As a yacht club with 185 years of history, RSYC proudly notes that the first regatta ever held in Singapore took place in 1834. One of the famous regattas organised in 1866 and reported in the Illustrated London News magazine was a 28-mile race among four well-known racing yachts. It was won by “Ganymede”, a 36-ton cutter owned by William Read, a former commodore of Singapore Yacht Club, beating J.L. Kirby’s 18-ton schooner, the “Picciola” after almost 4 ½ hours. An oil painting of that race hangs in the RSYC Chartroom today.
When the SYC built its first clubhouse in 1920 at Trafalgar Street (now part of PSA’s huge container terminal at Tanjong Pagar), regular regattas were held by keen sailors off Singapore’s harbour. SYC morphed into the Royal Singapore Yacht Club from 1922 to 1967, and took its present name shortly after Singapore’s independence.
For a number of years during the decade of the 1990s, regattas were not organised due to RSYC being preoccupied with securing a new site for its third clubhouse, completed in August 1999. To commemorate the official opening of the present clubhouse and marina in June 2000, the annual RSYC Regatta was revived on three consecutive Sundays in July 2000.
When the SYC built its first clubhouse in 1920 at Trafalgar Street (now part of PSA’s huge container terminal at Tanjong Pagar), regular regattas were held by keen sailors off Singapore’s harbour. SYC morphed into the Royal Singapore Yacht Club from 1922 to 1967, and took its present name shortly after Singapore’s independence.
For a number of years during the decade of the 1990s, regattas were not organised due to RSYC being preoccupied with securing a new site for its third clubhouse, completed in August 1999. To commemorate the official opening of the present clubhouse and marina in June 2000, the annual RSYC Regatta was revived on three consecutive Sundays in July 2000.
RSYC REGATTAS IN RECENT YEARS
Today, the annual RSYC Regatta is the Club’s signature sporting event. Held every year since 2000 during the month of July, this year’s regatta is the 12th consecutive annual event to carry the name.
In the first three years, 2000-2002, RSYC Rear Commodore Raphael Phang chaired the organising committee that revived the races on a solid footing. From 2003 to 2005, the chairman of the RSYC Sailing Sub-Committee, Dr Kent Goeking, took over responsibilities and took the Regatta to new heights, with record number of boats participating – 32 in 2004 and 33 in 2005. Committee member Keith Dunn took charge in the years 2006 to 2008, with an exciting passage race to Tioman in ’08. Overall winner was “Happy Endings” helmed by Jonathan Mahony.
The 10th annual regatta in 2009 was chaired by Committee Member Neo Wee Sim, with Rear Commodore Karl Nilssen chairing in 2010. Both Mr Neo and Mr Nilssen continue to serve in this year’s Organising Committee, together with stalwarts Christopher Nunns and Kevin Lim, and keen sailor Glen O’Grady joining in for the first time.