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Sandringham Yacht Club

April 17, 2024

Sandringham Yacht Club issued an April Fool’s prank via email that announced their plans to develop a 5-star hotel, resort, wellbeing centre and wind farm overlooking Port Phillip, and quoting the Commodore, CEO and President of Australian Sailing—the only three people in on the joke. It generated:

• $20 million in Expressions of Interest in the new apartments.
• 150 emails from members in response—99% were humoured, a couple disgusted, one wanting to take legal action and only one querying our lack of governance despite spending A$85 million.
• Facebook responses of over 250 reactions and 110 comments
• On April 2, staff were insisting a retraction be sent, as elderly members were at the front reception enquiring about our apartments.
• As part of the member feedback, a member sent thru an AI design of an improved hotel, which was issued as part of our retraction notice.
• Once the retraction was sent, calm was restored and those who complained sent notes acknowledging they’d been fooled. Everyone saw the funny side in the end.

SYC to build 5-star hotel, resort, wellbeing centre and wind farm overlooking Port Phillip

In a major tourism coup for Victoria and Bayside tourism, SYC has signed an MOU with the 5 star Mayjing Hotel Group (MHG). The MOU will see the reputable MHG build a $85m resort style hotel and wellbeing centre on the site of the existing clubhouse overlooking Port Phillip Bay. It will feature 80 hotel style apartments spread over 8 levels with one entire floor dedicated to a wellbeing centre. In a stunning outcome for SYC, its Members and local tourism, the resort hotel and wellbeing centre is on track to start construction in late 2025.

Commodore Sue Bowes commented “As part of our international yachting network we were introduced to the MHG in 2021 and we have been confidentially working on this with MHG our joint venture partners. After 3 years of due diligence, planning and financial modelling, we are just about set to go. As the MHG group are providing 100% of the upfront funding, as well as the design and construct expertise, in the end we didn’t need member approval to proceed. It was a clear mandate in our last 3 member surveys that we embrace accommodation, enhanced boat storage, a new OTB centre, improved hardstand capability and a wellbeing centre. This project offers all of these things plus a whole lot more. It’s been an exhaustive process, especially under the confidentiality clauses imposed by MHG. We are super excited to announce this project today together with the MHG President, Mr. Ri Sara”.

MHG President Ri Sara said “we have been seeking a stunning harbour outlook and location for several years now in Australia and we have found it at SYC. Just 15km from Melbourne, it offers a prime position overlooking Port Phillip. Add to that the spectacle of sailing fleets outside our front door it’s an opportunity we couldn’t pass up. SYC members will enjoy summer sea breezes on their private balconies, roof top bar and we can also open up the floor to ceiling doors in the wellbeing centre situated on the entire 4th floor. We have several similar projects at leading resorts throughout Asia but this is our first yacht club venture. It will be a stunning development for the Bayside and SYC community”.

In an exclusive stage 1 offering, 40 of the 80 rooms will be offered for sale on 25 year licences to Members who from late 2027 can live onsite in private apartments at SYC. Those licensed apartments, ranging from 1 to 3 bedroom suites, will start from $1.2m and range up to $2.75m. The freehold will be retained by the Club but the licences may be on-sold for the remainder of the licenced term at market value and a 7.5% transfer fee. The pre-requisite however will be you need to be a full member and boat owner (or previous boat owner) at the Club. The other 40 rooms will act like any normal hotel rooms and these will be managed by MHG. It will be a boost for regattas, training groups and it will ensure SYC attracts World Class events to the shores of Sandringham well into the future.

The addition of an environmentally friendly wind farm situated on the breakwater is also a feature of the master plan. Five wind turbines, standing 100 feet tall, will be integrated into the breakwater. They will harness the wind from Port Phillip and generate electricity, which will then be fed into the grid for consumption. The wind turbine propellers will catch the wind’s currents and in turn, power the clubs needs for generations to come.

CEO Richard Hewett said it will mean we can now offer more member services. “24 hour room and boat service, a roof top bar, and the most amazing views of the water anywhere in Victoria. The wellbeing centre on the entire 4th floor will offer a fully equipped gym, pilates, yoga and wellbeing space. If members or staff are stressed, they can head to the stress free ‘break out room’ complete with oxygen capsules. And in response to members feedback to become more family friendly, we are also integrating a 50 metre waterslide in the newly opened up Harbour. We are in discussions with the authorities about placing this on the new Hampton Pier and making it a community use asset. As part of the development, ferries transporting the public will drop off at the new Hampton pier due for completion in late 2025. We are also building 2 pickle ball courts in the car park that can be used at non-peak times”.

A condition of the works was enhanced boat storage. $4.2m will be spent on the construction of an elevated concrete hardstand above the rusty submarine in the marina. Two 7 tonne cranes will lift keelboats in and out of the water enabling them to be dry sailed. Water depth for larger keelboats is required so we are taking the hardstand to a more appropriate space. The existing hardstand will cater for more OTB storage and a dry stack to house 100 stand up paddle boards and 50 kayaks. The OTB centre will also be fully redeveloped and feature enhanced boat storage, a modern clubhouse and a state of the art training facility.

President of Australian Sailing Alistair Murray AM, also an SYC member said “It’s a model for the future of all Australian yacht clubs; something for all clubs to aspire to. I congratulate Sue Bowes and Richard Hewett for pulling off this absolute coup!”

An information session for SYC members will be scheduled in May 2024. We are requesting that you express interest in attending and you can rsvp by emailing [email protected] / initial expressions of interest are also being taken for the apartments and this can be done directly with the CEO Richard Hewett [email protected]

It’s great to belong!

Not many marinas can boast a 100-year-old submarine, but this one does

By the time Australia gets the first of its next fleet of submarines, J-7 will be 113 years old, and won't have sailed anywhere in a century.

J-7 may be a familiar sight to dozens of sailors who stride past her every day at Sandringham Yacht Club, but most Melburnians won't even know she's there.

Once one of the fastest submarines in the world, the only place she's going these days is deeper into the mud.

"She was quite remarkable," the Sandringham Yacht Club's historian Graeme Disney said.

"She had a range of 5,000 miles. That's extraordinary for First World War times." 

So how did this once cutting-edge submarine built for the British Navy end up rusting away next to fancy yachts and speed boats in a marina in Melbourne? Because everything new eventually becomes obsolete, and then you have to either throw it away or find some other use for it.

In J-7's case, it was a bit of both.

The fastest thing under the water

In the early days of World War I, Britain heard rumours that the Germans were building a fleet of U-boats capable of speeds much greater than any British submarine.

The rumours turned out to be false, but the British built a new class of submarines anyway.

The J-class submarines were capable of speeds of up to 19 knots at the surface, making them the fastest submarine in the world at the time.

They didn't see a lot of action during the war, but did manage to sink a U-boat and damage a couple of warships.

One of the subs, J-6, was accidentally sunk by a British ship after the captain mistook the J on the vessel's conning tower for a U and assumed it was a German submarine.

At the end of the war, Britain gave the six remaining J-class submarines to Australia as a gift.

Australia hadn't had much luck with submarines to that point, losing the only two it had during World War I within a year of their construction.

If the Australian government thought they were getting a great deal, they must've been remarkably disappointed when the J-class fleet limped into Australian waters in July 1919.

Never look a gift sub in the mouth

After a three-month voyage, during which several of the submarines broke down, they were found to be almost unusable.

One of the subs was unable to dive, which was something of an issue for a vessel that was supposed to spend much of its time underwater.

After an expensive refit, the submarines were put into service, with four of them based at Osborne House in Geelong, and two in Sydney.

The six submarines lasted just a few years in the Royal Australian Navy, with big cuts to defence spending sealing their fate in 1922. 

The subs were expensive to run and the general feeling in the government was that the country didn't really need them. The enemy was defeated, who were they protecting us from? Dolphins?

The decision to sell the submarines for scrap did not go down well with everyone. The former district naval officer for Victoria, Captain J.T. Richardson, was very cranky indeed.

"To scrap the six J-class submarines would be criminal," he said in February 1923.

But, the decision was made and the subs were put up for sale, with two conditions: that whoever bought them would remove them within 42 days of purchase, and would destroy them within 18 months of purchase.

The Melbourne Salvage Company bought four of them, which were used for bombing practice outside Port Phillip Heads by Australian aircraft in 1926.

The pilots must've needed the practice as it was reported in The Argus that no direct hits were made, but no bomb landed "more than about 200 feet away".

The wrecks of those four submarines are popular dive sites. Another of the J-class submarines lies in about 6 metres of water at Swan Island, near Queenscliff. 

J-7 finds a permanent home at Sandringham

In the mid-1920s, Sandringham Yacht Club had hoped to buy HMAS Cerberus, which had been the depot ship for the six J-class submarines, and sink it as a breakwater.

They missed out, but instead bought the J-7 which was sunk in 1930.

Years later a stone breakwater was built, once again rendering the J-7 obsolete when all it was required to do was sit in the water and stop waves from crashing.

When the club's marina was built, it was considered too expensive to remove the sub and, anyhow, many of the members were quite attached to it.

"It's our sub," Graeme Disney said.

Graeme used to snorkle around the J-7 when he was a teenager 65 years ago, and remembers when it was in a lot better shape than it is now.

"If we dived at the side and scraped off the barnacles and seaweed you were presented with pristine grey painted steel," he said.

The pristine paint is long gone, and J-7 is now very much looking her age, peeling and crumbling slowly but surely into the bay next to millions of dollars' worth of luxury pleasure boats.

Graeme still sees people new to the marina do a double-take when they see the rusting ribs protruding from the water for the first time.

"So many people contacted me to say they had no idea Sandringham had a submarine," he said.

"Most people know about the Cerberus in Half Moon Bay but they don't know about the sub because as you can see it's buried in the midst of the marina."

There's been a long-running but largely unsuccessful campaign to get funding to maintain the wreck of HMAS Cerberus, but there's not much hope of that kind of effort for the J-7.

"J-7 is nowhere near as significant as Cerberus, Cerberus is the last example in the world of a breastwork monitor, if we can't get funding for that the hope of getting funding for J-7 is less than nothing," Graeme said.

"My guess is it will just be allowed to rust away."

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Three more awards for Sandringham Yacht Club

Sandringham Yacht Club (SYC) just keeps going from strength to strength, this past week winning a further three major awards to add to a cache of others bestowed in recent times.

Officially opening the doors to their striking new premises in October, officials and members of Victoria's premier club were inordinately proud when their Facilities Manager, Paul Corfield, was one of just 15 who received a prestigious Community Hero Award at the 10th annual Community Hero Awards held at Queens Hall, Parliament House, on November 19.

Award winners were recognised for selfless actions at medical emergencies, including cardiac arrests, car accidents and traumatic injuries. The award is given to ordinary members of the public who act in a heroic manner, regardless of whether it was for a friend, family member, or a stranger.

In October 2008, Paul and SYC members witnessed a fellow member collapse in cardiac arrest. Fortunately the Club had purchased an automated external defibrillator and trained staff and members in its use.

With help from other SYC members, Paul performed CPR and twice defibrillated the member prior to the ambulance arriving. His part in the chain of the survival was paramount in the successful resuscitation of the member, who was transported to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, and has since made a full recovery.

Paul was nominated for the award by MICA paramedic Mark Hamer; high praise indeed, from a professional.

Commenting on Paul's award, SYC Commodore, Philip Burn said that all members of the club joined in congratulating Paul on his award. “I was with Paul immediately after the paramedics took over and it was obviously a very harrowing experience for him, but one which he undertook with great calmness and competence.

“What is really pleasing is that the procedures and training which we have put in place kicked in at this crucial time.”

Three nights later, SYC won the Best Club Redevelopment Award at the annual Clubs Victoria Achievements Awards Night.

At the dinner, hosted by the Crown Entertainment Complex on November 22, and in front of 850 of his industry peers, Richard Hewett, the Club's CEO, proudly accepted the award on behalf of the Club, for the ‘Best Club Redevelopment without gaming machines'.

SYC was recognised for its outstanding new clubhouse redevelopment. The impressive structure comprises a variety of rooms, including Members Bar & Lounge, the Harbour View Restaurant, numerous function and meeting rooms such as the Port Phillip room, which incorporates a dance floor, stage and bar, not to mention the huge wrap around deck overlooking Port Phillip Bay.

The interior of the Club is beautifully decorated and features the latest in technology while staying in keeping with the ‘Green' policy the Club has adopted

The new Club also boasts a training auditorium with meeting rooms, which will establish SYC as a leader in providing accredited courses in sail training, boat handling, marina operations and resort management water-related activities.

And thousands of students across Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs will benefit from the new land based facilities supporting the Academy's on water operations. This year an anticipated 2,700 adults and school children from 25 local schools are expected to participate in recreational, vocational and “Community Go Sailing” experiences.

SYC provides skills and training and is recognised as one of very few sporting clubs in the country with Registered Training Organisation (RTO) status.

Capping off an already successful couple of days, SYC also won the ‘Best Community Facility Design' at the Victorian Government 2009 Sport and Recreation Awards, an annual event that was this year held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday 23rd November.

A prestigious award, it recognises new or refurbished sport and recreation facilities, with the focus on excellence in planning and design and a demonstrated impact on participation.

SYC received the award because the design of their new clubhouse provides a variety of uses, inclusive of meeting facilities provided for community, industry and government user groups; meeting rooms, food and beverage, function and training facilities of the highest standard.

Richard Hewett received the award on behalf of SYC and was congratulated by James Merlino, the Victorian Minister for Sport, Recreation and Youth Affairs.

Users of the SYC's new facilities already include Bayside City Council, Bayside Business Group, Probus, multiple primary and secondary schools, charitable and not for profit organisations, including registered and local charities, a vast array of local businesses, disadvantaged groups and governing boating bodies such as Yachting Victoria and Yachting Australia.

In other words, the redeveloped Sandringham Yacht Club is providing a place for public groups to meet and interact.

“To be recognised by our peers in the Club industry, then to be recognised by the State Government for embracing the Community are accolades, SYC will value highly moving forward,” commented Richard Hewett.

“The Club aspires to provide outstanding value to its Members and to the Community and should be justifiably proud of this latest recognition as our new Clubhouse is world class,” he said.

A snapshot of other awards won by the Club in recent years, include the 2007 and 2009 Environmental Awards at the Victorian Marine Industry Awards and the 2007 Victorian Yacht Club of the Year. SYC was also a top three finalist in the Marina of the Year awards in 2007.

The SYC is now looking forward to hosting the ISAF Sailing World Cup, to be sailed on Port Phillip Bay in December. Among other things, It will provide competitors' families and friends and other spectators with breathtaking views of the participating fleets from the new northern podium, situated right on the water's edge, and giving 360 degree views of the Bay .

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The Sandringham Yacht Club Members Podcast

Remember the covid cup.

It happened just over 12 months ago – yes only that long ago!! Listen to this extraordinary race alongside information from our group of Race Officials and finally read all  Continue reading

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The 2021 Sandringham Season Opening Day was one full of color. In great weather, members turned out dressed in the theme of the day and down on the marina, hundreds  Continue reading

An interview with Melbourne Harbour Master Kell Dillon who outlines some interesting details regarding Ports Victoria, as well as the Lonsdale VTS and Melbourne VTS system. This segment was taken  Continue reading

Melbourne’s big week of drama has culminated in the running of The COVID Cup in our latest members podcast. Listen to this extraordinary race alongside information from our group of  Continue reading

For our 33rd podcast, George and Deeksie focus on the subject of VHF radio. Our guests are Vice Commodore Sue Bowes, who tells us about radio channels used for Club  Continue reading

With a number of SYC members being authors, this week George and Deeksie explore a few new book titles that have been released recently. Hugh Pilsworth has written a book  Continue reading

They’re back with another information packed SYC Members Podcast. George and Deeksie catch up with Club CEO Richard Hewett, before calling Cecilie Murray and John Sloan in Penang, Rob Ungar  Continue reading

They’re back ! Yes George & Deeksie are back behind their microphones for another Sandringham Yacht Club Podcast, as members are once again restricted with normal Club activities. Guests this  Continue reading

Anzac Day 2021

A special ANZAC Day service created last year by Sandringham Yacht Club members and friends of the club, to help SYC members remember the sacrifice made by so many on  Continue reading

This week George and Deeksie do a bit of a ring around for the final show of the year. Club CEO Richard Hewett drops by to say hello and then  Continue reading

Governor of Victoria officially opens new Sandringham Yacht Club

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Sandringham Yacht Club

Members and guests of melbourne's sandringham yacht club can now enjoy one of the finest yacht club facilities in australia.

Sandringham Yacht Club opened its stunning new clubhouse to rapturous applause in July. The new clubhouse stands on the site of the old carpark and is closer to the marina, and to the yacht-racing action on Port Phillip Bay.

Built at a cost of $12.75 million, the new facility replaces the old clubhouse which has stood since 1956. Funding for the project was raised with a combination of a bank loan and from the members who were offered an extension on their marina berth leases, prepayment of locker and hardstand fees, and interest-bearing debentures.

The old clubhouse, built to host the Melbourne Olympic Games, offered 1400m² of usable area whereas the new clubhouse offers 2600m² and will have extra carparking on the site of the old clubhouse.

AUSTRALIA'S FINEST At the opening, the new facility was described by Commodore Philip Burn as "the best boating facility in Australia" and at the risk of sounding biased (as I am a member of Sandringham) I would have to agree.

The new Sandringham facility is not just a clubhouse for members, but a training facility, a function centre and a restaurant open to the public.

While the new building houses a members' bar and members' lounge, it also has an enormous function room, meeting rooms, an auditorium and a restaurant.

The club's function room will be available for bookings from the public and offers food and beverage facilities, state-of-the-art audio-visual technology, a moveable dance floor and stage setup, and stunning views to the south and west.

On its northern side, the club has a huge verandah overlooking the marina and safe harbour. This is open to members with a section adjoining the restaurant for the public.

The auditorium is downstairs and can seat up to 80 people. It is equipped with audio-visual equipment, wireless internet and is big enough to accommodate a fully-rigged sailing skiff.

In the members' lounge is a library stocked with interesting maritime books, comfortable lounge chairs, complementary tea and coffee, and two work stations with internet-enabled computers for members' use. Throughout the clubhouse are trophies, photos and club memorabilia.

FOCUS ON TRAINING According to Commodore Burn, the new facility will have a big focus on training, not only of school kids, but young people looking to embark in a career in the marine industry.

"Certainly, we have school student programs here at Sandringham," said Burn. "In fact, we run about 2000 kids from 25 different schools through here each year. We teach them about boat handling and sailing, but more importantly, we teach them about safety and responsibility on the water," he added.

"However, one of our other big focuses is training young people for a future in the marine industry," said Burn.

Sandringham Yacht Club received $437,500 from the Victorian Government on a dollar-for-dollar basis to build a fully-equipped auditorium which augments its already impressive training facilities.

"We are working with William Angliss TAFE and Holmsglen TAFE to train young people in the marine component of a Resort Management qualification," said Burn. "We also train people who just want to learn to sail as we have introductory and intermediate courses for both kids and adults."

Interestingly, Sandringham Yacht Club is only the second sporting club in the country to achieve Registered Training Organisation (RTO) status, the first being the Western Bulldogs AFL Club.

Burn said that like other yacht clubs, Sandringham must focus on the younger members for the Club to survive: "We have around 2000 members at the moment," he said. "But, although our membership is growing, it's a fact that 55 per cent of our membership is over 50 years of age, so we need to have the younger folk come up through the ranks to lower the average age."

Sandringham's CEO, Richard Hewett, says the club employs 29 full-time staff plus up to 40 casuals in the main facility. Ten staff are employed in the sailing academy, there are 45 staff in on-site businesses and around 20 contractors.

For more information, go to www.SYC.com.au .

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GOVERNOR OF VICTORIA OFFICIALLY OPENS NEW SANDRINGHAM YACHT CLUB

The stunning new Sandringham Yacht Club, Melbourne, has officially opened its doors in an all-day and evening extravaganza attended by an overwhelming 3000-plus members and their guests last weekend.

Television personality Glenn Ridge hosted the official opening, with members and guests treated to refreshments and entertainment, as they listened to strains of music from the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Band.

The RAN played a major role in Sandringham Yacht Club’s (SYC) opening, but it was the Governor of Victoria, Professor David de Kretser who had the honour of declaring the new Sandringham YC open.

Prior to handing over to the Governor, SYC Commodore Philip Burn commented: “This is a most significant day. I feel fortunate to be Commodore at such a time.

Commodore Burn spoke of the Club’s Commodore in Chief, His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who accepted the position on a second visit to the Club in 1980.

“We were first honoured by a visit from the then Duke of Edinburgh in 1956 when the Club hosted the Finn sailing event at the 1956 Olympic Games. This week, we received a letter of congratulations from His Royal Highness,” said Burn.

Commodore Burn said the facilities of the Club had been transformed over the last 16 years; the first major milestone being the 1993 construction of a 326-berth marina, a first in Victoria.

“Then in 2002, construction of a marina facility including showers, café and a training room, and an environmentally-friendly boatyard and retail premises were built,” Burn said.

“Who could have known this would be realised 10 years on. The challenges are now before us,” he said, referring to making the Club a viable proposition.

The Commodore went on to thank previous Commodores, Kevin Wood, Geoff Henderson, Phil Coombs and Bruce Eddington, and CEO Richard Hewett, among others who saw this project through to fruition.

SYC member, Ian Whitbread was also thanked for co-ordinating the official opening day.

In declaring the new SYC open, the Governor said: “Commodore Burn’s comments demonstrate the hard work over a long period of time. The views are fantastic and this will be a fantastic facility for the Club, which has a long tradition in sailing, and is a focal point for entertaining and training.

“Sailing is an excellent sport for mental and physical wellbeing and teamwork. Congratulations to the Club and its members on their vision,” he said.

Sandringham YC chaplain, Graeme Disney, officially blessed the new clubhouse. “Today’s theme,” he announced, “is ‘Sailing into the Future’.

“The most important component of the Club is the members and the most important facet is our Junior’s program. Juniors benefit immeasurably through training and learning new skills,” he said.

“This Club was originally nicknamed the ‘Fishing and Fighting Club’, but now it will be known as the ‘Fast and Forward Club’, the Commodore said, before assembled guests joined in singing the Sailor’s Hymn.

Governor de Kretser then declared the sailing season open.

The Parade of Sail was unforgettable. Navy training yacht, Charlotte of Cerberus , along with Club’s Boating Academy’s Beneteau 7.5 One Design keelboats, dinghies, skiffs and yachts saluted officials aboard the MV Mandalay — some cheekily throwing water bombs amidst much laughter, cheering and waving, before heading off to the racecourse.

Captain Sheldon Williams, Commanding Officer of HMAS Cerberus in Melbourne, headed up 61 Navy personnel in attendance. The Navy provided some of the day’s entertainment and demonstrations, including divers in high-speed RIBS, who demonstrated fast-water pickups.

The Navy focus was large, because at the new SYC training facility, into which the former Government injected $437,500. Maritime careers, including training for the Navy, are among the opportunities available.

It was colourful, loud and fun. Each vessel sailed past the Mandalay with officials and guests aboard, waving — and in some cases throwing water bombs — as they sailed by.

For everyone else, it was back to the new Clubhouse to enjoy the continuing celebrations and entertainment. Members and guests were treated to a feast of fresh Tasmanian oysters, seafood paella, fish and chips, and sushi and sashimi, prepared by the Club’s Japanese chefs.

Children were not left out either, jumping castles, the Carlton Clydesdales and face painting was some of the distractions that kept them happy.

Later in the evening, it was on to the aptly named Harbour View Restaurant for a sumptuous dinner and drinks while the Roger Clark Quartet played on.

A member for more than 50 years, Australian yachting legend Lou Abrahams said: “I love the new Club. Its lines curve to fit in with the landscape — and it’s still our Club.”

Now in his eighties and still racing, Abrahams, who has represented the SYC and Australia internationally on numerous occasions and brought home many trophies, added: “Just after I became a member, the Club burned down. Since its rebuild, it hasn’t changed much, just some renovations here and there.”

The Club, which was formed in 1911 and will celebrate its centenary in 2011, features many photos of Abrahams and his famous Challenge yachts. At the top of the Gone with the Wind style sweeping staircase (although more modern in its construction) to the second floor, holding pride of place, is a painting of Abrahams at the wheel of his yacht, reminding members this is still ‘Sandy’.

It is still ‘Sandy’; from the original flagstaff on approach to the Club, the clothing shop, which is back in place next to the new administration offices on the ground floor. A member’s library/meeting room, now located on the second floor, bears a strong resemblance to that older one on the old building’s ground floor, while the Ken King Centre remains in place at the water’s edge leading out to the marina.

The Clubhouse’s floor to ceiling glass walls draw in the uninterrupted views of Port Phillip Bay. Members can now enjoy lunch, dinner, or just drinks and watch racing from the second level.

The second floor also features a variety of rooms, including two restaurants, a huge wraparound deck and numerous other functions rooms; all beautifully decorated

Abrahams commented, too, on how, the “members were pretty worried when discussions came up about demolishing and building a new clubhouse; particularly in regards to the cost and the ongoing financial viability of such an undertaking.

“Fortunately, it was10 years of solid planning by Club management and it’s exceeded everyone’s expectations. The Club has done a great job,” he said.

CEO Richard Hewett said membership had increased and bookings for the various rooms had already exceeded expectations.

Photos: The Governor of victoria, Professor David de Kretser declares the new SYC open; Part of the 3000-plus crowd that gathered for opening day; The Navy band; The new SYC Clubouse

Sandringham Yacht Club Marina

Nestled on the coastline of Victoria’s charming Bayside, the Sandringham Yacht Club Marina offers a unique blend of nautical luxury, pristine natural beauty, and vibrant community spirit. As one of the largest and most prestigious yacht clubs in Australia, it has been a central hub for sailing enthusiasts, boaters, and locals for decades. With its first-rate facilities, variety of marine services, and bustling event calendar, Sandringham Yacht Club Marina invites all to experience the ultimate maritime lifestyle.

The Sandringham Yacht Club Marina is located in the picturesque suburb of Sandringham, approximately 16 kilometers southeast of Melbourne’s Central Business District. Overlooking the serene waters of Port Phillip Bay, the marina boasts stunning panoramic views and offers immediate access to some of Victoria’s best sailing waters.

Approach to the Marina (Marina Entry and Navigation)

The approach to Sandringham Yacht Club Marina is accessible and straightforward for all mariners. Located near the northern tip of Port Phillip Bay, it’s identifiable by the club’s distinctive buildings and the line-up of docked vessels. Navigation to the marina is well-marked, with lit channel markers guiding the way. Boaters are advised to proceed slowly, adhere to all marine traffic regulations, and maintain vigilant observation at all times.

Specifications of the Marina

Sandringham Yacht Club Marina is impressively equipped, boasting over 350 berths of varying sizes to accommodate a wide spectrum of vessels. The marina can house boats ranging from smaller sailing yachts to larger motor yachts, with a maximum length of up to 20 meters and a draft of 3 meters. Each berth is well-appointed with essential amenities such as fresh water supply, electricity, and Wi-Fi connectivity. High-quality fuel services are also available for ease of refuelling. The marina ensures top-tier security with around-the-clock surveillance, providing peace of mind for all boat owners.

Infrastructure, Services, and Facilities

With a commitment to providing an exceptional maritime experience, the Sandringham Yacht Club Marina features top-notch infrastructure, a suite of services, and a plethora of facilities. These include secure storage lockers, boat maintenance and repair services, a state-of-the-art ship chandlery, and an efficient waste management system. Weather information services are also available for sailors.

Amenities in the Marina and Nearby

The Sandringham Yacht Club Marina is home to a variety of amenities designed to enhance comfort and convenience for its patrons. These include modern restrooms, shower facilities, and laundry services. For culinary delights, the marina precinct houses several restaurants and cafes, offering a range of dining options with stunning marina views. Beyond the marina, the charming suburb of Sandringham provides a variety of attractions. From vibrant eateries and shopping boutiques to beautiful parks and walking trails, there’s something for everyone.

Events in Marina

Sandringham Yacht Club Marina is a hub of activity throughout the year, hosting a variety of events that celebrate the marine lifestyle. The marina is renowned for its annual sailing regattas, boat shows, and fishing competitions. Additionally, social events such as food and wine festivals, music concerts, and community gatherings add to the marina’s lively atmosphere.

How to Get There

Sandringham Yacht Club Marina’s prime location in Melbourne, Australia , makes it easily accessible from various parts of the country and beyond. Here are the most common ways to reach the marina:

The nearest major airport to Sandringham Yacht Club Marina is Melbourne Airport , which accommodates both domestic and international flights. Once you arrive at the airport, the marina is approximately a 40-minute drive away. You can opt for taxis, ride-sharing services like Uber, or car rental services that are readily available at the airport.

If you are travelling by car, Sandringham Yacht Club Marina is well-connected via Melbourne’s extensive road network. If you’re coming from Melbourne CBD, take the M1 and exit at South Rd/B27 in Brighton East. Follow South Rd and Beach Rd/B33 to Jetty Rd in Sandringham. The marina is about a 30-minute drive from Melbourne’s city centre.

By Public Transport:

Sandringham Yacht Club Marina is also accessible via Melbourne’s efficient public transport system. Trains, trams, and buses service the area, with stops close to the marina. The Sandringham train line from Flinders Street Station in Melbourne’s city centre will take you to Sandringham Station, just a short walk from the marina.

For those arriving by sea, navigate towards Port Phillip Bay. The entrance to Sandringham Yacht Club Marina is easily identifiable, with the marina’s distinctive buildings serving as a guide. Follow the lit channel markers to safely enter the marina.

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Attractions Nearby

The marina’s prime location allows easy access to a plethora of local attractions. These include the Bayside Coastal Arts Trail, the Royal Melbourne Golf Club, and the charming Sandringham Village. Furthermore, the marina is a stone’s throw away from Melbourne’s CBD, known for its bustling arts scene, culinary delights, and iconic landmarks.

What types of berths are available at Sandringham Yacht Club Marina?

Sandringham Yacht Club Marina features over 350 berths of varying sizes, designed to accommodate a wide range of vessels, from smaller sailing yachts to larger motor yachts.

What services and facilities does Sandringham Yacht Club Marina offer?

The marina offers a range of services and facilities, including fresh water, electricity, Wi-Fi at each berth, boat repair and maintenance services, waste management facilities, and weather information services. There are also fuel services for easy refuelling.

How can I reach Sandringham Yacht Club Marina?

Sandringham Yacht Club Marina is conveniently located in Melbourne and can be reached by air, road, and sea. Melbourne Airport is approximately a 40-minute drive away, and the city's public transport system also provides easy access. By sea, it's a matter of navigating towards Port Phillip Bay and following the channel markers to the marina entrance.

What events does Sandringham Yacht Club Marina host throughout the year?

Sandringham Yacht Club Marina hosts various events throughout the year, including annual sailing regattas, boat shows, and fishing competitions. It also hosts social events such as food and wine festivals, music concerts, and community gatherings.

What amenities are available at Sandringham Yacht Club Marina?

Amenities at Sandringham Yacht Club Marina include modern restrooms, shower facilities, laundry services, a convenience store, and several restaurants and cafes.

What attractions can I find near Sandringham Yacht Club Marina?

Nearby attractions include the Bayside Coastal Arts Trail, the Royal Melbourne Golf Club, and the charming Sandringham Village. The marina is also a short distance from Melbourne's CBD, known for its vibrant arts scene and culinary delights.

What is the maximum length and draft of boats that Sandringham Yacht Club Marina can accommodate?

Sandringham Yacht Club Marina can accommodate boats up to 20 meters in length and with a maximum draft of 3 meters.

How is the security at Sandringham Yacht Club Marina?

Security is a priority at Sandringham Yacht Club Marina. The marina is monitored 24/7 with state-of-the-art security systems, ensuring the safety and peace of mind for boat owners.

What dining options are available at Sandringham Yacht Club Marina?

Sandringham Yacht Club Marina is home to several cafes and restaurants, where visitors can enjoy meals and drinks while taking in the beautiful marina views. The options range from casual eateries to fine dining establishments.

Are there any special regulations for navigating into Sandringham Yacht Club Marina?

When navigating into Sandringham Yacht Club Marina, mariners must observe the lit channel markers, maintain a slow speed, respect the priority of outgoing vessels, and adhere to all signage. These measures ensure safe and orderly navigation in the marina

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More From Forbes

Interview with vladislav doronin, chairman and ceo of aman.

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Vladislav Doronin is the man behind the world’s most preeminent resort brand Aman . An accomplished international investor and real estate developer focused on luxury residential, commercial and hospitality properties, he is also founder of leading real estate development firm, Capital Group and Chairman and CEO of OKO Group.

Vladislav Doronin at Aman Venice

His childhood in Saint Petersburg has prepared him for a thirst for travel and adventure. Saint Petersburg, the marvelous historical and cultural capital of Russia, was built by Peter the Great in the early 1700’s. His aim was to build the most beautiful city in Europe. Mr. Doronin grew up there and found himself surrounded with beautiful Baroque and neoclassical architecture, the world’s best ballet and opera at the Mariinsky Theatre and in the Hermitage one of the world’s largest, most varied and valuable collections of art and historical artefacts. They say if you spend a minute looking at every piece in the Hermitage it would take you 11 years to view the entire collection. This collection amassed over centuries from all over the world gave Vladislav Doronin a deep longing to travel and explore. So, what could we learn from his exceptional vision and career? 

Is it correct that you left Russia in the 1980’s with only $250?

Roughly $250 – I haven’t adjusted for inflation – that was the most you could take with you when you left the country at that time. 

Vladislav Doronin at Amanpuri

Could you tell me about your career before Aman? How did you decide to move into Commodities Trading and then real estate development? 

It was serendipity and happened by luck, I was fortunate to meet an individual who hired me to work at his commodities firm. I was learning to trade metals and oil at the time, I learnt a lot and started to trade. My hours were very long, I would always be the first person in the office in the morning and the last to leave at night, I wanted to make a good impression and to be successful. 

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During my time working as a trader, things dramatically changed in Russia. A few of my business contacts asked me if I could help them build new offices for them in Moscow. I worked with international companies like IBM and Phillip Morris and a Russian oil company to build large offices in Moscow. Through these deals I was very successful and saw an opportunity to continue developing. Initially I worked in commercial real estate but later diversified to residential.

Over the years I ended up developing 75 million square feet of property and over 70 projects. I worked with many famous architects and interior designers including Zaha Hadid, SOM, NBBJ, AS+GG, Hani Rashid, Massimo Iosa Ghini and Jacques Grange.

Amansara is located in Siem Reap, once the heart of Khmer civilisation in northern Cambodia and 10 ... [+] minutes from the ruins of the 12th century Angkor temples.

And why did you want a hotel brand like Aman?

I was building a lot of multi-functional projects in Moscow City, and I thought it would be useful to have a well-respected brand to help provide services for residential real estate, but simultaneously receive revenue from a hotel.

It is very hard to acquire a collection of resorts like this, especially with 13 properties located within UNESCO heritage sites. To start from scratch, it would take more than 30 years. When Aman came to the market, I was already a huge fan of the brand having first fallen for  Amanpuri  when I visited in the 90’s, and I wanted to diversify my portfolio. I was building in Miami, looking for opportunities in New York, and making deals in Asia – I knew it made sense to have an established brand, and it was by chance that my favourite brand came to market. 

Amanzoe is located just 51 minutes from Epidaurus in East Peloponnese in Greece, home to the ... [+] Sanctuary of Asklepios, A UNESCO World Heritage site.

Have you seen measured success in the business since you bought Aman?

When I bought Aman, it was 27 hotels, now we are at 33 and we have 21 more hotels in development. We have broadened our services, such as the  Aman Private Jet  that can be chartered by guests. Our spa and wellness facilities were expanded and improved. For example, we refreshed the spa and gym at Amanpuri improving its facilities, adding a Holistic Wellness Centre offering new medical services. 

As a continuation from our holistic approach to health and wellness, we have launched  Aman Skincare  and  Aman SVA  holistic formulas and supplements. We have also unveiled an Aman clothing range – a timeless, elegant, high-quality clothing line with a very limited production.

Amanjena is situated in Palmeraie, along the road to Ouarzazate, just outside Morocco's ... [+] UNESCO-protected city of Marrakech

How would you define Aman hotels in few words? How you would describe an Aman experience?

An Aman destination is one where guests feel as though they are being entertained in the private home of a welcoming and generous friend and where the hotel or resort blends organically into its surroundings, instilling a sense of peace and belonging.

An Aman experience always offers unparalleled service, whether you are at Amanpuri in Phuket or  Amanjena in Marrakech . The service at Aman is unmatched because of our ethos of providing a peaceful sanctuary and our staff to guest ratio of 7:1. 

What do you think of the travel and wellness industry today?

These industries have blended in most markets. People work so hard and are on the edge of a burnout, they need a destination that enables them to disconnect, to relax, repair and recharge their batteries. I decided to focus more on our travel and wellness offering, our approach is holistic and as well as offering medical spas in some of our properties we have also expanded into skincare and holistic formulas and supplements so our clients can continue to receive the Aman experience and take care of their physical and spiritual wellness in their own homes. 

Amanemu is a hot spring resort located in the idyllic setting of Ise Shima National Park on the ... [+] shores of Ago Bay in Japan.

Why is it so important that so many Aman’s are located within or near UNESCO heritage sites? What does this say about the Aman brand? 

A UNESCO heritage site is a universally recognised endorsement that a region, city, area, monument or building is culturally or historically special enough to be protected from development. Aman being given permission to build properties within or near these sites means that our brand has a reputation of paying respect, honouring and preserving surrounding nature, a local culture and its traditions. Where other hospitality brands would not have been granted permission for a hotel, there is an understanding that our properties and our staff are guardians and stewards of these historically significant destinations. 

Aman Venice, a 16th century palazzo on the Grand Canal at the heart of the legendary city of water.

In 2023, we plan to open  Aman AlUla  on an ancient UNESCO site dating back to the 2nd century BCE, in Hegra, Saudi Arabia. Hegra is one of the most well known and recognised historic sites in the country with over 100 well-preserved tombs with elaborate façades and architecture carved into sandstone mesas and buttes. The landscape is stark and breathtakingly beautiful, it reminds me of the desert surrounding  Amangiri in Utah  but with well-conserved, decorative archaeological carvings cut into the side of the mesas, dating from the 1st century BCE to the 1st century AD. 

You have made a real focus of including a residential component for every new Aman destination. Why? And where at the moment can Amanjunkies buy a residence for their own?

There is high demand from our clients for premium managed properties that are part of a well-established luxury hospitality brand. The management aspect is extremely desirable since it dramatically increases the value of these properties and maintains the pristine condition.

The unrivalled position of Aman, and the scarcity of these residences make them even more desirable. The residence owner can also choose to participate in the hotel management program which generates revenue for the residence owner as well as expanding the hotels’ inventory of villas – which have a higher demand amongst our client base. 

The opening of Aman New York in Spring 2021 coincides with the 100-year anniversary of the Crown ... [+] Building, completed in 1921 by Grand Central architects Warren & Wetmore

At  Aman New York , additional to the 83-suite hotel, just 22 fully serviced private Aman residences on the building’s highest floors are available. These residences include some of the largest new homes in Manhattan, and coveted features in select residences like private indoor and outdoor swimming pools, expansive terraces overlooking Central Park and wood-burning fireplaces. Aman New York will include the members-only Aman Club, which residents will have access to. Most of our Aman New York residences are already pre-sold, including the five-story, one-of-a-kind Crown Penthouse in the building’s pinnacle which spans over five levels and includes its own private indoor and outdoor pools and a meditation suite.

Aman New York Residence located at the heart of Manhattan on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th ... [+] Street

What is so special about Aman New York and why would an individual or family choose to buy a residence here rather than anywhere else in Manhattan?

It is the first opportunity to own an Aman Residence in a major city, with only 22 fully serviced private residences. Located at the heart of Manhattan on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, these residences occupy the highest floors of the iconic Crown building which was completed in 1921 and is a perfect example of Beaux Arts architecture. These residences include some of the largest new homes in Manhattan. Some of the highly desirable features in select residences include private swimming pools, generous terraces overlooking Central Park, and every master bedroom and living includes a fireplace. All  Aman New York residence  owners will also become members of the exclusive Aman Club. The Aman New York residents will additionally be able to use the full suite of amenities offered at the hotel including, a 2,000 square metre Aman Spa filling three stories and containing a 25-metre indoor swimming pool. Entertainment amenities a wine library, a subterranean Jazz Bar, a private cigar club and an Arva and Nama restaurants (our Italian and Japanese dining concepts). 

What is the approximate date of the opening for Aman New York?

The opening of Aman New York in Spring 2021 coincides with the 100-year anniversary of the Crown Building, completed in 1921 by Grand Central architects Warren & Wetmore. A little-known fact about the Crown building is that it was the original home of the Museum of Modern Art.

A proposed design for Aman Miami Beach Residences by Kengo Kuma

What are the future project locations in the U.S.? Are there any other areas you would like to expand Aman into that you are not yet?

We will break ground shortly at  Aman Miami Beach . The project will include two buildings; the hotel portion, designed by Jean Michel Gathy, will be built within an existing historic structure on Miami Beach. The second, the Aman Miami Beach Residences, will be designed by Kengo Kuma.

Do you have a favorite Aman resorts?

I am asked this question a lot and always find it impossible to answer, like choosing a favorite child. Each Aman is unique and is a favourite for many reasons. My first Aman experience was in Phuket at Amanpuri in the 1990s when I was a commodities trader based in Hong Kong - my first taste of the Aman brand was unforgettable for its privacy and for allowing me to truly switch off.

View from the Suite at Aman Tokyo

A few of my other favourite Aman destinations are:  Amankora lodges in Bhutan ;  Amanpulo in the Philippines ;  Amanbagh in Rajasthan, India ; Amanjiwo in Java, Indonesia ;   Amanjena in Marrakech, Morocco ; and  Aman Tokyo . They are so different from one another and perfectly reflect their local cultures and environment.

What is your favorite part of the world? And where do you like to recharge yourself?

I feel very comfortable in Miami and am always relaxed and at peace when I am on or near the water. Miami has become a sophisticated city and a global hub. It has fantastic links to the rest of the world through the airport; you can travel to South and Central America, Europe and beyond, or be in New York within two hours. Miami offers great quality of life with fantastic weather and is a very attractive city to live in because of its tax benefits.

View from the beach bar at Amanpulo in Philippines

I recharge myself with meditation, exercise and time with my family. I have always loved sports, I did martial arts, squash and swimming from a young age. Now the thing I love the most is Kite Surfing. I can do this in Miami, but I love to go to Amanpulo in the Philippines. On this private island there are two kilometers of white sand on the beach. I love Kitesurfing because there are no distractions and way you can check your phone. I am away from my screen for at least two hours and it is the best exercise.

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Is golf catching on in Russia? Jack Nicklaus’s designers have certainly been busy there

Golf is played in more than 200 countries and territories around the world, but until fairly recently, Russia wasn’t one of them.

Its introduction to the game came just 30 years ago with the opening of the country’s first course, Moscow City Golf Club, a nine-hole layout on the fringes of the capital.

At the time, Russia was still part of the Soviet Union. But while the Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, gave his blessing to the project, the real driving force was the Swedish golf star, Sven “Tumba” Johansson, who announced his plans to build the course while floating on a boat down the Moscow River, whacking golf balls into the water under the bemused watch of party apparatchiks.

As if that weren’t entertainment enough, there was the club’s groundbreaking ceremony, in late 1987, where the motley assortment of celebrities in attendance (Mike Tyson, Sean Connery and Pele, among them) solidified golf’s status in the country as a little more than a curiosity.

That was then, this is now.

In the world’s ninth most populous country there are more than a dozen 18-hole courses, a handful of nine-hole layouts and myriad projects in the works.

The most recent to be completed is Raevo Golf and Country Club, outside Moscow, a Jack Nicklaus Signature design that opened earlier this month.

Nicklaus Signature courses are relative rarities that come at a cost and carry prestige, but Raevo is not the first in the Moscow area. It’s the third, giving the city and its surrounds a greater concentration of Nicklaus Signature courses than any major capital in the world.

This depth charge of Russian golf course development has been propelled in large part by economic shifts that have generated great reservoirs of private wealth. But the boom has also happened in the face of an inconvenient fact: Russia is not an easy place to grow the game.

Aside from having next to nothing in the way of golf tradition, the country enjoys little in the way of a golf season. Winters are long. Summers are short. Turf can have a tough time taking root. If you’re itching to play on a Moscow getaway, you should aim between mid-May and mid-October.

Throw in rocky, clay-based soil — far from the friendliest for course construction — and you understand why Russian sporting culture features more slap-shots on ice than chip shots around the green.

Yet golf progresses.

Over the past decade-plus, Dirk Bouts, a design associate with Nicklaus Design, has made about 80 trips to Russia, spending long stretches on the ground consulting on course renovations and overseeing new construction. During Bouts’s early visits, the majority of golfers he crossed paths with were expats. In more recent years, that demographic breakdown has turned on its head.

“The first time I went, golf’s presence was pretty much non-existent,” Bouts says. “But you see it taking root. It’s becoming more democratic. You have people making a decent visit. Now, it seems like every time I go back, there are more Russians out on the course.”

Just as picking up the game involves a learning curve, so does building courses in a fledgling golf market. The first Nicklaus Signature course in Russia was Tseleevo Golf and Polo Club, which opened in 2008 outside Moscow after a drawn-out five years of construction — a process prolonged by inexperienced Russian contractors working challenging terrain with outmoded equipment.

By 2014, though, when it came time to cut the ribbon on Skolkovo, the second Nicklaus Signature design outside the capital, the work crews were more seasoned, the equipment upgraded and the entire process streamlined. The job took four years. It’s since gotten more efficient. The start-to-finish work on Raevo was a comparatively scant three years.

The resulting course is a sylvan beauty that spills through a woodsy landscape, west of the capital, with natural creeks and lakes as ornamentation, and gentle hills and valleys that lend plenty of movement. Stretched to the tips, the course plays 7,245 yards, plenty of heft to handle tournaments. The turf is creeping bentgrass, and the sand-capping and extensive drainage beneath it is designed to stretch the golf season to its fullest.

“Instead of mid-May to mid-October,” Bouts says, “we’re hoping for something more like mid-April to end of October.”

This month marked a soft opening for Raevo, as the clubhouse is not yet completed. When the grand opening takes place, celebrities will no doubt be in attendance, Nicklaus among them.

Don’t expect Mike Tyson.

Golf in Russia has gotten serious.

Three decades after the Soviet era, this Moscow street echoes what was.

And hints where russia is heading., welcome to tverskaya street.

MOSCOW — Thirty years ago, the Soviet Union ceased to be. The flag was lowered for the last time on Dec. 25, 1991. That moment still raises deep questions for the U.S.S.R.’s heirs: “Who were we as Soviets, and where are we going as Russians?”

Many of the answers can be found on Moscow’s main thoroughfare — named Gorky Street, after writer Maxim Gorky, from 1932 to 1990, and renamed Tverskaya Street, a nod to the ancient city of Tver, as the Soviet Union was awash in last-gasp reforms.

It was the Soviet Union’s display window on the bright future that Kremlin-run communism was supposed to bring. It was where the KGB dined, the rich spent their rubles, Vladimir Lenin gave speeches from a balcony, and authorities wielded their power against one of the most famous Soviet dissidents, Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

In the 1990s, Tverskaya embodied the fast-money excesses of the post-Soviet free-for-all. In later years, it was packed with hopeful pro-democracy marchers. And now , under President Vladimir Putin, it is a symbol of his dreams of reviving Russia as a great power, reliving past glories and crushing any opposition to his rule.

Join a tour of Moscow’s famed Tverskaya Street.

Hotel National: Where the Soviet government began

The window in Room 107 at the Hotel National faces Red Square and the Kremlin. It offers a perfect view of Lenin’s tomb — fitting, since he was Room 107’s most famous guest.

The Kremlin was damaged during the Russian Revolution in 1917. So Lenin and his wife moved into Room 107 for seven days in March 1918, making the hotel the first home of the Soviet government.

The Hotel National in Moscow, from top: Artwork in the Socialist Realist style — which artists were ordered to adopt in the 1930s — still adorns the hotel; Elena Pozolotina has worked at the hotel since 1995; the hotel, which contains a restaurant, was built in 1902; the National has hosted notable guests, including Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and actor Jack Nicholson. (Photos by Arthur Bondar for The Washington Post)

The National, built in 1902 during the era of Imperial Russia, also accommodated other Soviet leaders, including Leon Trotsky and Felix Dzerzhinsky, chief of the secret police. The building continued to be used by the Soviet government as a hostel for official party delegates and was renamed First House of Soviets in 1919.

Guests can now stay in the same room Lenin did for about $1,300 a night. In more recent years, the hotel has hosted notable guests including Barack Obama (when he was a senator) and actor Jack Nicholson.

“This hotel feels a little like a museum,” said Elena Pozolotina, who has worked at the National since 1995.

“We have rooms that look onto Tverskaya Street, and we always explain to guests that this is the main street of our city,” Pozolotina said. “This corner of Tverskaya that we occupy, it’s priceless.”

Stalin’s plan: ‘The building is moving’

When Soviet leader Joseph Stalin demanded a massive redevelopment of Moscow in 1935, an order came to transform modest Gorky Street into a wide, awe-inspiring boulevard.

Engineer Emmanuel Gendel had the job of moving massive buildings to make way for others. Churches and monasteries were blown up, replaced by newspaper offices and a huge cinema.

The Moscow Central Eye Hospital was sheared from its foundation, rotated 97 degrees, jacked up, hitched on rails and pushed back 20 yards — with surgeons operating all the while, or so official media reported at the time.

Gendel’s daughter, then about 8, proudly stood at a microphone, announcing: “Attention, attention, the building is moving.” Tatiana Yastrzhembskaya, Gendel’s granddaughter and president of the Winter Ball charity foundation in Moscow, recalls that Gendel extolled communism but also enjoyed the rewards of the elite. He drove a fine car and always brought the family the best cakes and candies, she said.

The largest Gorky Street building Gendel moved was the Savvinskoye Courtyard. The most difficult was the Mossoviet, or Moscow city hall, with a balcony where Lenin had given speeches. The building, the former residence of the Moscow governor general, had to be moved with its basement. The ground floor had been a ballroom without central structural supports.

Moving buildings on Gorky Street in 1940, from left: A mechanic at a control panel regulates the supply of electricity while a house is being moved; a postal worker passes a moving house; a specialist unwinds a telephone cable during a building move to maintain uninterrupted communication; 13 rail tracks were placed under a house, on which 1,200 metal rollers were laid. (Photos by RGAKFD)

Gendel’s skills were used all over the U.S.S.R. — straightening towers on ancient mosques in Uzbekistan, inventing a means to drag tanks from rivers during World War II and consulting on the Moscow Metro.

Like many of the Soviet Union’s brightest talents, Gendel found that his freedom was tenuous. His ex-wife was called by the KGB internal spy agency in 1937 and asked to denounce him. She refused, and he avoided arrest.

“I believe he was not arrested and sent to the camps because he was a unique expert,” said Yastrzhembskaya. World War II, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War, interrupted the Master Plan for Gorky Street.

Aragvi restaurant: A haunt of the KGB

In the 1930s, the head of the elite NKVD secret police, Lavrenty Beria, one of the architects of the Stalin-era purges, ordered the construction of a state-owned restaurant, Aragvi, to showcase food from his home republic of Georgia.

One night, NKVD agents descended in several black cars on a humble Georgian canteen in Moscow that Beria had once visited. The agents ordered the chef, Longinoz Stazhadze, to come with them. The feared NKVD was a precursor to the KGB.

Stazhadze thought he was being arrested, his son Levan told Russian media. He was taken to Beria, who said that he had agreed with “the Boss” (Stalin) that Stazhadze would run Aragvi. Stazhadze had grown up a peasant, sent to work in a prince’s kitchens as a boy.

Aragvi opened in 1938. It was only for the gilded set, a reminder that the “Soviet paradise” was anything but equitable. The prices were astronomical. It was impossible to get a table unless the doorman knew you or you could pay a hefty bribe.

Aragvi, at No. 6 Tverskaya, was a favorite of the secret police; government officials; cosmonauts and pilots; stars of theater, movies and ballet; directors; poets; chess masters. Beria reputedly dined in a private room. Poet Sergei Mikhalkov said he composed the lyrics of the Soviet national anthem while sitting in the restaurant in 1943.

It was privatized in the 1990s and struggled, before closing in 2002. It reopened in 2016 after a $20 million renovation. But the new Aragvi closed abruptly in 2019 amid reports of a conflict between its owner and the building managers.

“You put your entire soul into cooking,” said the former head chef, Nugzar Nebieridze, 59, celebrated for his khinkali, a meaty dumpling almost the size of a tennis ball. He was devastated to find himself unemployed. But other doors opened. He now prefers to travel, giving master classes around Russia.

Stalin’s funeral: A deadly street crush that never officially happened

On March 6, 1953, the day after Stalin died of a stroke, an estimated 2 million Muscovites poured onto the streets. They hoped to catch a glimpse of his body, covered with flowers and laid out in the marbled Hall of Columns near Red Square.

Yulia Revazova, then 13, sneaked from her house with her cousin Valery without telling their parents. As they walked toward Pushkin Square, at one end of Gorky Street, the procession turned into a scene of horror. They saw people falling and being trampled. Some were crushed against metal fences. Valery, who was a few years older, grabbed Yulia by the hand and dragged her out of the crowd.

“He held my hand really tight and never let it go, because it was pure madness,” she recalled recently. “It took us four or five hours to get out of there. People kept coming and coming. I couldn’t even call it a column; it was just an uncontrollable mass of people.”

“I still have this feeling, the fear of massive crowds,” added Revazova, 82. “To this day, if I see a huge group of people or a really long line, I just cross the street.”

Neither Revazova nor her cousin knew about Stalin’s repressions.

“People were crying. I saw many women holding little handkerchiefs, wiping away tears and wailing,” she recalled. “That’s the psychology of a Soviet person. If there is no overarching figure above, be it God or Lenin, life will come crashing down. The era was over, and there was fear. What will we do without Stalin?”

Officials never revealed how many people died that day. The Soviet-approved archival footage of the four days of national mourning showed only orderly marches and memorials.

No. 9: The ruthless culture minister

The Soviet culture minister, the steely Yekaterina Furtseva, was nicknamed Catherine the Third, after the forceful Russian Empress Catherine the Great. Furtseva destroyed writers, artists or anyone else who challenged Soviet ideas. She lived at an elite 1949 apartment building for government officials at No. 9 — an ultra-prestigious address with a view of the Kremlin.

Furtseva, a former small-town weaver, made sure that No. 9 was only for the cream of party officials and other notables, such as famous Soviet actress Natalia Seleznyova, scientists, conductors and architects.

Riding the coattails of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, Furtseva was the only woman in the Politburo and later became the Soviet Union’s cultural gatekeeper despite her provincial sensibilities. She once infamously mixed up a symphony with an opera, and critics were quick to notice.

“She had little in common with the artistic leaders of her country except a liking for vodka,” Norwegian painter Victor Sparre wrote in his 1979 book on the repression of dissident Soviet writers, “The Flame in the Darkness.”

Furtseva was famous for previewing performances and declaring anyone even subtly critical of Soviet policies as being anti-state. Director Yuri Lyubimov described one such visit to Moscow’s Taganka Theater in 1969, when she turned up wearing diamond rings and an astrakhan coat. She banned the play “Alive,” depicting a cunning peasant’s struggle against the collective farm system. She “was livid, she kept shouting,” he told L’Alternative magazine in 1984. She stormed out, warning him she would use her influence, “up to the highest levels,” against him.

He was expelled from the party and in 1984 was stripped of his citizenship. She vehemently denounced Solzhenitsyn, and banned the Bolshoi Ballet’s version of “Carmen” in 1967 over prima ballerina Maya Plisetskaya’s sensual performance and “un-Soviet” costumes that did not cover enough leg.

“The ballet is all erotica,” she told the dancer. “It’s alien to us.” But Plisetskaya, whom Khrushchev once called the world’s best dancer, fought back. The ballet went on with some excisions (the costumes stayed) and became a legend in the theater’s repertoire.

Furtseva was nearly felled by scandal in 1974, ordered to repay $80,000 spent building a luxurious dacha, or country home, using state labor. She died months later.

Where Solzhenitsyn was arrested

The Nobel Prize-winning Solzhenitsyn exposed the Soviet system’s cruelty against some of its brightest minds, trapped in the gulag, or prison camps.

Solzhenitsyn was given eight years of hard labor in 1945 for privately criticizing Stalin, then three years of exile in Kazakhstan, a Soviet republic at the time. His books were banned. After release from exile in 1956, he was allowed to make only 72-hour visits to the home of his second wife, Natalia, at 12 Gorky St., Apt. 169. Solzhenitsyn had to live outside the city.

“People knew that there were camps, but not many people, if any, knew what life was like in those camps. And he described it from the inside. He had been there himself, and that was shocking to a lot of people,” said Natalia Solzhenitsyna during a recent interview at the apartment, which became a museum in 2018.

“Many people say that he did make a contribution to the final fall of the Soviet Union.”

Solzhenitsyn, who died in 2008, called Russia “the land of smothered opportunities.” He wrote that it is always possible to live with integrity. Lies and evil might flourish — “but not through me.”

The museum displays tiny handwritten copies of Solzhenitsyn’s books, circulated secretly; film negatives of letters smuggled to the West; and beads made of compacted bread that he used to memorize poems in prison.

“He spent a lot of time here with his children. We were always very busy. And we just enjoyed ourselves — being together,” Solzhenitsyna said. They had three sons.

No. 12 Gorky St., from top: Natalia Solzhenitsyna lived in the apartment for years, and her husband, Soviet dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn, was allowed only short visits; the site now houses a museum displaying items connected to him, such as negatives containing a copy of a novel he wrote; another exhibit includes Solzhenitsyn’s clothes from when he was sent to the gulag and beads made of compacted bread that he used to memorize poems; the Nobel Prize-winning writer’s desk is featured at the museum. (Photos by Arthur Bondar for The Washington Post)

Because of KGB bugs, if the couple were discussing something sensitive, they wrote notes to each other, and then destroyed them. Two KGB agents usually roosted in the stairwell on the floor above, with two more on the floor below.

“The Soviet authorities were afraid of him because of his popularity among intellectuals, writers, people of culture and the intelligentsia.”

Her favorite room is decked with black-and-white photos of dissidents sent to the gulag, the Soviet Union’s sprawling system of forced labor camps. “It’s dedicated to the invisibles,” she said, pointing out friends.

Sweden planned to award Solzhenitsyn’s 1970 literature prize in the Gorky Street apartment, but the writer rejected a secret ceremony. A Swedish journalist in Moscow, Stig Fredrikson, was Solzhenitsyn’s smuggler. He carried Solzhenitsyn’s Nobel lecture on tightly rolled film disguised as a battery in a transistor radio, and he took other letters to the West and transported photos taped to his back.

“I felt that there was a sense of unfairness that he was so isolated and so persecuted,” Fredrikson said in a recent interview. “I got more and more scared and more and more afraid every time I met him.”

In 1971, the Soviet Union allegedly tried to poison Solzhenitsyn using a secret nerve agent, leaving him seriously ill. Early 1974 was tense. The prosecutor subpoenaed him. State newspapers railed against him.

The morning of Feb. 12, 1974, the couple worked in their study. In the afternoon, he walked his 5-month-old son, Stepan, in the yard below.

“He came back here, and literally a minute later, there was a ring at the door. There were eight men. They immediately broke the chain and got in,” his widow said. “There was a prosecutor in his prosecutor’s uniform, two men in plainclothes, and the rest were in military uniform. They told him to get dressed.”

“We hugged and we kept hugging for quite a while,” she recalled. “The last thing he told me was to take care of the children.”

He was deported to West Germany. The couple later settled in Vermont and set up a fund to help dissident writers, using royalties from his book “The Gulag Archipelago.” About 1,000 people still receive money from the fund, according to Solzhenitsyna.

When the writer and his wife returned to Russia in 1994, they traveled across the country by train. Thousands of people crushed into halls to hear him speak.

Solzhenitsyn abhorred the shock therapy and unchecked capitalism of the 1990s and preferred Putin’s tough nationalism. He died of heart failure at 89 in August 2008, five months after a presidential election in which Putin switched places with the prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, in a move that critics saw as a ploy to get around constitutional term limits.

No. 6: ‘Feasts of thought’

Behind a grand Stalin-era apartment block at 6 Gorky St. sits an ornate 1907 building famous for its facade, art nouveau glazed blue tiles, elegant arches and baroque spires. Once a monastery dormitory, it was a staple of pre-Soviet postcards from Moscow. But in November 1939, the 26,000-ton building was put on rails and pushed back to widen the street.

Linguists Lev and Raisa Kopelev lived in Apt. 201 on the top floor. Their spacious dining room became a favored haven for Moscow’s intelligentsia from the 1950s to the 1980s.

“People gathered all the time — to talk. In this apartment, like many other kitchens and dining rooms, at tables filled more often than not with vodka, herring and vinaigrette salad, feasts of thought took place,” said Svetlana Ivanova, Raisa’s daughter from another marriage, who lived in the apartment for nearly four decades.

Solzhenitsyn and fellow dissident Joseph Brodsky were Kopelev family friends, as were many other artists, poets, writers and scientists who formed the backbone of the Soviet human rights movement of the 1960s.

As a writer and dissident, Kopelev had turned his back on the Communist Party and a prestigious university position. The onetime gulag prisoner inspired the character Lev Rubin in Solzhenitsyn’s novel “In the First Circle,” depicting the fate of arrested scientists.

“The apartment was a special place for everyone. People there were not afraid to speak their mind on topics that would be considered otherwise risky,” Ivanova said. “A new, different spirit ruled in its walls.”

Eliseevsky: Pineapples during a famine

The Eliseevsky store at No. 16 was a landmark for 120 years — born in czarist Russia, a witness to the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, a survivor of wars, and a bastion during eras of shortages and plenty. It closed its doors in April.

Eliseevsky fell on hard times during the coronavirus pandemic, as international tourists dwindled and Russians sought cheaper grocery-shopping alternatives.

In the palace-like interior, two chandeliers hang from an ornate ceiling. Gilt columns line the walls. The front of the store, looking out at Tverskaya Street, has a row of stained glass.

The Eliseevsky store, which opened in 1901, is seen in April, with a few customers and some archival photos, as it prepared to close as an economic victim of the coronavirus pandemic. (Photos by Arthur Bondar for The Washington Post)

Denis Romodin, a historian at the Museum of Moscow, said Eliseevsky is one of only two retail spaces in Moscow with such pre-revolutionary interiors. But Eliseevsky’s level of preservation made it “one of a kind,” he said.

The building was once owned by Zinaida Volkonskaya, a princess and Russian cultural figure in the 19th century. She remodeled the house into a literary salon whose luminaries included Russia’s greatest poet, Alexander Pushkin.

St. Petersburg merchant Grigory Eliseev opened the market in 1901. It quickly became a hit among Russian nobility for its selection of European wines and cheeses.

Romodin said it was Russia’s first store with price tags. Before Eliseevsky, haggling was the norm. And it was also unique in having innovative technology for the time: electric-powered refrigerators and display cases that allowed goods to be stored longer.

Even in the Soviet Union’s hungriest years, the 1930s famine, Eliseevsky stocked pineapples.

“One could find outlandish delicacies here, which at that time seemed very exotic,” Romodin said. “It was already impossible to surprise Muscovites with wine shops. But a grocery store with luxurious interiors, and large for that time, amazed and delighted Muscovites.”

The First Gallery: A glimpse of openness

In 1989, in a dusty government office by a corner of Pushkin Square, three young artists threw off decades of suffocating state control and opened the Soviet Union’s first independent art gallery.

That April, Yevgeny Mitta and two fellow students, Aidan Salakhova and Alexander Yakut, opened First Gallery. At the time, the Soviet Union was opening up under policies including glasnost, which gave more room for public debate and criticism.

Artists were ordered to adopt the Socialist Realist style in 1934, depicting scenes such as happy collective farmworkers. Expressionist, abstract and avant-garde art was banned. From the 1970s, underground art exhibitions were the only outlets to break the Soviet-imposed rules.

The First Gallery, from top: Yevgeny Mitta, Aidan Salakhova and Alexander Yakut opened the Soviet Union’s first independent art gallery in 1989 and received media attention; Mitta works on a painting that he displayed at his gallery; Mitta recalled recently that he “felt we had to make something new”; an undated photo of Mitta at his gallery in Soviet times. (Photos by Arthur Bondar for The Washington Post and courtesy of Yevgeny Mitta)

“I just felt we had to make something new,” recalled Mitta, 58, who kept his interest in contemporary expressionism a secret at a top Moscow art school in the 1980s.

“It was like nothing really happened in art history in the 20th century, like it stopped,” he said. “The Socialist Realism doctrine was invented and spread to the artists as the only one, possible way of developing paintings, films and literature.”

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, artists had to “learn how to survive, what to do, how to work and make a living,” he said.

McDonald’s: ‘We were not used to smiling’

In the Soviet Union’s final years, a mania raged for all things Western. Estée Lauder opened the first Western-brand shop on Gorky Street in 1989, after meeting Raisa Gorbachev, the wife of reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, in December 1988.

The Soviet Union’s first McDonald’s, located across Pushkin Square on Gorky Street, opened on Jan. 31, 1990 — a yellow-arched symbol of Gorbachev’s perestroika economic reforms. Pizza Hut opened later that year. (In 1998, Gorbachev starred in a commercial for the pizza chain.)

Karina Pogosova and Anna Patrunina were cashiers at the McDonald’s on opening day. The line stretched several blocks. Police officers stood watch to keep it organized.

The Soviet Union’s first McDonald’s opened in 1990 and eager customers lined up to enter; Karina Pogosova, left, and Anna Patrunina were cashiers at the fast-food restaurant on Gorky Street then, and they are senior executives with the company today. (Photos by Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG/Getty Images and Arthur Bondar for The Washington Post)

“The atmosphere was wonderful. The first day I had to smile the entire day and my face muscles hurt,” Patrunina said. “This is not a joke. Russians do not smile in general, so we were not used to smiling at all, not to mention for more than eight hours straight.”

Pogosova and Patrunina were students at the Moscow Aviation Institute when they learned McDonald’s was hiring through an ad in a Moscow newspaper. Interview questions included: “How fast can you run 100 meters?” It was to gauge if someone was energetic enough for the job.

Pogosova and Patrunina are still with the company today, as senior vice president of development and franchising and vice president of operations, respectively.

“I thought that this is the world of opportunities and this new world is coming to our country, so I must be in this new world,” Patrunina said.

The smiling staff wasn’t the only culture shock for customers. Some had never tried the fountain sodas that were available. They were unaccustomed to food that wasn’t eaten with utensils. The colorful paper boxes that Big Macs came in were occasionally saved as souvenirs.

McDonald’s quickly became a landmark on the street.

“I remember very well that the street and the entire city was very dark and McDonald’s was like an island of light with bright signage,” Pogosova said. “The street started to change after McDonald’s opened its first restaurant there.”

Wild ’90s and a missing ballerina

The end of the Soviet Union uncorked Moscow’s wild 1990s. Some people made instant fortunes by acquiring state-owned enterprises at throwaway prices. Rules were being written on the fly. The city was pulsing with possibilities for those with money or those desperate to get some.

“It was easy to get drunk on this,” said Alex Shifrin, a former Saatchi & Saatchi advertising executive from Canada who lived in Moscow from the mid-1990s until the late 2000s.

It all was on full display at Night Flight, Moscow’s first nightclub, opened by Swedish managers in 1991, in the final months of the Soviet Union, at Tverskaya 17. The club introduced Moscow’s nouveau elite to “face control” — who merits getting past the rope line — and music-throbbing decadence.

The phrase “standing on Tverskaya” made its way into Russian vernacular as the street became a hot spot for prostitutes. Toward the end of the 2000s, Night Flight had lost its luster. The club scene in Moscow had moved on to bigger and bolder venues.

Decades before, No. 17 had been famous as the building with the dancer: a statue of a ballerina, holding a hammer and sickle, placed atop the cupola during Stalin’s building blitz.

Muscovites nicknamed the building the House Under the Skirt.

“The idea was to have Gorky Street as a museum of Soviet art. The statues represented a dance of socialism,” art historian Pavel Gnilorybov said. “The ballerina was a symbol of the freedom of women and the idea that, before the revolution, women were slaves. It is as if she is singing an ode to the regime.”

The crumbling statues were removed by 1958. People forgot them. Now a group of Muscovites, including Gnilorybov, are campaigning for the return of the ballerina.

“It’s an idea that we want to give the city as a gift. It’s not political,” he said. “It’s beautiful.”

Pushkin Square: For lovers and protesters

Pushkin Square has been Moscow’s favorite meeting place for friends, lovers and political demonstrations.

In November 1927, Trotskyist opponents of Stalin marched to the 27th House of Soviets at one end of Tverskaya Street, opposite the Hotel National, in one of the last public protests against the Soviet ruler.

In December 1965, several dozen dissidents gathered in Pushkin Square to protest the trials of two writers. It became an annual event. People would gather just before 6 p.m. and, on the hour, remove their hats for a minute.

In 1987, dissidents collected signatures at Pushkin Square and other locations calling for a memorial to those imprisoned or killed by the Soviet state. The movement evolved into Memorial, a leading human rights group. Memorial was declared a “foreign agent” in 2016 under Putin’s sweeping political crackdowns.

In January 2018, left, and January 2021, right, protesters gathered at Pushkin Square. (Photos by Arthur Bondar for The Washington Post)

Protests in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny were held at Pushkin Square earlier this year. And it is where communists and liberals rallied on a rainy September night to protest 2021 parliamentary election results that gave a landslide win to Putin’s United Russia party despite widespread claims of fraud.

Nearly 30 years after the fall of the U.S.S.R., Putin’s Russia carries some echoes of the stories lived out in Soviet times — censorship and repressions are returning. Navalny was poisoned by a nerve agent in 2020 and later jailed. Many opposition figures and independent journalists have fled the country. The hope, sleaze and exhilaration of the 1990s have faded. Tverskaya Street has settled into calm stagnation, waiting for the next chapter.

Arthur Bondar contributed to this report.

Correction: A map accompanying this article incorrectly spelled the first name of a former Soviet leader. He is Vladimir Lenin, not Vladmir Lenin. The map has been corrected.

About this story

Story editing by Robyn Dixon and Brian Murphy. Photos and videos by Arthur Bondar. Archival footage from the Russian State Documentary Film and Photo Archive at Krasnogorsk; footage of Joseph Stalin’s funeral from the Martin Manhoff Archive, courtesy of Douglas Smith. Photo editing by Chloe Coleman. Video editing by Jason Aldag. Design and development by Yutao Chen. Design editing by Suzette Moyer. Maps by Dylan Moriarty. Graphics editing by Lauren Tierney. Copy editing by Melissa Ngo.

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Sandringham Yacht Club can be an extremely busy place.  Depending on the time of day and day of the week SYC may open the inner portion of the car park offering 79 car parks.  Every week is different down at the club and as such we cannot guarantee when this will be open. Typically it is the quieter days of week which are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday PM, Thursday AM and Friday AM.

On Saturday and Sunday, Management will decide on a case by case basis.

There are a number of council carparks along Jetty road ($5.70 per hour or $17.50 per day) or the cheaper option is to park on the other side of Beach road in Georgiana street which is free.

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