young and not-so-young:  active junior sailing and tennis programs, club sailboat races, and single, double, and mixed tennis tournaments allow the summer months to ebb and flow.

Membership

Regular Membership

      

This class of membership entitles everyone in the membership unit to participate in Club programs and activities and to use all Club facilities. Regular adult members are expected to participate actively in the volunteer life of the Club by serving on at least two social committees and attending spring and fall workdays. Regular memberships are granted on either a family or an individual basis. Family membership includes two adults and all children below age 21 (or up to 24 if a full-time student) as of July 1.

 

Membership Process

 

Applicants for membership must be sponsored by an active member in good standing and seconded by another membership unit. We encourage applicants to attend club functions as a guest of their sponsor for up to a year prior to applying to become familiar with the membership and the activities we offer.

 

History

Saunderstown was founded as a shipbuilding community in 1856. In 1889, for the growing vacation trade, Stillman Saunders built a small hotel called the Saunders House in the shipyard overlooking the Bay. By the turn of the century a well-known literary group was in existence, and others who knew a good place for rest and relaxation came when they saw it.

With the Twenties came a bright and expansive era in the development of our country and this area of southern Rhode Island was no exception. People had started flocking to shore side points for the summer season and Saunderstown, like many other places, was growing. As more people enjoyed the coast, some felt an urge to get out on the water. Some here began looking for an inexpensive sailboat to meet that need. The Cape Cod Baby Knockabout attracted them; a significant discount would be granted to a yacht club ordering a group of boats. This was the impelling point which caused the formation of our club in 1927.

The obvious site for facilities was down by the small bit of semi-protected water in the lee (usually) of a ferry slip. There below the hotel was an unused boat shop of Martin Saunders. The association which owned the hotel had no use for it, so it was rented to the new club for a dollar a year at first. The members contributed enough to add a porch, a flagpole and a pier in

front of the small building.

Racing was quite formal the next year as Poyntell Staley appeared in white with a bow tie. Others conformed but the phenomenon died. A committee studied by-laws and rules of other clubs, and Commodore “Heinie” Newcombe chartered a sizable power boat, complete with crew, and set off on a cruise down Long Island Sound to see how other clubs operated. On the bow snapping bravely was the new burgee designed by Henry Dunbar and Jim Sheldon.

Irving C. Sheldon, Historian

May 1999

Sidebar Headline Goes Here

Content for these small sidebars go here know that these are BYOB, glasses and mixers are provided,

Drop your bottle at the bar and the bartenders mix for you. Good idea to write your name on your bottle.