The history of the Dana Point Yacht Club parallels the growth of South Orange County, California and the development of the Dana Point Harbor.

The yacht club was organized in July 1952 by twenty-five charter members with a common interest in boating. The goal was to provide facilities for open water boat launching within the protection of the Dana Point cove. Malcolm Pierce became the first commodore. Membership was limited to 100 members. Meetings were held in a Clubhouse located on Blue Lantern Street in Dana Point.

The Club signed a 5-year lease with Orange County so members could construct a launching ramp with an electric winch to launch and retrieve their boats through the surf. Access to the cove, its small beach and great surfing area was by the steep and narrow Cove Road down the face of the cliffs. But in 1958, the County decided to develop Dana Point cove area, a new pier was planned at the site of the launch ramp. The Club agreed to terminate its lease with the County

The first club burgee was designed and proudly flown by members on their boats in June 1965. In 1969 Dana Point Yacht Club joined the Southern California Yachting Association and the North American Yacht Racing Union. From 1967 through 1972 was a critical period during the building of a harbor at Dana Point. The club voted to expand membership to 400 members.

In the summer of 1970, 120 youths participated in sailing instruction classes and active competition with neighboring Newport Harbor clubs. The program was open the children of both members and non-members between the ages of 6 and 18.

On March 17, 1972, in the newly constructed harbor the club proudly opened their new clubhouse, the first building to the east of the bridge on the island, approximately 4,000 square feet. The members installed an elevator to conform to the County codes. A portion of the parking lot at the corner was set up as a dry storage yard and a hoist was installed to launch the small boats in a turning basin between A and B docks. Sabot racks were built for the Junior program. The women's auxiliary was formed as the Buoys' Belles. Six offshore racing marks were installed.

In 1973 the Club inaugurated a full schedule of racing activities and became a member of the Association of Orange Coast Yacht Clubs. They had their first cruise to Emerald Cove at Corsair Yacht Club's facility on Catalina Island. Seminars were held at the clubhouse to teach basics of boating safety, racing, cruising, fishing, and first aid at sea.

The Club attained the full 400 membership in 1978. In January 1979, SCYA recognizing our Club's consistently high level of yachting activities, granted Dana Point Yacht Club the highest stature of senior membership. The next year, they were invited to join the Yacht Racing Union of Southern California. The Club obtained the guest docking facilities at the end of "C" dock. The activities, including the youth program, races, cruises, fishing and social events made for a very active club.

Growth continued in the Club facilities with expansion of the building completed in 1983. The USYRU Champion of Champions Regatta was held at DPYC and won by member Hobie Alter, Jr. Computer systems were installed in 1988. The race program continued to improve and expand. The trophies for the yacht club having the most entries and the most winners in the annual NOSA Ensenada Race were earned in competition with much larger clubs up and down the Pacific Coast.

In 1993 Dana Point Yacht Club won the PHRF Championship Regatta and were then host club for the 1994 regatta which they won, and then again hosted the 1995 regatta. Race seminars were held especially for the Ensenada race and members continue to win trophies as well as the Club trophies. A race was instituted to be sailed each fall between the Commodores of all the yacht clubs. The attendance varies between ten and twenty boats from as far away as Washington State. The Club supported member and board sailor Lanee Butler in her attempts to be on the U.S. Olympic team with fund-raisers and a regatta. Lanee finished 5th in the world in the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. She carried our burgee to the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, and Australia in 2000.

1997 Dana Point Yacht Club entered the computer age with its own web site at DPYC.org. Also plans were discussed regarding the revitalization plan for the harbor.

Early in 1998 negotiations began for the purchase of the building at the west end of the island in Dana Point harbor. The purchase of the building was completed thanks to a self-funding plan carried out by the members. The site included the parking lot and adjoining slips. During the cleaning and renovation of the building carried out by the members all the normal club activities were maintained. Membership voted to increase to 425 members in the new Clubhouse. The Richard Henry Dana Charity Regatta^® was started in 1999 with over $50,000 raised. This is an annual event with a fishing derby, sailing regatta, junior races, and other activities. The funds raised benefit a different charity each year.

Members voted to increase the membership to 500 members at the General Meeting of 2001. Clubhouse improvements continue; replacement of all the carpet in the building, new chairs in he banquet room, and re-upholstery of the dining room chairs, improvements to the up-stairs area continue, including installation of a new elevator. Dana Point Yacht Club won the trophy for the most trophies in the 54th annual Newport to Ensenada race. DPYC took the trophy, again, for the most entries in the Newport to Ensenada sailing race. DPYC hosted over 65 days of racing including the world class Mallory and Adams Cup Area J Eliminations. The club hosted ten well attended cruises and our anglers hosted a "Predicted Log Race" event.

In 2002 Dana Point Yacht Club celebrated its 50th Anniversary. Also, "Yacht Club of the Year" was a proud title for DPYC for the third time. This award is in recognition of our contributions to, not only the yachting community, but also the general community-at-large. We also advanced our Juniors Program to be the envy of the coast. Many community children learn about and enjoy safe boating under the supervision of US Sailing Certified instructors.

A women's sailing program was started in 2003. Over 50 women entered the program, most from the community-at-large. The Richard Henry Dana Charity Regatta^®, benefiting Pancreatic Cancer research, was the most successful charity regatta yet, raising over $70,000. We made an impact on the international yachting community as well. We had personal invitations and requests for permission to come to our Club from yacht clubs in Ireland, Denmark, Switzerland and the list goes on. As one visitor said, "The Dana Point Yacht Club is the Club to visit when you visit the west coast."

The Lido 14 Fleet, Fleet 73, was reactivated with many club members participating in Lido races hosted by DPYC and other clubs. Once again our various sailing racers brought home 10 trophies from the Newport to Ensenada race, which was almost double that of any other club. We even brought home the brand new "Spirit of Ensenada" trophy as the club with the most trophies. The Juniors made winning accomplishments in their major racing events. Our youth are the lifeline of our club and we intend to nurture this most valuable asset.

At the close of the 2004 Richard Henry Dana Charity Regatta^® this year's beneficiary, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, received $80,000. In fishing, "First flags" were claimed by several DPYC fishermen this year for the first caught Marlin, Albacore, Yellow Fin, Mako and White Sea Bass and additional yacht club cruises were added to our club cruise schedule.

DPYC has been a place for invigorating social connection as well as for a lot of getting down to business. In 2005 the club updated the computer system to provide greater management ability. Many house improvement projects were completed, including a different look at the front entrance.

The Racing, Fishing & Cruising Programs were in full glory of activity throughout 2005 and 2006. Each of these three programs spent many days on the water. DPYC’s trophy cases are worth a long pause of study when one steps through the club’s doorway. There are numerous Sailing Race trophies, and new trophies to honor our fishermen and women. Our 2nd annual Lobster Fest landed one winning lobster, and plenty of laughs. Favorite club cruises have been mentioned to be to: Emerald Bay, the Isthmus Cove, Newport Beach, Oceanside & San Diego.

The Junior Sailing Program continued to celebrate many races and many wins, one of which was a “Best Performance in Nationals” trophy and another was the “Commodore’s Cup” perpetual trophy. It has been a joy to look around the club to see so many young adults! DPYC is also proud to offer the Junior Sailing Program and a Women’s Sailing Program to available persons.

Social events were full of fun surprises such as the winner of the annual Super bowl Chili Cook off, hidden prizes inside a Valentine ice sculpture, new mothers and new fathers at the Mothers’ Day & Fathers’ Day brunches . . . plus excellent dance music at various events provided by club member bands and visiting bands. During 2005 Women’s Auxiliary encouraged members to submit their favorite recipes for the creation of a DPYC Cookbook. Delicious results.

Our 52nd and 53rd Opening Days, 2005 & 2006 were the best yet for DPYC. A Bristol Boat display of members’ boats at our docks was initiated in 2005 and was presented again in 2006. The display has been impressive. The boats are judged for ultimate shine and lack of grime. The Best Bristol Boat in the DPYC Fleet gets its name engraved on the perpetual Bristol Boat Trophy.

The Richard Henry Dana Charity Regatta^®, an annual September event, was another great success in 2005. Thanks to DPYC members and our sponsors the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation again received in excess of $80,000 to support research for the treatment and cure of this disease. Part of this charity event consists of a live auction. In 2004 a young Cystic Fibrosis patient admired an awesome hand painted surfboard by board designer/artist, Terry Senate. Through the efforts of some of our club members, the young man was later presented with a custom surfboard made by Terry Senate just for him. It was one of those moments that make a lasting memory. This is the spirit of the people of the Dana Point Yacht Club.

The race program at DPYC, one of our strongest attributes, was competitive with any club in our area. In 2006 DPYC was well represented by some of our best sailors in some very prestigious events. Racing sailboats Horizon on the Victoria-Maui race, Horizon again and Commotion on the Newport-Cabo Race, our twenty-something members, at the YRUSC Silver Cup Match Race, J24 Regionals, and these are just to name a few. We were winning wherever we went and we, as a team, are getting some notice. For club racing, the champions were sailboats Roller for the Steve Dutton Offshore Trophy, and Power Point for the Dorcas Britt Trophy. In 2006 Newport-Ensenada Race we won the perpetual for the DPYC with the most trophy mugs, and again our participation was stellar. Our cruise program added new cruises including a Catalina Island hop cruise. Fishing had all the local events, but this year added their first DPYC charter trip in a long time, out of Loreto, MX. As for the Lido 14s, our Lidos repeated last year’s championships as the Fleet 73 raced during the Lidoheny Regatta off of Doheny Beach, while the annual Doheny Blues Festival played on. Two of our DPYC Juniors raced in the Sabot Nationals.

DPYC started a series of monthly Wednesday Night Programs. Our first program speaker was an International 14 competitor and winner. After that we had all kinds of interesting presentations from anchoring instruction, traveling to Catalina Island tips by several DPYC members, highlights of doing the Transpac Race and more.

Our 2006 annual Richard Henry Dana Charity Regatta^® was another success for Cystic Fibrosis research.

In 2007 the club chose our neighbor across the west basin of the harbor, The Ocean Institute, as our charitable beneficiary for the RHD Charity Regatta^®. The choice fit well with DPYC’s desire to inspire participation of on the water activities for the youth of southern California. An introduction to sailing, power boating, racing, fishing, cruising, sea life, and more all comes in a nice package between DPYC and the OI.

Dana Point Yacht Club continued the monthly Program Night for club members and the public. We had various presentations from members and guest speakers, such as All You Want to Know About the Dana Point Harbor Patrol to First Aid While on the Sea Instructions. The well-attended Program Night is expected to continue indefinitely.

As for racing in 2007, DPYC held its reputation for retaining many trophy case awards. The Newport to Ensenada Race was considered one of the slowest in 40 years, but DPYC still walked away, again, with the most boat entries award – we had a record number of 37 participating boats. Six club members returned home with awards in hand. And three cheers for our 3 Transpac entries: Horizon, Brilliant, Mystere.

Our Juniors did the club proud again this year, broadcasting the name Dana Point Yacht Club up and down the coast with our winning sailors doing their best. The Juniors also won the Festival of the Whales Jr. Charity Regatta perpetual trophy, won the two top Ocean Institute’s Build-A-Boat Challenge trophies, and they brought in a lot of money for the Ocean Institute through the RHD® Juniors Regatta.

The cruising program for 2007 had some unexpectedly wild adventures thrown in. There was the “Avalon is Burning [nearly] Cruise” in which about 5,000 acres of Catalina Island burned. Our DPYC cruisers took photos of helicopters dipping near their boats & then flying up to drop buckets of water around the city limits of Avalon.

The fisherfolks, our Anglers, had less exciting adventures since many of the fishing events ended up with the title Skunked. However, the Humboldt Squid were around, and provided many with some great entertainment, as there is nothing quite like watching your buddy get drenched with black ink as he tries to gaff your fish (or squid in this case). A trip to East Cape Mexico hooked a marlin, and on a SoCal event with our US Marines as guests, several blue whales showed up.

DPYC held popular social events throughout the year, each and every one being fun & festive, but the topper was the 2007 Commodore’s Ball. A Black and White theme, attractively presented tables surrounded by well-dressed members and guests along with delectable food and delicious beverage, outrageously marvelous music, and an array of award presentations couldn’t have made for a better celebration of the year 2007.

Our House Chair formed The Willing Club which consisted of many member volunteers taking on fixit jobs around the clubhouse. Woodwork was refinished, brass work was polished and major repair projects were overseen. Reserve money was spent on refrigeration condensers, a new air conditioner, replaced kitchen flooring, a bathroom remodel, and the list only gets longer for what there is to still do. Our club volunteers truly keep the club’s heart beating.

Throughout 2007 DPYC representatives met with Dana Point Harbor administrators (the County of Orange) in preparation for our lease renewal which comes up in 2012. Since the Harbor is proceeding with a revitalization plan, there will be many changes. However, Dana Point Yacht Club plans to remain an active yacht club within the harbor locale, and we even might be heard singing sailin’ songs while we get the work done.

As this recap of 2007 winds down, listen carefully, and you might hear renditions of the infamous chanting heard in Ensenada each April, DPYC! ... DPYC! ... DPYC! ... DPYC!

Thank you, Dana Point Yacht Club members, for contributing to DPYC’s history.