VENERABLE CLUB'S 153-YEAR HISTORY
With 153 years behind it, the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club claims to be the oldest club in Hong Kong - and one of the largest yacht clubs in the world.
Kellett Island in Causeway Bay is the club's principal base and acts as the parent site to the two smaller branches at Shelter Cove, near Sai Kung, and Middle Island, in Repulse Bay.
Officially established in 1894, the development of the club can be traced back to 1849, when races were first held at the original North Point premises, which were landlocked by reclamation work, forcing the move to Kellett Island in 1938.
Back then, Kellett Island was separate from Hong Kong Island. After World War II, when the clubhouse was occupied by Japanese soldiers, it was linked by a causeway to Hong Kong Island, with which it was completely merged during reclamation work for the construction of the Cross-Harbour Tunnel in the late 1960s.
Joining fees for its 9,700 members are about $40,000, depending on the type of membership, with monthly fees of $755.
The club is the only major institution in Hong Kong to retain 'royal' in its title. After the handover, members voted to drop the word from its Chinese name, but kept it in the English version.
