royal yacht club victoria williamstown

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WELCOME TO THE ROYAL VICTORIA YACHT CLUB

The Royal Victoria Yacht Club was founded in June 1892 and is the oldest yacht club in western Canada. Our main clubhouse and marina is located on the protected waters of Cadboro Bay while our Tsehum Haven marina is located near the town of Sidney.

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Sailing Brochure

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Title & Summary Title

Our club promotes yachting, boating, navigation, seamanship and offers racing events, cruising excursions, moorage, kayak & stand up paddle boards rentals (free of charge), dining, themed events and much more. The Royal Victoria Yacht Club is fun for kids from two to one hundred and two. With more than just a clubhouse facility, we can offer members something to meet every need. For more information on the benefits of becoming a members, application information and frequently asked questions, please click here.

Our club promotes yachting, boating, navigation, seamanship and offers racing events, cruising excursions, moorage, kayaks & stand up paddle board rentals (free of charge), dining, themed events and much more.

The Royal Victoria Yacht Club offers a little something for everyone. More than just a Clubhouse facility, we are a group of like-minded individuals sharing a passion for “messing about in boats.”

For more information on the benefits of becoming a member and application information please  click here.

Royal Yacht Club of Victoria

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Business Description

Royal Yacht Club Victoria (RYCV) was initially founded as the Port Phillip Yacht Club in May 1853 and remains to be one of the oldest yacht clubs in Australia. The Club is situated in Williamstown with a stunning view of the city skyline and is steeped in decades of yachting history and tradition. Today RYCV boasts more than 900 members and over 300 yachts on the register making it an ideal Club for sailors with all levels of experience. Sailors can enjoy reliable and steady breezes with little or no current, making it a perfect stretch of water for club sailing or state, national and international regattas. Royals Training Centre offers courses for all ages and we have a strong and lively social program which is enjoyed by our Members.

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Contact info.

• 120 Nelson Place, Williamstown Victoria 3016, Australia
• 03 9397 1277
• [email protected]
• http://www.rycv.com.au
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Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club

260 Nelson Pl, Williamstown VIC 3016, Australia

Why you'll love Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club

• Enjoy an expansive views of the water and best view of the city of Melbourne.
• With affordable and flexible event packages.
• Perfect for birthdays, weddings, christenings, conferences or corporate events.

About the venue

Perched on the water’s edge in Williamstown, our club has expansive views of the Melbourne skyline.

Enjoy a meal or drink in our dining room, terrace or a counter meal in the clubhouse bar and then explore the historical port of Williamstown. The Members’ Bar on the first floor is open to club members, guests and kindred club members.

Our clubhouse pays homage to maritime style, referencing its unique heritage. Large open-plan balconies have expansive views of the water and what is undoubtedly the best view of the Melbourne cityscape.

RVMYC offers a social experience second to none for members and guests, to enjoy dining in a relaxed atmosphere and in convivial surroundings near the water’s edge.

Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club Function Rooms

Mariner Events Room

Our Events Room overlooks our beautiful marina, with large open glass doors your event can be sheltered from the weather or embrace the vibrant sunshine along with Melbourne's skyline.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does an event cost at royal victorian motor yacht club.

Please enquire for pricing and availability.

This may be subject to change due to seasonality, day of the week, duration and your specific requirements. For an accurate quote for your event please send an enquiry or contact one of VenueNow's Event Booking Experts.

What type of events can be hosted at Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club?

The following types of events can be held at Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club:

- 30th Birthday Party

- 40th Birthday Party

- 50th Birthday Party

- Bar Mitzvah

- Birthday Party

- Christmas Party

- Cocktail Party

- Corporate Function

- End of Financial Year Party

- Corporate Offsite

- Engagement Party

- Networking Event

- Product Launch

- Trivia Night

- University Ball

- 21st Birthday Party

- Awards Dinner

- Baby shower

- Bat Mitzvah

- Bridal shower

- Christening

- Conference

- Hens Night

- Gala Dinner

- Private Dining

- 18th Birthday Party

- Bucks Night

- Corporate Retreat

- Executive Retreat

- Residential Conference

If your specific event type is not on the list, contact one of VenueNow's Event Booking Experts and they will check if Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club is able to facilitate your event or will help you find an alternate venue.

How do I find out if Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club is available for my event date?

The best way to find out if Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club is available for your event date is to send an enquiry through or get in contact with one of VenueNow's Event Booking Experts.

Availability at many venues around the country is limited so if your date is flexible, please let the VenueNow team know and the venue may be able to provide a range of dates that suit your needs.

I have more questions. How do I get in contact?

There are a number of ways you can get in contact:

1) Call the VenueNow team on 1300 647 488 during business hours AEST

2) Contact the VenueNow team via our online chat in the bottom right of the screen

3) Submit an enquiry via the form on the page

The VenueNow team usually reply within a few hours during Australian business.

What steps are involved in booking an event at Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club?

There are a few steps involved in booking an event at Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club and the VenueNow team are here to do the heavy lifting for you.

Firstly, contact the VenueNow team by submitting an enquiry or speaking to one of our team members online or over the phone. We'll need to collect a few details from you, such as your:

- Event type

- Number of people attending

- Preferred event date & time (and if this is flexible)

- Budget (per person or total)

- Room layout

- Food and beverage / catering requirements

- Any other requirements

Once we've gathered these details, the VenueNow team will contact the team at Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club to check:

1) Can they host the event on your preferred date / time? If not, what are some alternate dates / times?

2) What is the estimated cost based on your event requirements?

This process tends to take around 1 business day on average to receive a response from the venue. Once we've received a response, the VenueNow team will contact you as soon as possible.

If you're happy with the proposed price and dates / times, the VenueNow team will connect you with the Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club to finalise your booking (which may include a site visit if you choose to do so).

VenueNow provides this service free of charge to you as we are paid a small fee by Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club if you book via us.

What catering / food and beverage options are available at Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club?

The following food and beverage / catering options are available for guests at Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club:

- Coffee / Tea

- Inhouse Catering

- Filtered Water

For more information regarding food and beverage / catering options, please contact a VenueNow Event Booking Expert.

Where is the Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club located?

It is located at 260 Nelson Pl, Williamstown VIC 3016, Australia.

What are the venue features of the Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club?

Famous for its incredible Melbourne City views, boutique wines and personalised service, The Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club is the perfect setting for magical waterfront wedding ceremonies and other social gatherings.

This venue boasts unbeatable views of the Port Phillip Bay and Melbourne city skyline. Accommodate up to 180 guests seated guests and 300 cocktail guests. The venue is fully equipped with modern facilities and equipment that you can use to host your event. Other highlights include:

- Onsite parking

- State-of-the-art audio-visual equipment

- Large outdoor deck areas

- Wide range of function room options

- Professional service staff

The beautiful catering services of the Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club are unlike any other. It even won ‘Events Caterer of the Year 2018' -Restaurant and Catering Awards. Outdoor Area is also available for hire. Truly, with a team of passionate, personable and fun event enthusiasts, each event is elevated to a creative and vibrant experience.

What is the capacity of the Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club?

Full venue: 340

Members Bistro (Membership required): 80

Members Bar (Membership required): 100

Terrace: 100

Function room:

-Banquet: 160

-Cocktail: 300

What is on the menu at the Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club?

You can view the venue's full menu below:

Bistro Menu

Bar and Happy Hour Menu

Drinks Menu

Amenities & Extras

Food & beverage, audio visual equipment (av), other amenities & extras.

International Cadet Class 2022 World Championship

The Royal Yacht Club of Victoria (RYCV) is hosting the International Cadet Class 2022 World Championship incorporating the International Cadet Class 2022 Australian Championship and International Cadet Class World Championship. The International Cadet Class is the only World Sailing doublehanded junior class boat catering for the ages of 7-17. It is currently sailed in 19 countries across four continents.

As well as an action-packed sailing schedule, there will be a strong social program including activities, food and drinks and live music.

The event runs between 19 December 2022 and 2 January 2023, between 10am and 5pm.

There is no entry fee/ticket cost to come into the Club, however participants who wish to enter the sailing/regatta will incur a fee, so please contact the Royal Yacht Club Victoria or visit their website to find out more information.

December 19, 2022

Royal Yacht Club of Victoria

120 Nelson Place, Williamstown

Williamstown 3016 . Williamstown Chamber of Commerce

A message from the

Rear commodore.

The Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club is first and foremost a boating club. We offer an extensive range of both competitive, recreational and social boating activities.

Season Opening Day starts off our boating season in October each year, the club encourages all members, especially all boating members, to come along to Opening Day and take part in the sail past where all boats leave the marina to cruise past the dignitary’s vessel and receive the customary blessing of the fleet.

Our chosen competitive sport is Navrallying. Each boating season we run a calendar of navrally events with both internal club events and interclub open events. One of our regular navrally events is a navrally sponsored by the Navy League. This event is held to maintain and promote our club’s ties with the Royal Australian Navy. In 2021 we introduced a slightly different event called a time trial.

This is similar to our traditional navrallies but with slight differences that can help to reduce the amount of navigation equipment required and reduce the navigational expertise required. We hope time trials will become a permanent part of our boating calendar.

The club runs recreational boating events throughout the year. These range from picnic cruises up the Maribyrnong or Yarra rivers, BBQ and overnight cruises to Docklands, day cruises to Wyndham harbour, Sandringham, Portarlington or Beaumaris Bay. Across holiday weekends we may run multi night cruises to Geelong, Queenscliff or Portarlington.

During holiday season, groups of members often cruise to places such as Geelong, Queenscliff and Martha Cove for extended stays.

Some members venture further to Robe, the Gippsland lakes or longer cruises to places such as Tasmania, the Bass Straight islands, Refuge Cove and up the East Coast of Australia.

Whatever your motor boating tastes, the Royal Victorian Motor Yacht Club can offer you sporting, recreational and social events in the company of others who enjoy all things boating.

Ben Koutoukidis

Rear commodore.

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Amy Lee Bowden

March 24, 1997 - February 8, 2024 (26 years old)

Williamstown , Victoria

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Amy Lee Bowden Obituary

With heavy hearts, we announce the death of Amy Lee Bowden (Williamstown, Victoria), who passed away on February 8, 2024 at the age of 26. Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family.

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VERY EARLY HISTORY 

Looking back to the early days of the Victoria Yacht Club in 1853.

There is a lack of reliable records about the Club’s origins. Facts are difficult to verify. Searches of Trove to find newspaper reports of business activities by the men who were listed as yacht owners on the 1856 register of the Victoria Yacht Club has revealed the following information about four members. 

• George F. Verdon
• W.R. Probert
• Mr. John Musson
• Dr. J. Wilkins. 

It is possible that during the summer of 1853, these four gentlemen were meeting at social gatherings at one of the hotels in Melbourne, the Tattersalls Hotel or the Port Phillip Club Hotel, and the Chusan Hotel in Sandridge, before the Port Phillip Yacht Club was established in May, 1853. These men may have engaged in sailing races. 

An advertisement appeared in the Argus on Saturday 25 th   February, 1854 to announce that a William Richard Probert had taken Mr. George F. Verdon into partnership at his business located at Sandridge. As from 17th February 1854, the business would be known as ‘Probert, Verdon & Co.’ and operate as a ship chandlers and commission agents. They may have jointly owned the yacht Petrel.  

Surgeon Dr. John Wilkins was a landowner and owned several hotels. Deceased persons were kept in the pub cellars before autopsy or/and burial. Dr. Wilkins was the Surgeon for the Port of Melbourne (1853) and, in 1861, Dr. Wilkins built the mortuary at Williamstown which still stands in Ann Street. 

Mr John Musson, is noted as a Contractor based in St. Kilda and was listed as a member (1857) of the Philosophical Institute of Victoria (PIV) and the Royal Society of Victoria (RSV) with business activities in Geelong. 

Captain Charles Ferguson, who became Vice Commodore of the Victoria Yacht Club in 1856, was the Harbour Master in Williamstown (1852) and the Water Police Magistrate. He may have had dealings with Mr. William Stawell, who became the State Attorney General in 1855. Mr. W.F. Stawell (later Sir) was known for his keen interest in sports and was the Club’s first Commodore. It is highly likely that Captain Ferguson met the port surgeon, Dr. Wilkins as part of his duties as water police magistrate. The Port Phillip Club Hotel in Flinders Street, now known as the Young and Jackson Hotel, may have been owned by Dr. Wilkins (this needs to be verified). 

There is more information available in yachting news reports from 1856 onwards. There are papers and sailing logs lodged with the State Library from ‘Colonel’ Richard Heath who was Vice Commodore in 1872. He sailed the yacht Southern Cross with the Victoria Yacht Club from 1857. A manuscript by a Hartley R. Watson is lodged with the State Library of Victoria titled “Logs related to sailing: 1890-1956” and Mr H.F. Watson (Bill) was reappointed as RYCV’s Honorary Historian at the Annual General meeting in August 1965.  He held this role for forty years. 

Ann Goodwin, Chair Archives Sub-committee, GC member 2018-19

Founded in May 1853 at the Port Phillip Yacht Club, Royal Yacht Club of Victoria has a long and proud history being one of the oldest clubs in Australia. In 1873, the Club was granted the privilege of flying the Blue Ensign of the Colony of Victoria. Queen Victoria, in 1886, granted the Club the privileges of a royal club and the Admiralty granted a Full Warrant to fly the Blue Ensign of Her Majesty’s Fleet. The Club added the name ‘Royal’ to its name and it has since been known as the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria. 

The Club is continually looking to explore every opportunity to further the experience for Members. In 2013, the Club celebrated its 160th year with a formal evening at one of Melbourne’s biggest icons, the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). An exciting time for the Club lies ahead, both on and off the water. 

Club races in the very early days were held on Corio Bay, but in 1873 the Club moved to its present site at 120 Nelson Place, Williamstown on the banks of the picturesque Port Phillip. It was to be the dawn on a new era, and a move the Club has never regretted. 

The average class of yacht on the Club register was much different from today, with straight-stemmed deep-keel cutters ranging from 6 to 40 tons. Most of the famous yachts seen in Port Phillip have been on the Royals register, including the 400-ton schooner   Undine , owned by the Millar brothers, and the beautiful 35-ton   Cushie Doo . 

As a senior club, it is no surprise that two of the biggest sailing events in Australia’s history, the 1956 Olympics and the 1983 America’s Cup both featured RYCV. To Royals went the honour of hosting the 5.5 metre yachts at the 1956 Games. The 1983 Australian challenge for the America’s Cup was perhaps the most significant commitment ever entered into by the Club over its long history. Although Williamstown-sponsored   Challenge 12   was not successful in defeating Australia II for the right to challenge, some members of the Victorian team were co-opted into the victorious Bond syndicate which wrestled the America’s Cup from New York. 

The Club has had some fine sailors over the years and although a number of Royals crews have competed in the Sydney to Hobart race, it wasn’t until 1996 that a Club boat won:   Terra Firma,   sailed by clubmen Dean Wilson, Scott Carlisle and as principal helmsman, Ian ‘Barney’ Walker. 

The Clubhouse

Lack of funds in the early days prevented the acquisition of a clubhouse with members sailing from Williamstown but meeting at the Port Phillip Club Hotel in Flinders Street, and later in the Old Temple Court, Collins Street. It was not until 1905 that the Club moved into a home of its own, when it obtained the lease on Wickliffe House, a grand building on the Upper Esplande in St Kilda. 

It being felt that the city rooms tended to make the Club more of a social than a sailing club; it was decided to make Williamstown the sole clubhouse. It represented a huge commitment financially, but finally in 1935 the Club had its own building. 

In 1967, the Club began construction of a marina and the 100-year-old two-storey boathouse was demolished to make room for an extended hardstand. What was not planned though was the loss of the clubhouse three years later in 1970. A fire began in the kitchen and raced through the wooden building, destroying the majority of the Club’s treasured relics such as pictures, half-models and honour boards. Stoically, Members rallied and the Club rose metaphorically from the ashes, a new brick building having been constructed for the benefit of the 350 Members only a little over a year later. 

In 2002, there was an extension of the clubhouse with the addition of fresh office and meeting spaces. Not long after this, a new and significantly larger deck was also constructed allowing Club events to spill out from the clubhouse to overlook our magnificent lawn area and embrace our view of the Melbourne CBD. Royals is fond of its past but equally looks to the future. 

View History Timeline

Want to know more?

You can read more about the history of the Club in the   souvenir booklet   prepared for the 150th Anniversary.

  Make a contribution to the archives

Interested in helping us build our Club archives? We’d love your help! If you have anything you’d like to add to the club archives, please contact the office on (03) 9397 1277 or submit your contribution to   Ann Goodwin (Archives Chair 2018-19).

Ann’s always looking for stories, photographs and documents that can be added to our collection. Volunteers are always needed to help us with:

• Sort through and organise the Club archives
• Present the collection in a meaningful way