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Royal Corinthian Yacht Club
History |  |
133 years of amateur yachting excellence...
The primary object of this Club shall be the
encouragement of Amateur Yacht sailing.
From the General Rules 1873
Since its foundation at Erith on the Thames in 1872, the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club
has produced many fine amateur helmsmen and women, including National and International
Champions of all ages, upholding its earliest objective; to encourage Amateur Yacht Sailing.
Members of the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club have been the innovators of many
ideas, now accepted as standard. Its challenge to the London Sailing Club
in 1893 was the forerunner of Burnham Week and it adopted its first One Design
Class way back in 1895. The Thirties underlined its prominence as its members
oversaw a major competition for designs for Deep Sea Racing Craft, provided the
crew for the J-Class Endeavour in Sir T.O.M. Sopwith's America’s Cup Challenge in 1934, and
selected the British Team for the Olympic Games in 1936.
The post war years saw further innovations, including the Hornet
Easter Egg, the Burnham Icicle and the Endeavour Championship,
an invitation only event to discover the Dinghy "Champion of Champions".
Corinthianism - A definition...
He shall also be
a Corinthian...
from the Organisers' official instructions for yachting competitors for the
1932 Olympic Games.
The members of the new club in 1872 were pleased to be known as 'Corinthians',
emphasising their intention to helm their own boats, although paid hands
were still allowed. The term was greatly used in the sporting world of
those days and perhaps those who had received a classical education
connected it with the Isthmian Games held at Corinth in honour of
Poseidon and found it singularly appropriate for yachtsmen.
The One Design Classes of 1913 were reminded in the Year Book that in
the Royal Corinthian 1(sic) Design Boats (NOT the current RCODs) the
crew must not exceed three and no paid hands are allowed
and in the Royal Corinthian Sea Birds the crew must not exceed two
and no paid hands are allowed.
When the Club was asked to prepare the British Olympic team for the 1936 Games,
rules were laid down for the participants. The definitions used for
the 1932 Olympics were adopted; the general instructions defined an
amateur and then some particular qualifications were added for
yachting competitors. They were required to be Corinthians and
that was defined:
Corinthianism
in yachting is that attribute which represents
participation in sport as distinct from gain and which also involves the
acquirement of nautical experience through the love of the sport rather
than through necessity or the hope of gain
The definition went on to exclude professional seamen and yacht paid hands.
Social conventions of the day also excluded them from the
Clubhouse. They waited for their owners before the Saturday race in the room at
the top of the pontoon, currently used as a 'wet' room. The last
paid hand was Gordon Tunbridge who crewed for W.G. Davies in his East Coast
One Design Rhythm until the end of the 1960s.
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