The mission of the Larchmont Yacht Club is to instill and enhance an interest in yachting and the spirit of sportsmanship in members and their families; Encourage and provide programs for members and their families to promote and support yacht racing in the Corinthian spirit; Support a program of yacht racing events that meets the expectations of members and their families and enhances the reputation of the Club as a prestigious center of yachting and yacht racing; Encourage and provide compatible leisure and sporting activities, including intra- and interclub competitions; Provide an active and enjoyable family-oriented social environment which members and their families will support, and in which they can participate, with pride and enthusiasm.

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From the Commodore:

The Board of Trustees of the Larchmont Yacht Club voted to become a Founding Member of the National Sailing Hall of Fame in Annapolis, Maryland. Larchmont Yacht Club joins other prestigious yacht clubs in the United States in supporting the National Sailing Hall of Fame as it moves forward to construct new facilities in Annapolis, where it is destined to become “a home for the Sport of Sailing” in the United States.

Larchmont Yacht Club, founded in 1880, and located on Western Long Island Sound in Larchmont, New York, has a long and successful tradition of yachting and yacht racing, fostering generations of sailors who have and who continue to excel in sailing. Commodore Carl Olsson confirmed that “sailing and competitive racing at the Larchmont Yacht Club prevails as a way of life today as it did 131 years ago and the Club is proud to support the National Sailing Hall of Fame as a Founding Member in the spirit of that tradition.”

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History

When the Larchmont Yacht Club was founded, in 1880, the United States had been a nation for 104 years. Its total population was 50 million. The Civil War had ended 14 years earlier.  The village of New Rochelle was settled in 1688; Mamaroneck, as part of Rye, had also long been existence; but in between these two, there was no Larchmont.

The story of the origin of the Larchmont Yacht Club has often been told. In the early evening of Memorial Day in the year 1880, five young men were warming themselves over a bonfire built in a cleft of rocks on the shore of what is now Horseshoe Harbor, in Larchmont Manor. These five loved boats and they had just finished a hard racing day. Since a bonfire is scarcely the most comfortable way to close a hard day at sea, it is not surprising that these young men fell to discussing the possibility of organizing a yacht club.  They were Frank L. Anthony, Fred W. Flint, William C. France, Loring Lothrop and Charles E. Jenkins.  Their boats were part of a small mixed fleet of jib and mainsail sandbaggers, sloops and cat boats moored in Horseshoe Harbor.

It was decided that evening to organize a yacht club to be called the Larchmont Yacht Club and to invite others to join.  The problem of a Clubhouse was resolved quickly.  Fred Flint was elected a committee of one to approach his father, T.J.S. Flint, who was President of the Larchmont Manor Company and owned most of the property in Larchmont Manor from the Post Road south to the shore line. On this property was the small Union Church. The young charter members made a deal with the elder Mr. Flint for the use of the church as a clubhouse and signed a lease for $1.00 per annum.  However, it was made clear that the newly formed Club would have use of the church every day except Sunday when the clubhouse would be opened to them only after church services were over.

The club membership grew so fast, however, that a larger clubhouse was soon needed, and in the fall of 1881 the club leased the Fleming residence near the church for the annual rental of $1,500 per year.  The club continued to expand so it became necessary in 1884, to lease the Shepard House.

Three years later, in 1887, the year of the incorporation of the Larchmont Yacht Club, the present site of eleven acres was purchased at a cost of $10,000 from Benjamin A. Carver, a railroad magnate.

The original Carver residence was much smaller than the present clubhouse – the east and west wings having been added subsequently to the purchase. The Pandemonium was built fifteen year later in 1902. Our present Junior Clubhouse was the Carver stable and the basement was the cow barn while the first floor housed the horses.

Thus, the origin of the Larchmont Yacht Club.