Yacht Clubs (entry)

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YACHT CLUBS. Nevsky Flot (Nevskaya Flotiliya) was the first yacht club in Russia. It was founded by order of tsar Peter the Great on 12.4.1718 and had its own flag. It was given 141 small ships "to entertain people" in perpetual tenure. After the death of Peter the Great the yacht club’s activities ceased. In 1846 the first Regulations and the flag of the Imperial St. Petersburg Yacht Club were adopted. The Club had 19 members and 5 sailing yachts, only noblemen were admitted. The first 12-miles-long race, in which 7 yachts participated, took place 3 miles from Tolbukhinsky lighthouse on 8.7.1847. In the spring of 1858 the Handy Seaman circle emerged, in 1859 - Nevsky Yacht Club (for all social classes); in 1860, St. Petersburg River Yacht Club (which later moved to the territory of Vodnik Yacht Club, currently, Sea Yacht Club). The yacht club rented a space on Krestovsky Island and, for the first time in Russia, founded St. Petersburg Maritime Courses (at the corner of the 2nd Line and Sredny Avenue of Vasilievsky Island) in 1876. The first 5-mile yacht race of River Yacht Club (8 sailboats) took place on 15.8.1860 from Elaginsky Island to Nevsky floating light-house. E. Kuhn's shipyard founded at the yacht club laid the foundation of sports boatbuilding in Russia. The publication of St. Petersburg River Yacht Club Memorandum started in 1873. Soon, some amateur yacht circles sprung up in St. Petersburg; on their basis the St. Petersburg Yacht Circle was formed in 1882, which began participating in yacht races in 1888. In 1891 the circle branched out into Petrovskoe, Gavanskoe, and Strelninskoe branches, which later turned into independent yacht clubs and societies (St. Petersburg Yacht Club, 1898; Gavanskoe Yacht Society, 1902; Strelninsky Yacht Club, 1908). In 1892 after the initiative of high Navy officials the Nevsky Yacht Club was founded in memory of Nevsky Flot club of Peter the Great. It was mostly meant for cruising on larger cruiser yachts. In the summer of 1914, the Petrograd Sea Yacht Club was created on the basis of Gavanskoe Society. The most accessible for a wide range of Petrograd inhabitants was The Sea Youth Association (founded in 1917). Besides, there were many small yacht clubs including Shuvalovskoe, Sestroretskoe, Oranienbaumskoe, and Teriyokskoe. In the beginning of the 20th century there were over 20 yacht clubs in St. Petersburg. Most of the yachts were bought abroad. The best Russian sea yachts were those built at St. Petersburg River Yacht Club by A.D. Rodionov. In the beginning of 1912, the Russian Yacht Racing Union was created with the purpose to unite all Russian yacht sport societies and yacht clubs. In the winter of 1917-18 yacht clubs gradually ceased their activity and shortly, 5 maritime training sections of the working youth were organised on their basis. In 1919 stations of aquatics and maritime sections of Universal Military Training (disembodied in 1924 with transfer of yacht clubs to labour unions and Komsomol) were organised. The River Yacht Club was transformed into a sports excursion station, the former Sea Yacht Club moved to the Nevsky Yacht Club, many other yacht clubs were transferred to new sport societies. In 1936 the Introductory Sport Combine of the All-Union Central Council of Labour Unions was created on the basis of the Yacht Club of Leningrad Regional Council of Labour Unions. Yacht clubs started re-emerging at the beginning of the 1970s. Within the 1980 Olympics preparatory program, the Central Yacht Club Trud at Petrovsky Island (nowadays St. Petersburg River Yacht Club of Trade Unions), holding up to 500 yachts, was reconstructed. In 2002, five large yacht clubs operated in St. Petersburg. The oldest, Central Yacht Club (Petrovskaya spit, 7; new building erected in 1980) was founded in 1846. In slip-docks of the club there were 340 sport vessels (surfers, gliders, ice-yachts, etc.). The Navy Yacht Club (Shkipersky Canal, 12) was created in 1954. Kirovets Yacht Club of Kirovsky Plant (Strelna, 25 Pristanskaya Street) traces its history back to the former Strelninsky Yacht Club. Today, it is the largest water sports and recreation facility in St. Petersburg. Every 2 years the Russian Ice-yacht Sport Championship takes place here. In 2002 there were 26 water stations, including yacht clubs (Baltiets, Petergofskoe Highway, 1 Matisov Canal, Sea Yacht Club , 92 Martynova Embankment, etc.). There are a total of over 13,200 small vessels, the total number of berths for yachts, motor boats and cruisers reached 2,500; and the number of yachting sport aficionados approached 2,500.

Reference: Пантелеев Ю. А. Парус - моя жизнь: Из воспоминаний. Л., 1984; Ильин В. В России главное - начать!: Воен.-мор. яхт-клуб: (Крат. ист. очерк) // Мор. клуб. 1996. № 1. С. 68-71; Филозопов В. Жемчужина на ладони Невской губы // Капитан-клуб. 1998. № 3; Спорт в Санкт-Петербурге. СПб., 2002. С. 39.

I. A. Bogdanov. Kuhn E.
Peter I, Emperor
Rodionov A.D.
2nd Line of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city
Martynova Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 92
Matisov Canal/Saint Petersburg, city, house 1
Petergofskoe Freeway/Saint Petersburg, city
Petrovskaya spit/Saint Petersburg, city, house 7
Pristanskaya St./Strelna, village, house 25
Shkipersky Protok/Saint Petersburg, city, house 12
Sredny Ave of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city
Пантелеев Ю. А. Парус - моя жизнь: Из воспоминаний. Л., 1984
Спорт в Санкт-Петербурге. СПб., 2002
Ильин В. В России главное - начать!: Воен.-мор. яхт-клуб: (Крат. ист. очерк) // Мор. клуб, 1996
Филозопов В. Жемчужина на ладони Невской губы // Капитан-клуб, 1998 1718
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