St. Francis Yacht Club history

A small clubhouse on the Belvedere site was completed in 1934 and is still part of the present building.

The member roster doubled and 31 boats were added to the fleet in 1941, when The SFYC agreed to incorporate the 150 members of the Richardson Bay Yacht Club – whose previous clubhouse was the Barkentine, Echo, pictured here.

In 1948, Wosser swept the 13 events of the Bay Star Series in Can Can, the Star he built himself (pictured here).

Dream losing the Perpetual Challenge to Hanahuli of the Los Angeles YC in 1949.

To address the anchorage problem plans had been drawn up back in the 30s to dredge the cove and build a bulkhead to block storm surge, but plans were abandoned in the wake of the Depression and WWII. Finally, in 1955, Commodore Leonard G. James appointed and headed a Harbor Committee.

Work began in 1956 and 175 berths were completed over several years.

In 1958, that destination was secured when a small group of members pooled personal funds and purchased a 21-acre, overgrown island in the Delta for $10,750.

In 1959, The Club won the Admiral Chester Nimitz Trophy for its youth training program.

In 1965, Jake Wosser won the IOD World Championship held on San Francisco Bay, and repeated that feat the following year in Bermuda.

Dave Allen built Improbable, which he sailed to win the 1971 SORC Montego Race.

In 1974, San Diego challenged again the following year in Kingfish, but couldn't break our hold on the trophy against Wosser in Bohemia, a Carter 39 owned by Peter Salz.

The SFYC chalked up its sixth successful defense of the Perpetual Cup in 1975.

On the IOR boat Imp, Dave Allen campaigned the SORC again in 1977, returning with overall honors.

Major harbor project gets underway in 1983 – two new boom hoists and an improved deck to better handle SFYC and visiting yachts.

In the summer of 1984 escrow closed on the Keaton property (now the Cove House) and a use permit was obtained by the City of Belvedere.

Hank Easom's Yucca, photographed in 1986, has proven to be a formidable competitor on the Bay for more than three decades.

1988, Cove House under renovation.

The St Francis had attempted to win the America’s Cup in 2000.

That became hard to do when Ellison walked away from negotiations with the St Francis, where he was a member, to sponsor his quest to win the America’s Cup in 2003.

And when that combination won yachting’s biggest prize in Valencia, Spain, in 2010, on Ellison’s third try, the Golden Gate Yacht Club became the sixth — and unlikeliest — winner in the trophy’s 160-year history.

The Golden Gate, by comparison, reported revenue of about $662,000 in 2011.