CHIPPEWA YACHT CLUB​

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Chippewa Yacht Club was founded on December 17, 1939 with the support of Parker Beach, owner of the lake Chippewa Lake Park, a popular amusement park that was located just south of the club. His vision for the yacht club was "to promote sailboating and good fellowship, and to take advantage of opportunities that Chippewa Lake offers to everyone interested in this form of recreation.” Beach felt visitors to the amusement park would enjoy seeing sailboats on the lake and was most supportive of CYC from its inception. The first constitution of the club was adopted on January 21, 1940 and on November 1, 1941 CYC was incorporated as a non-profit organization.

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In 1942, founding club members pooled together their own funds and sweat-equity to began the construction of the clubhouse; it was completed in 1943. Further improvements were made in 1956 with the addition of the kitchen and locker rooms. The concrete abutment for the floating dock was added in 1959 and enhanced in 1998 with the addition of the dock bridge, which like the clubhouse, is still in use today.

 

The first commodore of the club was Rev. John Quinton of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Medina, who was constructing the first Y-Flyer to sail on Chippewa Lake in the basement of the Chippewa Lake Park ballroom just as the club was being formed in 1939-40.

 

The Y-Flyer was a brand new boat design at the time; homebuilding plans were first published in The Rudder magazine in 1938. Designed by Alvin Youngquist, a Toledo naval architect and Commodore of the White Lake Yacht Club in Whitehall, Michigan, the Y-Flyer was a two-handed, single-design class racer. The popularity of the Y-Flyer at Chippewa Yacht Club helped Chippewa Lake earn the reputation as “the motherland” of Y-Flyers. This inspired Youngquist to present the club with a trophy cup for the Y-Flyer Class in 1940. CYC eventually relinquished its right, title, and interest in the trophy to the International Yacht Racing Union to use as it chooses. This same trophy became known as the International Youngquist Trophy and has been a highly coveted and much sought-after prize among American and Canadian Y-Flyers for decades. The Youngquist Trophy is still awarded biennially to the winner of the International Y-Flyer Championship.

 

In addition to chartering Y-Flyer Fleet #4 of the American Y-Flyer Sailing Association, CYC is also home to Snipe Fleet #621 of the Snipe Class International Racing Association (SCIRA).  CYC began hosting various regattas beginning in 1944 and became known for the Mid-Summer Madness Y-Flyer Regatta and the Chippewa Challenge Small Boat Regatta.

 

After more than 80 years, CYC continues to preserve Parker Beach’s original vision of promoting sailing and good fellowship. Our rustic clubhouse, built decades ago by our founding members, continues to serve as a gathering place and our longstanding tradition of Sunday afternoon races is still a familiar sight to those near the lake. As we plan for our future, CYC will continue its original mission of fostering the sport of sailing in our community.