History of Gull Lake Yacht Club  1926-1987

The Gull Lake Yacht Club was founded in 1926 to support racing of both sail and power boats.  Not surprising for the time, trophy sponsors included Post, Kellogg, The Kalamazoo Gazette, and Postum Cereal.  But in 1930, racing power boats was discontinued following an accident involving a swimmer.  While the GLYC initially held their meetings at the Gull Harbor Inn, the Gull Lake Country Club soon hosted the new Yacht Club.

One of the first sail boats joining GLYC competition was the R-boat, which was very popular at the time on Long Island Sound, in Detroit and other Ports on the Great Lakes.  Several R-boats even competed in the Port Huron to Mackinaw Race.  In the 1930’s, additional one-design boats joined the GLYC, including the 22 Square Meter, a beautiful mahogany keelboat built in Sweden.  Also added during those early years was the Star Boat. and in 1940, the GLYC Star fleet hosted their first Star Class District Championship.

Over the years, the GLYC has hosted many popular one-design sailboat fleets, including the Snipe, Intl 110, Lightning, 505, Laser, and J-24.  Today, Gull Lake sailors race J-22’s, Flying Scotts, Intl 210s, and Star Boats, which is the longest lasting and still popular and very active one-design fleet across the country and at the GLYC.  We race on Wednesday nights and Sunday afternoons (see schedule).  There is an excellent sailing education program for both youth and adults, and we maintain a fleet of Optimus Dingy’s, Butterfly’s, and 420’s for that instruction.  We also host the Western Michigan University Sailing club and their events, including three NCAA National Sailing Championships.