Sheboygan Yacht Club rolled its first clubhouse to its current location in 1936. Today, it bills itself as 'The Friendliest Yacht Club on Lake Michigan.'
SHEBOYGAN - As early as 1887, the beginnings of a yacht club came to be when a group of boat builders banded together to enjoy their sport.
It took a few starts and stops, but finally in 1931, the anchor was set to fully begin the Sheboygan Yacht Club.
According to a Sheboygan Yacht Club book published in 1995, the club received its charter from the State of Wisconsin in 1901. At the time, there were about 20 members. The club would remain active until 1916, when the first try was disbanded.
In 1931, the need to find a place to store large boats led to the start of the Sheboygan Yacht Club we know today.
"We had three large boats among us and no place to store them," First Commodore Dick Baker recalled.
During those years, members met at each others' homes until a shared facility could be established for the club. Dues of $10 a year were enacted to help raise funds.
The members involved in the club came from many paths of life. The group included skilled craftsmen, professionals and small business owners. A carpenter, machinist, welder, insurance man, dentist, hardware store owner, monument maker and an advertising man were listed among the charter members.
The club leased a plot of land for a $1 a year in 1932 from the C. Reiss Coal Company along the Sheboygan riverfront near Seventh and New Jersey. The city gave the club a green light for a boat storage area there.
When the club applied for incorporation in 1934, the state simply re-issued the charter first created in 1901, which would prove in later years confusing for members in determining the club's age.
The first small clubhouse was built at the Seventh and New Jersey boat storage area. When the club acquired the land it uses today at the end of Pennsylvania Avenue in 1936, the treasury wasn't flush in cash thanks to the Great Depression. Any idea of a new building was out, with only $120 in the treasury. The Great Depression forced the club to reduce it dues to as low as $3 per year from the original $10.
Two conditions for membership were in place. One was to have an interest in boating and a willingness to work. Members put the work promise to use when they moved that first 18-foot-by-24-foot building to its current location with the aid of rollers. A basement was dug, the water and sewer hookup demanded by the city were done, and the club was in business. It's been known as the "The Friendliest Yacht Club on Lake Michigan" ever since.
The clubhouse would undergo many additions through the years, expanding to meet the challenges of having a property near the lakeshore.
The footprint of that original clubhouse still remains, as it is known as the Commodore's Cove at the clubhouse.
The Great Depression increased participation in the club because boats were much less expensive because of the economic conditions. Some people also had more time on their hands and could get into the sport.
But then, there is the fascination with the lure of the lake. Longtime Sheboygan Yacht Club member Pete Reichelsdorfer said he became interested as a youth and joined the Sea Scouts in 1948. The Sea Scouts, which started in 1932, teach kids boating skills.
Reichelsdorfer said the sailing bug bit him hard and he joined the Yacht Club, eventually becoming the commodore in 1976-1977. He sailed on many races during the years with the club.
In the 1950s, the Sabre — an 87-footer purchased by Roman Brotz in 1949 — was reputed to be the largest sailing vessel on the Great Lakes. The Sabre won races many times during her competitive career, taking "first to finish" honors and overall trophies in the Chicago-Mackinac races for several years running.
Owner Brotz would die in a car crash in 1959. The Sabre would get loose from its mooring in 1960 and run aground. It was towed to Sturgeon Bay to be refitted and sold.
The Sabre served as a training ground for many young sailors still active in Sheboygan Yacht Club fleet racing. According to Reichelsdorfer, who was part of the crew during that boat's competitive career, the Sabre had two layers of mahogany wood and a 22-ton piece of lead on the bottom. The Sabre weighed in at 93,000 pounds.
Today, the Sheboygan Yacht Club, with a mission to teach youth about sailing through the Sheboygan Youth Sailing Club, continues the long history of promoting naval science and nautical knowledge, customs and beliefs in which close friendship bonds are made.
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This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Sheboygan Yacht Club Lake Michigan history can be traced to late 1800s
