History of BYC

Past Commodores

In 1922, when Newport Harbor was more shoals and sandbars than open water, the Southland Sailing Club, soon renamed the Balboa Yacht Club, was formed by a small group of sailors wanting an active organization with an emphasis on family sailing.
From its beginnings in a small wooden structure on open, sandy Balboa Peninsula, BYC has evolved to become one of southern California's most prestigious yachting organizations. In 1926 the Club moved to a new clubhouse on the southeast corner of Little Balboa Island, a stone's throw from its present location on Bayside Drive. Over the fireplace hung a burnished wood plaque bearing the Club's motto, "A pound of pluck is worth a ton of luck." Originally donated by the first commodore, Isaac B. Potter, the plaque hangs today over the present Club's dining room fireplace.
The Newport Harbor of the past began to change as dredging began in 1935, and the following year the harbor we know today was officially opened for navigation. Balboa Yacht Club, with it's prime location near the harbor entrance, now had a convenient, protected anchorage for its growing fleet.
     BYC signed a lease with the Catalina Island Company in 1957 giving them an outstation site at Whites Cove west of Avalon. Thanks to members' untold hours of hard work, from cement work to landscaping, from plumbing and wiring to carpentry and painting, this facility is now a treasured getaway site for members to enjoy.
     The Clubhouse and facilities on Bayside drive have evolved over their half-century of use to meet the changing yachting needs of the membership and to provide a comfortable environment for a wide variety of social activities.
     A detailed history of Balboa Yacht Club includes a litany of its members' successes in some of yachting's most highly acclaimed competitions. Its cruisers have ranged worldwide in their boats. In fact, Baja California and the coast of mainland Mexico are as familiar to many of the members as the coves of Catalina.
Today the Balboa Yacht Club is still among the leaders in yachting and still true to its tradition of family

Past Commodores

Year	Name		Year	Name
1922	Isaac Potter*		1967	Frank Lynch
1923	Frank Hutton*		1968	Ralph Deaver*
1924/25	H. M. Worcester*		1969	David Smiley*
1926	W. M. Davenport*		1970	Donald Franklin*
1927	H. M. Worcester*		1971	Edwin Steen, Jr.*
1928	Robert Bostwick*		1972	Jack Baillie*
1929	Louis Coffey*		1973	George Hoedinghaus*
1930	B. F. Mansfield*		1974	David Lang
1931	Evart Adams*		1975	Kenneth Ross
1932	E. G. Sherman*		1976	Preston Zillgitt
1933	Walter Cuorsen*		1977	Morrie Kirk
1934/35	T. Higbee Embry*		1978	William Carlson
1936	Paul Johnson*		1979	Bob Williamson
1937	J. Eugene Ziegler*		1980	Phillip Glasgow
1938	H. F. Batchelor*		1981	John Robinson*
1939	Lewis Bish*		1982	Terence Welsh
1940	Howard Baker*		1983	William Taylor
1941	Edmund Riesen*		1984	Richard Jones
1942	Theodore Jonson*		1985	Richard Krenz*
1943	Fred Hunie*		1986	Alan Andrews, M.D.*
1944	Mark Healy*		1987	Richard Jenness
1945/46	Donald Kemp*		1988	Douglas Wall*
1947	Robert Boyd*		1989	John Cazier
1948	Richard Fenton*		1990	James Kelly*
1949	Castleman Smith*		1991	George Leitch*
1950	Fred Smales		1992	John Barker
1951	Harry Blodgett*		1993	Richard Lawrence
1952	Converse Wurdemann*		1994	Donald Anderson
1953	L. B. Wheeler*		1995	Dudley Johnson
1954	James Whyte*		1996	Edward Di Orio
1955	Marshall Kennedy*		1997	Richard Blatterman
1956	Frank Wood, Jr.*		1998	Charles Buchanan
1957	Chip Cleary*		1999	Stanley Cochran
1958	Paul Holmes*		2000	Mike Wathen
1959	William Campbell*		2001	Tom Purcell
1960	Vilan Couch*		2002	Josh Walker
1961	Carroll Hudson*		2003	Jeffrey Allen
1962	John Biby, Jr.*		2004	Howard Neff
1963	William Blurock		2005	Norm Shepherd
1964	John Payne*		2006	William Seals
1965	Charles Glasgow, Jr.*		2007	Craig Reynolds
1966	David Young*		2008	Art Mitchell
			2009	Alan Andrews

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