The Grand Traverse Yacht Club 

is a private, member-owned club on the West Grand Traverse Bay 

of Lake Michigan dedicated to the recreational and social interests 

of our members since 1960.

Over 65 Years of Tradition & 130 Years of Heritage

 

 Postcard, c. 1900, of sailboat with designer/builder V.E. Montague at the helm. 

The We-Que-Tong Club at the mouth of the Boardman River is just in front of the jib along the shore.

The First Clubs

In May 1894, a small group of prominent local businessmen, who were also the leading sportsmen of Traverse City, gathered to organize a waterfront club to represent their interests in rowing, sailing, canoeing, swimming, and trap shooting. By August of that year, the new We-Que-Tong Club opened a three-story clubhouse on Indian Point near the mouth of the Boardman River, hosting its first Annual Regatta, featuring rowing crews from Grand Rapids and Detroit competing against the local club members in a finale that followed sailing and canoe races. Over the next forty years, the health of the We-Que-Tong Club rose and fell with the advances and challenges brought by the rapid pace of progress in the early 20th century. Gasoline-fueled motor launches gained prominence on the bay alongside the rise of the automobile. As the fortunes of the region shifted away from lumber and manufacturing, agriculture became the driving force of the local economy. At the same time, new distractions and trends emerged, including bicycles, golf, tennis, team sports, and motion pictures, which drew people away from the water. State and local roads improved ashore as travel by water on local steamer lines diminished. 

By the late 1920s and into the 1930s, the newly organized Grand Traverse Boat Club made the clubhouse its home, hosting local powerboat regattas and providing racers for events around Lake Michigan. By 1935, the We-Que-Tong clubhouse had been sold by its member shareholders to the city for use as a public facility. In 1945, the clubhouse was condemned and dismantled for kindling.

In the aftermath of World War II, the return of young veterans to the area fueled new efforts to organize recreational boating in the Grand Traverse area. A group of small boat sailors from Traverse City established the Grand Traverse Yacht Club in 1947, drawing inspiration from examples in Leland, Northport Point, Omena, and Suttons Bay. Sailing predominantly in the Lightning one-design class, members also raced Snipes and Stars, both locally and throughout Northern Michigan. This initial effort persisted into the early years of the 1950s, with one-design races held as part of the National Cherry Festival.

A New Grand Traverse Yacht Club

After a generation without a waterfront club, a group of Traverse City sailors and boaters gathered in the fall of 1959 to recruit and organize the charter membership of the new Grand Traverse Yacht Club for the summer of 1960. Beginning in 1957, a group of boat owners and sailors centered around the Darrow Marine Basin in Greilickville organized races to Harbor Springs and Charlevoix. Many of these sailors were also active locally in the Lightning one-design class and had participated in the initial GTYC. Under the leadership of Dr. Bus Haberlein, who served as the first Commodore, 38 member families enrolled by June 1, 1960, as the charter members of the Grand Traverse Yacht Club. In the inaugural season, the club operated out of rented rooms on the lower level of what is now Harbor West. From the first call for prospective members, the Club sought small boat sailors, cruising boat sailors, power boaters, and outboard motorboaters to join the new organization.

In the early years, the core of the membership formed around sailors active in the Lightning class and sailing in the “cruising class,” who raced larger keelboats scored by handicap. By the mid-1960s, the calendar from May through September had taken on a familiar pattern, featuring a mix of triangle races on the bay, destination races to Northport, Leland, Charlevoix, and Harbor Springs, as well as hosting local and regional one-design regattas. In the early months of the year, the annual calendar was finalized, responsibilities assigned for every occasion, and details set for the months ahead.

From the outset, Club leadership aimed to establish a permanent club facility, with early efforts envisioning a clubhouse on the grounds of Clinch Marina on the Traverse City waterfront. Discussions broadened to consider building on the grounds of the Darrow Marine Basin in Elmwood Township. In early spring 1966, with plans drawn, a contractor retained, and a property lease ready, the Club was on schedule to break ground at the Elmwood Township waterfront site. In May of that year, an alternative to the agreed-upon plan emerged with the availability of the former MontaMower factory property, located near the intersection of West Bay Shore Drive and Carter Road. The proposal, introduced by Gordon Cornwell, was quickly debated, and a purchase agreement was struck with the Montague family, the property owners whose father had been a founder of the We-Que-Tong Club. A land contract was agreed upon for $35,000, funded by a private bond issue subscribed by club members.

On the water, the “cruising class” of larger sailboats began racing a schedule of familiar events under a handicap system based on the Cruising Class of America rule. By 1971, the Club had switched to the International Offshore Rule, for an era of active competition within the region and beyond. At that time, a separate local fleet for smaller keelboats was organized under the Midget Ocean Racing Club rule. By the early 1980s, the Club transitioned to the Performance Handicap Rating Fleet formula, which is still used today. 

In small boats, the Lightning one-design class remained active as a centerboard class from the Club’s founding until the late 1980s. By the mid-1970s, the single-handed Laser dinghy had gained popularity and developed an active fleet within the club, which remains active to this day, sailing the annual Babel Cup series. In the late 1990s, the Interlake centerboard was introduced to the club and took root, and has since hosted their National regatta in Traverse City four times.

Among the early activities developed by the club were a junior sailing program, which continued in some form from the 1960s until 1994, when our members initiated efforts to create the Traverse Area Community Sailing non-profit organization. To this day, GTYC continues to support TACS as a cooperating partner, hosting high school and youth programs during the sailing season. 

On the water, our members have a long history of achievement at all levels of sailing, winning World, North American, and National championships in both salt and freshwater. On Lake Michigan, GTYC has acquitted itself at the highest levels in the Chicago Yacht Club’s annual Race to Mackinac with multiple section wins and a team victory in the Point Betsie Yacht Club Challenge.

On the recreational side, cruising sailors carry the GTYC burgee far and wide, from the Mediterranean to the coastal waters of British Columbia, and throughout the inland and intercoastal waterways.

GTYC also has a long history as the host and organizer of major championship regattas at the continental, national, and regional levels. In 2014, GTYC was host to the US Sailing Chubb Junior National Championships, drawing young sailors from across the country for a week of racing on West Grand Traverse Bay for the highest prizes in American junior sailing. 

By the mid-80s, club life expanded with the addition of regularly scheduled weeknight races, the acquisition of a club liquor license, and the hiring of a club manager. These developments shaped much of what is recognizable in club life today.

In April of 2008, the cinderblock structure of the GTYC clubhouse was struck by a fire that required a total replacement of the structure. In short order, the Club leadership developed a plan to rebuild on the same footprint with a new design that retained much of the spirit of the original clubhouse with an expansion of resources and amenities. The new clubhouse was opened in May 2009, with the Club colors being raised on the same yardarm that was installed in 1967. 

Monta-Mower Factory, 1966, at the time of purchase by GTYC. The landing craft on the beach was owned by member Pete Rennie who owned both the adjoining property to the north and Marion Island.

The Clubhouse

In 1966, GTYC acquired the former MontaMower factory, located on the waterfront of Elmwood Township, from the Montague family of Traverse City. This factory had manufactured a patented model of a mechanical push mower from 1921 to 1963 for mail-order sales. The single-story cinderblock factory, constructed in sections from 1938 to the early 1950s, was the second factory on the site, following a fire that destroyed the original structure, a former lumber mill dating back to 1884. The factory was four times larger than the current building's footprint, encompassing the entire area of the existing parking lot. Most of the building was demolished and repurposed through the efforts of GTYC members, who manually dismantled much of the unsupported cinderblock structure. During that time, the waterfront sloped from the building to a rocky shore strewn with industrial refuse from the factory. One of the first improvements was the installation of a flag mast, yardarm, and gaff, which are still in use today. A sandy natural launch ramp was developed at its current location, and the first dock was improvised just south of the ramp.

 

The building underwent gradual improvements, including the furnishing of the kitchen, bar, and what would become known as the Members Room. The layout of today’s clubhouse largely mirrors that of the original club, but with the deletion of the small square courtyard in the center of the old factory, which the Flag Hall now occupies. Modifications over the years included moving the main entrance from the northwest corner of the building to the north side of the club.

 

In 1974, the waterfront underwent transformation with the installation of steel sheet pilings, which were backfilled to create a seawall, resulting in a lawn level with the building in place of the former rocky shore. At the same time, the launch ramp was enhanced, and another sheet piling was installed to the north of the launch ramp to protect the improved facility.

 

The clubhouse facility remained largely unchanged over the next three decades, following a seasonal pattern of busy summers and dormant winters, with member boats of all sizes stored during the offseason. From 1985 onward, a club manager was hired to provide regular bar service. As Wednesday Night Races gained popularity, post-race dinners were organized for the racers. Following the reopening of the newly rebuilt clubhouse in 2009, regular dinner service was initiated year-round on Wednesday and Friday evenings.