Whitstable Yacht Club

The Club was 100 years old in 2004. Originally called the Whitstable Yacht Racing Committee, it was set up by Fred Goldfinch, a wealthy local grocer and ship owner, and Alf Bates who had a Cycle Agency in Canterbury. To start, it was a loose association of local yachtsmen who enjoyed sailing together and it was not until 1904 that they decided to form a club, called the Kent Yacht Club, and acquire premises. The first Clubroom was in a restaurant on Beach Walk near to where the Hotel Continental now stands. In 1906 the name was changed to Whitstable Yacht Club as the original title was felt to be too presumptuous. The Club took a room at the Tankerton Hotel on top of the slopes (recently converted into flats). This was not a satisfactory location and the Clubhouse on Sea Wall where the Club is still based was leased. It had originally been the Victoria Inn but at the time was a boarding house. In 1912, Dr Charles Etheridge, a local GP, was elected Commodore and he remained so for 40 years making him the longest serving Commodore of any Yacht Club ever.