THE HISTORY OF ROYAL FRESHWATER BAY YACHT CLUB

In 1896, the distinguished colonist Edward Keane, along with Aubrey Sherwood, Collector of Customs and some of their local friends agreed to form a sailing club and build a jetty for their boats at the foot of Irvine Street in Freshwater Bay.

Some 114 years later, after two world wars, endless regattas, world, state and local club championships, Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club continues to thrive and prosper and bring together Club Members and their families at this same picturesque location on the banks of the Swan River.

The future of any quality sailing club lies in the development of a younger generation of sailors. Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club was the first in Western Australia to establish a fully accredited Sail Training School which has seen over 10,000 participants in its various courses since 1997. This is supported with an up to date fleet of Pacer dinghies as well as Optimists, Lasers, 420s and others.

The Club has an Etchells development fleet to facilitate junior sailors into keel boat classes and the Club utilises a fleet of Bakewell-White designed 8 metre keel boats to supplement its training and competitive programmes.

This is all supported by a full time Training Officer and contracted coaches of the highest experience. Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club is also the home of the newly established Sailing High Performance Programme in partnership with the Western Australian Institute of Sport, Yachting Western Australia and Yachting Australia.

Since the Club's first official race in 1897, Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club has set the pace for almost every class boat on the river and maintained its reputation as a centre for sailing excellence. The domination of its sailors at every level of the sport shows that, after 114 years, the competitive spirit of Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club is alive and well.