Chapter Three
The Formation of the Club 1867-1900
The club ' s association with the Mosquito Yacht Club , the influence of His Royal Highness the Prince Alfred , Duke of Edinburgh . Club activities to 1900 .
The Prince Alfred Yacht Club officially came into being very ea . rly in the history of Australia-just 79 years aFter Captain Arthur Phillip had hoisted the flag of Empire at the head of Sydney Cove on
26 January 1788 . The club came to life in Port Jackson possibly
130 years ago . The official date of foundation is 15 October 1867 but there is a niggling doubt about this . History and hearsay have it tl1at the Prince Alfred Yacht Club grew out of a small club called the Mosquito Yacht Club which was known to be in existence in 1856 and possibly eai ; lier . It is known that their fleet went out to pi . ck up bodies from the tragic Dunbar in 1857 and that the club " s name was changed to the Prince Alfred Yacht Club in 1867 . Its continuity between 1857 and 1867 is being re · searched at the momenL
Old histories claim the Mosquito Yacht Club as the first sailing club to be established in Australia . However . the Mosquito YachtClubcannotclaimthe honour of being the fi1 $ 1 yacht club founded in Australia , this honour belongs to the Tamar Yacht Club of Launceston , which founded in 1837 . It , however , disbanded and commenced again in 1879 , thereby becoming the oldest yacht club in Tasmania , but certainly not the oldest in Ausu : alia .
PresidentoFtheMosquito Yacht Club in 1856was the second son of Robert Campbell , MLA , of Campbell ' s Wharf , reputedly the owner of the first pleasure sailing boat on Port Jackson . The Committee of tbe club in 1856 was :
President : ( similar to some English yacht clubs in which even today some have an Admiral , some a President , but mostly their senior Flag Rank isdesig · nated as Commodore . Some go through the ranks as Admiral , President , Commodore .) Robert Campbell , MLA . Treasurer : Peter Curtis . Honorary Secretary : W . Johnston . Auditors : J . McDonnell and G . Grime . Umpire : G . Driver . Committee : Henry Dodds ( Chainnan ), J . Bell , W .
Nash , J . Pashley , W . Smith . W . Turner , G . Driver .
We know that the Mosquito Yacht Club was involved in the racing of smaller yachts than the Royal Sydney Yacht Club ( as it was known in those days ) which was founded in 1862 and which followed the rules established by the Royal Yacht Club ofEnglandin 1815 . ThisclublaterbecametheRoyal Yacht Squadron at Cowes , which in its first rules , Item 3 required that ' no vessel under 10 tons although belonging to a member shall be entitled to a number on the lists '.
This tonnage factor was adopted by the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron although later it was cased
• ligl1 ~ y lu .. Uuw a - . vn < I class of ~ tOllS and over . The requirement of the Mosquito Yacht Club was much lower-it required that a yacht be no longer than 15 ft 6 in on the garboard seam on the keel . ll may have been this point of tonnage that induced owners of yachts under 5 tons burden to attend a meeting calJcd by the Mosquito Yacht Club and advertised in the Sydney Morning Herald of
IS October 1867 . The advertisement read :
Mosquito Yacht Club . Boat owners wishing lo join please meet in McGrath ' s Hotel , King Street . Sydney , at 8 o ' clock tonighL
And so it was that the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club , nowoneofthemost influential and prosperous clubs in Australia , was fonned in humble circumstances in a hotel in the bean of Sydney , where boat owners with vessels aggregating about 160 tons ( a steamer , three yawls and eight cutters ) met to further the sport of sailing and to organise competitive racing in the young but rapidly expanding colony .
At the time of the meeting it was known that His Royal Highness the Prince Alfred , Duke of Edin · burgh , was on a voyage to Australia in command of HMS Ga / area . He had sailed from Plymouth Sound on 11June1867onavoyagetothecolonies . Gala1ea was to touch at Maira . Marseilles , Rio . Tristan D ' Cunha and Cape Town . In Australia she visited Glenclg , Melbourne , Hoban Town ( the Duke went overland to Launceston ) and Sydney and then went
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